My opening to a Thriller attempts to challenge certain conventions of the Thriller genre but uses archetypal techniques and mise-en-scene to establish it firmly within the genre. The title of our Thriller is "Runaway". This informs the audience on the nature of our film and hints at what the synopsis could entail. This wouldn't be the first thriller to have a title relating to the film, for example Se7en (1995) involves the seven deadly sins which the killer uses on his victims. In my opinion when you hear a film is called "Runaway" you expect it to be a tense and suspenseful picture. Whats more, the word runaway connotes ideas of pursuit and chase - common to the genre. For example, in The Third Man (1949) and Reservoir Dogs (1992)
One of the locations of our Thriller is a forest in Reepham, Norfolk. What we liked about this woods was that the trees had been planted in lines which gave us an interesting geometric aesthetic and a vanishing point, similar to the poignant end of The Third Man and A Touch of Frost (Season 15 released: 2010). This creates a sense of direction and the trees were arranged in a track like formation - consolidating idea of chase and "Runaway".
Our Second location is a regular kitchen. We used a parallel edit betweens the normal house scene to flashbacks in the forest. We wanted to achieve as much normality as we could in the cramped space to make the binary opposites more effective and have a greater impact.. Furthermore, having the character of Billy 'trapped' in the kitchen is a metaphor for how he feels and the effect his flashbacks/ nightmares are having on him - the simplest tasks can cause distress for Billy and the audience. Breaking the apparent normality is thrilling for the viewers of this genre. Claustrophobic and trapped spaces are very common in the genre and is something i have explored in depth previously on my blog.
At the start of my Thriller, we have included part of a quote from John Lennon:
"Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?"
Using a quote at the start of my Thriller was inspired by Quentin Tarantino. He often includes quotes at the start of his film like in Kill Bill Vol 1. This quote in particular had relevance to my Thriller because in the opening, Billy gets caught up in his nightmares and they turn out to be reality. This is a very chilling concept and something that this quote and my final production use to thrill the audience.
Like mentioned in my planning, I included several inter-textual references in my thriller. This was to again consolidate the genre of my production. For example, my thriller shares the characteristic of having women in the powerful position with Thelma and Louise and uses a femme fatale like in Gilda (1946). These inter-textual references can be seen on one of my planning posts previously on my blog.
The biggest inspiration for my Thriller was from the Danish version of "The Killing". It entails: "Police detective Sarah Lund investigates difficult cases with personal and political consequences" and created Søren Sveistrup. What I liked about this was the pace achieved through quick edits but
also having trees inbetween the characters and the camera - acting as barriers between the audience and the action serving to provide metaphoric connotations. This is something I have used in my Thriller.
Too little focus on the question. You are explaining the purpose of specific aspects of mise-en-scene but not answering the question.
ReplyDeleteLook up the definitions of a thriller in your yellow coursework booklet and using power point rather than a word document tackle the question in sections with opening sentence:
1) Instead of using the generic conventions of a claustrophobic space (as in the Film "Phone Booth" (screen shot or another film) our primary locations was a trackless forest with no barriers. This mise-en-scene is isolated and confusing thus it offered the generic blue print of isolation and a space with nowhere to hide ref No Country for Old Men, also the use of the forest at the end of Heavenly Creatures.
2) The kitchen: Thrillers are about extraordinary events happening to ordinary people, thus the kitchen is a domestic space recognised by audiences but it becomes a place of menace...screen shot from your film.
3) We used the convention of a gun. This prop is used in thrillers such as..... and ..... and is the hall mark of the genre.
4) Character types: Do not reference Gilda unless you say the killer in our film is deviant but unlike the classic femme fatale of film noir she is a contemporary version of this generic archetype. She more resembles Liz Salandar in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and of course as you say Thelma and Louise.
4) We used the conventions of the opening to a thriller film with the use of titles and credits....(use screen shots as examples from your film and the title sequences of real films)
Other points you have made are good but need reorganisation; t focusing on the question places this at present at Level 2/3.
Look at Meg Garratt's from last year as advised.
Whoops conventions of opening to a thriller film should be point 5. You could also include the cliff hanger in this.
ReplyDeleteI've just posted this on Harry and Ella's blogs:
ReplyDeleteFor question 1 : I have just posted this on Harry and Ella's blogs: How you used the following conventions:
) The conventions of the opening to a film to include adding titles. Screen shots please and reference the opening to a real thriller film.
2) How you established the generic conventions of your production, think about ordinary characters like Louis doing the washing up but having flash backs or a premonition of a killer tracking him down.
3) You may wish to reference narrative theory if you used binary opposites which is a convention of film:
Claude Levis Strauss: “Constant creation of conflict/opposition drives narrative”.
This theory relies on the concept of binary oppositions. For example Opposition can be visual (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or conceptual (love/hate, control/panic). or the use of flashbacks which are in visual opposition to real time.
Your locations are binary opposites.. the trackless forest which suggests an unreal world distant from civilisation whilst in stark contrast the kitchen brings the focus back to reality. So you have the oppositional device of two different worlds.
4) And another narrative device and a convention which you used: Flash back or flash forward
A flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks (or analepsis) are often used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in crucial backstory. In the opposite direction, a flash forward (or prolepsis) reveals events that will occur in the future.[3] Both flashback and flash forward are used to create suspense in a story.
In movies and television, several camera techniques and special effects have evolved to alert the viewer that the action shown is from the past; for example, the edges of the picture may be deliberately blurred, photography may be jarring or choppy, or unusual coloration or sepia tone, or monochrome when most of the story is in full colour, may be used. This is to avoid causing the viewer to be confused
You have used this narrative convention in your film therefore this is another aspect you can explain.
5) Inter textuality.... explain any inter textual references you used as this is a convention of films.
6) You used the convention of using a sound track to intensify suspense...... clip from your film and clip from real film......
It is important that you consider these conventions of film and explain how you used them.
At the beginning of each section you need to say...we used the convention of....
This would be a good way to structure your response.