Claude Levi Strauss
Binary Oppositions
In many films there are binary oppositions. For example, men and women, black and white. Binary opposition is in films to create more conflict and excitement. One example of binary opposition in films is in James Bond. The young vs old opposition is shown in Sky fall where Bond is presented as the old, while Q is shown to be the young.
Audience profile
Clowns are scary / a doll ya know one of those talking ones those are pretty scary / he prefers psychological thrillers / when asked about erotic thrillers he agreed / enjoys gang warfare and a civil setting between gangs / rabies is pretty scary potential for a medical thriller / night in a forest drug deal gone wrong in a natural setting at night enjoys portrayals of stoic characters like Morgan Freeman / western period setting is pretty good / noir films have a culture providing different interpretations of the thriller genre / Does not like black and white / thrillers that are based in reality are an interesting concept - Will Conroy
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Convention Research
There are lots of conventions or ingredients that have to be included in a thriller film. For example, a crime thriller will include a mysterious killer that is only shown at the end if the film while the investigators / agents find the clues and eventually find the killer. It will also include props like guns, knives, axes, drugs. The plot will be along the lines of illegal activity which will either be done by an individual or a large gang. For our thriller we have chosen an exotic thriller. For this the conventions should be similar to crime thrillers, for example the weapon props will be the same so guns, knives etc. The locations are going to be similar too so a house setting and a police station and maybe some locations in the Forrest. For characters in erotic thrillers there will either be a male antagonist and a female protagonist or the opposite. We have decided to go for a male protagonist turned female and have two male detectives as the protagonist.
From this task I have learned about the conventions of an erotic thriller and have applied it to my film.
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To die for
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Music ideas
We believed that we should have an archaic feel that the music clearly indicates this could be done by using music from the 1960s-70s. This commonly cheerful and relaxed music could contradict the brutality and violence shown by the plot, this makes use of contrapuntal sound and potentially instills a sense of confusion or horror as the thriller continues with such grimness to a joyful soundtrack. Examples of such things could be Betty Hutton - He’s a demon , He’s a devil / Frank Sinatra / Elton John / alive with actions / Cabon Channel / Harry James - it’s been a long long time / Motown / Classic country (i.e Johnny Cash) / Elvis Presley / Dean Martin and so on.
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Props
We belived that we would require many specific props to ensure that we could give of a convincing erotic thriller these include costume (that we will go into further detail later) / a fake knife this could be used to instill fear and convey that the antagonist is a threat / Fake blood this is vital to show the severity of the brutality as well as implying the extreme threat and seriousness that we intend our anatgonist to instill into audiences / Coffee cups this could imply the era as it shows a relevancy however with coffee present we must pay maticulous detail to the amount of liquid withing this is to ensure that we have a strong continuity throughout.
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Costume ideas and Makeup
We desire that our characters' costume and makeup reflects the era we strive to achieve. This could be done by researching previous films with settings based in this time or on films during this period as well as culture at the time. We aim to make our key female antagonist appear in a cheerleader costume sporting a pink and white dress that could imply her sportiness and relevance in the social hierarchy at the time. This harmless and feminie appearance will offset her malicious and brutal intent however it could also create shock as to her villany contrasting with her apparent innocence implied through her costume. We similarly aim to show our male protagonist as drawing inspiration from popular culture at the time using films like grease to inspire our ideas. This could be done by giving him jeans and a plain shirt instead focusing on his hair or headgear to give him personality, character and imply his popularity. We also considered having ‘cops’ to provide pathos and relief from the brutal and visceral violence that is common throughout these could be seen in common coats with fedoras and aviators drawing from the stereotypical image of police that this generation had of police in the 60s-70s. We also concluded that make up is vital in making a character appear more feminine or masucline we consulted many potential audience members and found that make up such as foundation / eyeliner / concealer / powder / eyeshadow / contour / blush / highlighter / mascara and lipstick created a sense of femininity that could be used to implied intrigue and mystery.
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Lighting and Transport
We found that lighting would cause complications as we intended to film at night to create an aura of discomfort and mystery however visibility would be poor and subsequently we require to light the scene manually to ensure that all action is visible. This could be done by sucing torch light however we would have to be cautious as we must insure consistency throughout to create lighting throughout the scene.Transport is a simple problem with a straightforward solution this could be solved by actors and crew members getting their own transport to the location this could include public transport such as bus or being driven from their house to the desired filming location .
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Rationale
This rationale is going to include all the ways me and my group have conducted research on the thriller genre and how we came up with the ideas for our own thriller opening sequence. We focused mainly on our own knowledge of the thriller genre as we all are experienced with the genre. The difficulty we had was with deciding the sub genre. This is where we had to conduct research to find out what we can achieve and what would work best. We had used a wide range of research methods from sending out a survey to comparing and contrasting two different types of thriller films.
Target Audience
Secondary Research
For our secondary research, my group decided to analyze two different types of films that are similar to ours. Our sub genre is erotic so therefore we looked at two erotic thriller film trailers to see what we would need to include in the film. We looked at “The Boy Next Door” and “Fatal Attraction”. These two films showed similarities in that there is only one victim and one villain, usually with a male and a female. So our group decided to take this into consideration and have one villain, many victims, and two protagonists.
Primary Research
For the primary research, me and my group decided to create a survey and send it out to a number of other students. The survey included questions about sub genres and how other people liked thriller films. A questionnaire is a very effective method in finding out information as it reaches out to a wide range of audience. My group managed to gain 12 responses in total. Here are the questions in the questionnaire:
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Generating Ideas
Our First Idea - My group's first idea was initially a crime/gangster film. It would’ve included a gang of some sort and have a group of detectives going after them. It would’ve had to include props like guns and fake blood and the costumes to be dark for the criminals and smart clothes for the detectives.
Our Second Idea - Our second idea an erotic thriller which is complety dfferent from the crime genre. Our idea was to have someone play a girl that was actually a man who lures men into thinking they're going to sleep together but then kills them before they do. There were also going to two private detectives that are going to be investigating the murders.
Our Third Idea - Our third idea was similar to the second one. There was going to be a man who was posing as a female online luring men into his house and killing them. There is also going to be two private detectives that are going to be investigating the murders.
Final Idea
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What titles would we expect at the opening of a film ? - CHAZ
The titles for seven show the company name in a scratchy writing; this font continues and the titles continue to represent the actors, producers and companies involved in the production of the film. This representation is to be expected in any and most thriller films. A specific example in seven would be - new line cinema presents, an arnold kopelson production, a film by david fincher, brad pitt, morgan freeman, seven(title), gwenyth paltrow, richard roundtree, R lee ermey, john c mcginley, julie araskog, mark boone junior, john cassini, reginald e cathey, pete crombie, hawthorne james, michael massee, leland orser, richard portnow, richard schiff, pamala tyson, casting by, billy hopkins, suzanne smith, kerry borden, music by howard shore, costumes designed by michael kaplan, edited by richard frances bruce, production designed by arthur max, director of photography, darius kohndiji, co producers stephen brown nana greenwold sanford panitch, co executive producers lynn harris richard saperstein, executive producers dan kolsrud anne kapleson, written by andrew kevin walker, produced by arnold kapleson phyllis carlyle, directed by dan fincher. The titles we would expect to see show the audience who was vital in production despite the fact they aren't designed to be focused on.
What order would they appear in ?
The order of titles in seven is the main title first this is adverse with Hannibal as the actors' names come prior to any other credit. Again the actors' names continue throughout as the film production company in seven comes second to the main title. After the names of actors in hannibal it goes on to say who developed it for tv and the finally the title.this is different as these vital credits come before the actors names and the films credits end with who helped produce it singularly.
What exactly would the titles say ? - BARNI
The titles for Se7en start with the production company with the distribution company, then it’s the directors name. The title comes after another shot in which there is no title. Then it’s the casting director then it’s shots without titles. After all of that the cast members come up one every shot. Then it’s the music director. Then it’s costume design. Then it’s the editor. Then it's the co-producers. Then it’s who wrote it.
Where would the titles appear in frame ?- DONNY
The titles in zodiac appear on the frame in small lowercase letters are placed at the lower left bottom frame and sometimes if the titles are to long they fill in the bottom frame.the titles fade in then they fade out and repeat some of the titles fades out into a code that slowly fades out consists of numbers and patterns that's spread out and fade as more go in frame then those slowly fade out till the next new title fades in. throughout the film opening the titles of people and what they did turn into a code/cipher. Sometimes the list of names is horizontal.colors has to be able to stand out from the back ground so the audience can see the titles and read them main colours used are red white and black in Zodiac the titles appear in white normally covering something that would make it stand out likewhite font on a black background avoiding areas of the frame where it might blend in making it hard to read.
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How would they be written ? (color, size and font) - CATLEEN
In the thriller film ‘‘Buried’’, they have used contrasting colours to help make the title much more bold to their audience. The plain background contrasting with the yellow title may foreshadow what may happen with the main character and how they are isolated and are alone, the title ‘Buried’ might also foreshadow what will happen to maybe the main character. The size of the font is rather large and it is all written in capital letters. This can help to make the audience only focus on the title. The way the title is shown with the bold letters and contrasting colours might imply that the company wanted the audience to think about the film title and wanted them to feel some type of emotion before the film begins.
In the thriller film “Splice”, they have used rather dark colours such as black and green merging together. In the background they have used a pattern which appears to look like veins which also spell out the title of the movie. However, this title uses lowercase and is in a more formative font which highlights the variety of styles that the thriller genre uses. This title might make some viewers uncomfortable with the way they are displaying it.
Title research
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What titles would we expect at the opening of a film ? - CHAZ
The titles for seven show the company name in a scratchy writing; this font continues and the titles continue to represent the actors, producers and companies involved in the production of the film. This representation is to be expected in any and most thriller films. A specific example in seven would be - new line cinema presents, an Arnold Kopelson production, a film by David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, seven(title), Gwenyth Paltrow, Richard Roundtree, R Lee Ermey, John C Mcginley, Julie Araskog, Mark Boone Junior, John Cassini, Reginald E Cathey, Pete Crombie, Hawthorne James, Michael Massee, Leland Orser, Richard Portnow, Richard Schiff, Pamala Tyson, casting by, Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry borden, music by Howard shore, costumes designed by Michael Kaplan, edited by Richard Frances Bruce, production designed by Arthur max, director of photography, Darius Kohndiji, co producers Stephen brown Nana Greenwold Sanford Panitch, co executive producers Lynn Harris Richard Saperstein, executive producers Dan Kolsrud Anne Kapleson, written by Andrew Kevin walker, produced by Arnold Kapleson Phyllis Carlyle, directed by Dan Fincher. The titles we would expect to see show the audience who was vital in production despite the fact they aren't designed to be focused on.
What order would they appear in ?
The order of titles in seven is the main title first this is adverse with Hannibal as the actors' names come prior to any other credit. Again the actors' names continue throughout as the film production company in seven comes second to the main title. After the names of actors in Hannibal it goes on to say who developed it for tv and the finally the title.this is different as these vital credits come before the actors names and the films credits end with who helped produce it singularly.
What exactly would the titles say ? - BARNI
The titles for Se7en start with the production company with the distribution company, then it’s the directors name. The title comes after another shot in which there is no title. Then it’s the casting director then it’s shots without titles. After all of that the cast members come up one every shot. Then it’s the music director. Then it’s costume design. Then it’s the editor. Then it's the co-producers. Then it’s who wrote it.
Where would the titles appear in frame ?- DONNY
The titles in zodiac appear on the frame in small lowercase letters are placed at the lower left bottom frame and sometimes if the titles are to long they fill in the bottom frame.the titles fade in then they fade out and repeat some of the titles fades out into a code that slowly fades out consists of numbers and patterns that's spread out and fade as more go in frame then those slowly fade out till the next new title fades in. throughout the film opening the titles of people and what they did turn into a code/cipher. Sometimes the list of names is horizontals has to be able to stand out from the back ground so the audience can see the titles and read them main colours used are red white and black in Zodiac the titles appear in white normally covering something that would make it stand out likewhite font on a black background avoiding areas of the frame where it might blend in making it hard to read.
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A company identity such as name and logo are vital for the involvement in the credits and helps to add a sense of professionalism when done correctly. We intended to use a banana slug as inspiration for the logo. This is because they are vital to nature and the life cycle also their slimy and repulsive appearance forges a sense of natural and ugly truths. On top of this after reproduction the male banana slugs eat their own reproductive organs this could act to potentially foreshadow the intriguing and innate sexual nature of the erotic thriller.
How would they be written ? (colour, size and font) - CATLEEN
In the thriller film ‘‘Buried’’, they have used contrasting colours to help make the title much more bold to their audience. The plain background contrasting with the yellow title may foreshadow what may happen with the main character and how they are isolated and are alone, the title ‘Buried’ might also foreshadow what will happen to maybe the main character. The size of the font is rather large and it is all written in capital letters. This can help to make the audience only focus on the title. The way the title is shown with the bold letters and contrasting colours might imply that the company wanted the audience to think about the film title and wanted them to feel some type of emotion before the film begins.
In the thriller film “Splice”, they have used rather dark colours such as black and green merging together. In the background they have used a pattern which appears to look like veins which also spell out the title of the movie. However, this title uses lowercase and is in a more formative font which highlights the variety of styles that the thriller genre uses. This title might make some viewers uncomfortable with the way they are displaying it.