Setting and Location

The setting we are going to pick to film the opening to our thriller is Eltham park and also Sidcup park. We must pick a quite part of the park to ensure that we are not interrupted when we are in the middle of filming, we also must ensure that it is authentic enough that it seems real. 

What will be the best title for our thriller?

1. Missing 

2. Snatched   

3. Disappeared 

4. Kidnapped 

5. Gone       << This is the title we are going to pick

We gave out a survey to our peers, and asked them to pick out of our five options, Missing, Snatched, Disappeared, Kidnapped and Gone what they liked best as an opening to our thriller about a girl going missing. The most popular title which people chose was GONE. 

Questionnaire and Results

Preliminary Task- Script

script for pre-lim task

• 1. Nicole walks down the corridor heading for the room where the accused is being held.

2. Nicole heading towards door. 

3. Nicole opens the door

4. Nicole walks into room and sits down in a chair opposite the accused male.

Nicole

Where’s the body?

  Accused

I don’t know what you mean?

 Nicole

  You Know exactly what I mean!

Preliminary Task

Comparing ''Se7en'' to ''Panic Room''

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

‘Se7en’ uses many camera shots, with lots of close ups and alot of fast cuts between shots.  Compared with ‘Panic Room’ which does not use that many different camera shots,  we see lots of long shots of the buildings of New York. 

Sound

Se7en uses lots of sounds which we can relate to what is happening in the scene, for example we here the sound of a type writer and also the sound of scratching when he is scratching a piece of paper. whereas in Panic Room we here the same piece of backing track through out which sometimes gets faster this creates more tension. 

Editing

Se7en uses a lot of quick cut shots, compared to Panic Room which does not have that much editing as it is one continuous shot. 

Mise en Scene

In Se7en there is not much range of lighting we only see a few colors, black, white and beige. In Panic Room they use natural day light. We also see a lot of where our scene is set, compared to Panic Room where we do not establish where our scene is set. 

Characters

In Se7en we see one character we can not see who this character is but we gather he will be one of our main character. At the end of Panic Room we see two characters in which we can establish straight away they will be our main characters. 

Locations

In Se7en we do not no where our scene is set, we kinda assume that it is set in a basement type place. Panic is set in a busy city, maybe New York as there are lots of tall buildings. 

Narrative/Plot

In Se7en there is no speech what so ever. whereas in Panic Room we have speech right at the very end of the opening, this gives us a taster of what the film will be like. 

Themes

From the beginning of Se7en we can see that the themes are murder and crime. we can see this from the images of death, blood, needles and razors. The opening of Panic Room does not really show us the theme, but we can guess straightaway that the theme will be crime. 

Visual Style

Se7en stands out from other films as it moves very fast, with the color red used it shows the theme of blood and death. whereas Panic Room as first starts off slow and then slowly gets faster, the visual style in this changes throughout most of the time with the music. 

Genre

Se7en is a thriller film as it contains the stereotypical thriller conventions of crime and murder.  Panic Room also is a thriller film, although it does not have a lot of blood or murder, but still creates tension by moving very fast which makes your heart beat fast. 

Opening Sequence Analysis Of ''Red Eye''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNbxY6-Fw30

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

close ups of photo frames. Camera then zooms in to the wallet. There Mid shot of men carrying a box, and put it on to the back of the lorry. We then see close- ups of photo and a piece of paper with a map on.  Close up of a man’s hands. 

Sound

The sound is a non-digetic which has been added in, it is very fast paced. This creates tension with the audience and makes their hearts start to race. 

Editing

The editing is quite fast and chages pretty quickly from one shot to another. This adds to the tension as it is fast to follow and you have to be quick. It is very hard to understand what is going on and you have to be very observant. 

Mise en Scene

This opening scene is very packed with lots of different things going on, we photos and we someone put a wallet down. We then see someone taking the wallet. By only seeing the hands this creates a lot of tension as we do not know what is happening. We then go on to an outside shot where there are men dealing with frozen seafood, why we are shown this we do not yet know. The lighting is very dark and this creates a mysterious feel. When it goes back on to the men it shows them taking something from inside the box of fish it’s a big box, but we do not know what is inside. People are now hooked of the film as there are a lot of un answered questions. 

Characters

We do not see any characters in particular but we can establish who the main character may be , we see photos of a girl who we gather will be a main character and we also the hands of a man who seems to be doing key things in the opening, from this we gather we will be seeing him again. 

Locations

We cannot specifically establish a location at the moment as we see quite a few. We first seen inside a house and then it goes to outside. Because of the quick changing location it confuses the audience who do not know what is happening. 

Narrative/Plot

There is no one who speaks in this opening all we can hear is the music in the background. And the digetic sounds of cars slamming doors. This creates a mysterious feel like ‘se7en’ as we do not know what the film is about. 

Themes

The themes of red eye we would guess are of crime and murder and obsession. We can gather this from when we see the character looking at photos and paper with maps on and when he steel and wallet. It makes the audience think is he looking for someone? Is e following someone, this is backed up by the camera zooming in on the girl in the photo and then seeing her picture again in the wallet. 

Visual Style

Because of the editing the visual style is very fast moving and it’s hard for the audience to really establish what is really happening in the opening. Because of the quick changes in the scenes I would say that it makes this opening stand out from other thriller openings. 

Genre

Red eye is a thriller film it stands out from other stereotypical thrillers where we see lots of blood and murders. This is about a terrorist instead. It explores a different aspect of a thriller which not many other films do

Opening Sequence Analysis Of ''Phone Booth''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSiNSg-oK3k

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

There are not many shots throughout but we can see the camera is always moving, it is like tracking the phone wire which we can see has been drawn. The camera seems to been quite wobbly and freely moving. 

Sound

there is a non-digetic sound which has been added throughout which is quite fast paste this creates tension for the audience. And then we also hear breathing throughout the sequence. This relates to the idea of being on the phone and listening to someone breathing. 

Editing

It just seems to be one single shot. There has not been too much editing in this opening.  

Mise en Scene

There is not much in this opening the back ground is a white color throughout and then we follow like a black line throughout the two minutes, which we can link up as a cable line for the phone.

Characters

There is no established character in the opening to phone booth. 

Locations

We do not establish a location in the opening all we see is like drawings they are like computer edited not really life. There is some building drawn so we can maybe gather that the location will be in a city. 

Narrative/Plot

There is no narrative at all in this opening not even in the music. This creates a lot of mystery for the audience. We can link the title though into the opening at we can see like the phone line. 

Theme

The theme at the beginning is all about the phone and the whole idea of the character getting stuck in the phone booth by a sniper. this is not a conventional thriller film, and defiantly doesn’t follow the stereotypes. 

Visual Style

The visual style is very fast and quick happening, it is constantly moving. And the pictures of the phone cable connect to the name of the film. 

Genre

Phone Booth is a film which does not follow the stereotypical view of a thriller, it follows a, complex narrative with false paths, clues and resolutions this is like another thriller we have analysed ‘se7en’.  

Opening Sequence Analysis Of 'Children Of Men''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTgUq6hzUk

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

In children of men it is one single shot, there is no editing in between, it is one mid shot through out.  This is done to create tension and show realism.  

Sound

At the beginning of the scene we are listening to the news, so it is only people talking. Then when the camera goes outside all we are hearing is diegetic sound, this is natural sounds of the surroundings like cars, bikes and buses. We also hear a bomb go off and then a lot of screaming. 

Editing

There is no editing in this opening, it is one single shot throughout. This creates realism and makes it different to other openings. 

Mise en Scene

At first we are in a café, the lighting is quite dark. Then when we go outside we can it is very grey and dark. There are a lot of buildings and the billboards on the side are interactive, this is also on the buses when they go pass.  It is very smoky and dusty. And the roads seem to be very dirty and there is a lot of litter left on the sides of the roads. 

Characters

The central character is a protagonist, we do not know if he is good or bad. 

Locations

The location is set in London in 2027 along way in to the future. It is on the very busy streets; where a lot has changed. 

Narrative/Plot

There is not a lot of speaking from who we have gathered is our main character. The only speech we have heard is from the lady who is speaking on the news. She has told us a bit of what is going on in London at the time. And we have gathered that something has happened and no one is having children anymore and the youngest person ever has died; for what reason all this has happened we do not know yet. 

Themes

The theme for children of men is also a thriller. We have had a few clues throughout the opening. First we have the mystery of why is know one having children? And then right at the end we see the café being blown up if creates tension for the audience as a lot has happened in two minutes and we do not know what is going on. 

Visual Style

The visual style of children of men is a single shot, where there are no cuts and it has been filmed by a hand held camera. The visual style is very dark and grey this helps the audience imagine how run down London has become; it also seems to be very polluted. From this visual style we can see that something has happened to the world and has made it a dark and dismal place.  

Genre

Children of men is said to be a science fiction film and also a thriller. The only thing we have seen so far which we can actually relate to it is when the bomb goes off at the end, and we see a women walk out with her arm in the hand.  

Opening Sequence Analysis Of ''Panic Room''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqIclb4qsJI

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

There are not loads of different camera shots angles or movements. First we see a long shot which is also the establishing shot, this is of   New York and the building; this shows us where it is set. The camera then zooms in closer to the building. It then starts to pan across New York and shows lots of different building. There is then a few mid-shots of different parts, they quickly change to show another mid-shot. Finally we then see medium long shot of two characters. 

Sound

There is non-digetic sound used in this opening, it is the same piece of music throughout the opening but at different parts it changes speed, it sometimes will get faster and creates more tension and then it gets slower again. This makes the audience a bit agitated as they do not know what to expect. Also behind the whole of this music there is a ticking noise like a clock, which is constantly happening, and does not change when parts of music gets faster. This sounds like a heart beat which is going at a fast pace. 

Editing

There is not much editing right at the beginning and it is one continuous shot of New York. We then see some mid-shots of different parts of New York, this gets the audience thinking as we do not know why we are looking at these particular building and could these be part of the film. 

Mise en Scene

The lighting within this scene is just natural day light, this then does not really create any feeling for the audience. We see lots of building and there is a lot of trees. Looking at the clouds they are quite dark, like it may rain anytime, and the sky is very grey itself. On some of the buildings we see billboards and advertisement. As we do not know much about the film we cannot really make an assumption of what they may be for. 

Characters

At the end see two character, which we can assume are key characters. One of them seems to be more in charge then the other as she is walking out in front and is quite broad and seems quite strong minded. Whereas the other girl seems to be maybe her worker or someone lower down than her, as she is following and it behind her and enclosed; we do not really see that much of her, and seems to go with what she says. 

Locations

We establish that this is a busy city, I would guess that it is New York; there are a lot of building which are very tall. 

Narrative/Plot

There is only speech at the end of this opening. It is a conversation between to ladies. We can gather that they are talking about an apartment, which one of them must be buying. This may relate to the title of the film ‘panic room’ will this be one of the rooms in the house. This starts to make the audience think, of what might happen. 

Themes

The themes for panic room we would guess are crime, murder and death. We cannot guess this from the opening of the film. But because we know it is a thriller we can guess on what normal happens in thriller films. 

Visual Style

The visual style varies as at first it is a slow speed which establishes where we are and then when the music gets faster it then starts to speed up. The visual style in this opening changes throughout and tends to change with the music. 

Genre

Panic Room is a thriller film which contains some of the stereotypical ways of all thriller conventions. Although I do not think there is a lot of blood and murder; it is a fast moving film which creates a lot of tension and has every ones hearts beating fast.  

Opening Sequence Analysis Of ''Se7en''

http://youtu.be/SEZK7mJoPLY

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
There are many camera shots, angles and movement in the scene such as;book- close up, hands- birds eye view, hands/fingers/razor- extreme close up, images/photographs- extreme close up, books- close up/birds eye view, writing- side on/close up, person writing- extreme close up, photography images- close up/high angle, cutting/celotape- high angle/close up, pictures-close up/birds eye view, pages flickering-side on view/close up, writing- extreme close up/ point of view shot, spilt shoot- 1- writing- close up/point of view, 2- pictures(red)- close up- pictures- point of view shot, ‘the book’- extreme close up/ cutting to each different picture- needle/threading needle- extreme close up, sewing- close up, books- panning/close up 

Sound

non- diegetic sound is used such as; soundtrack/backing track, this sounds like a heartbeat, it uses the sound of a typewriter, this may be diegectic as there is scenes of writing but the scenes of writing contain hand written pieces. ‘Se7en’ also uses the sound of scratching, which may also sound like a scream, this creates a lot of tension for the audience. As the sequence goes on, the music gets faster and more rockier, and the scene comes to an end the only lyrics on the scene says “you bring me closer to god”

Editing

The editing uses a lot of quick cut shots. This creates tension and for the whole of it as you do not really know what is happening; as the shots is going so fast, this means you always having to think about what is happening.

Mise en Scene

There is not much range of lighting within this scene, it starts with a black and white and a beige colour. And then towards the end we see it go into a red colour. All of these colours give a quite dark and gloomy feeling to the whole opening. We do not get to any characters fully, but we can establish who the main character maybe will be, although we do not see the face of this character we see his/her hands throughout. We see the scene as being set in a basement of dark room. There seems to be photos which are being developed, the character is all analysing articles and photos, of who or what we do not no. 

Characters

In the opening scene we see one character; but we do not establish who this character is as we do not see him properly. All we see is his finger tips. because the character surrounds himself with images and objects of death; we can assume that he is the antagonist. 

Locations

In this opening we do not really establish a location, we do start to assume that it may be in a room away from people, maybe a cellar or basement

Narrative/Plot

In Se7en there is no speech, we only can here the music. This again is different to other conventional opening. This creates a mysterious feel as we do not know what the film is going to be about.  

Themes

The themes for Se7en we would guess are crime or murder. we think this as we see images of death, blood, needles, razors which he uses to cut himself and the colour throughout the scene is red, which suggests blood and violence. 

Visual Style

Because of the editing, where it moves very fast it stands out from other openings in films. also with the music it is hard to identify what is going on. The visual style is always moving and they’ve used the colour or red to show the theme of blood and violence.  

Genre

Se7en is a thriller film as it contains the sterotypical thriller conventions such as; crime or murder, a complex narrative with either false paths, clues and resolutions. It also has the thriller conventions such as extraordinary event happening in ordinary situations.

Research and Planning

Altogether we watched and analysed five thriller openings, they were; Se7en, Phone Booth, Red Eye, Children of Men and Panic Room. Each one explored the conventions which are associated with thriller films in different and similar ways.