Conventions 2

There are many conventions of a thriller that we would like to use in our opening scene, I am just explaing a few of them.

 

This is a picture from the film scum, it is an example of how we would like the man to be looking up at the group as he is thrown to the ground.

This shot is taken from the classic film The Krays, this is a very good example of an over the should shot that we can use when the man is talking to the youths.

This is the sort of grime scene that suits our film so i thought that this establishing shot will show the scale of the interest. Music is also an important factor of a thriller and this shot shows the type of music we are going for.

This is from the film Tyson, it is seen in the opening credits and it gives us an example of what we can do when editing our piece, for example in this shot we can see that they have blacked out the background which makes mike tyson stand out in the shot.

The BBFC

This is the BBFC official website
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

Conventions

This is an image taken from the film Harry Brown.
We would like our youths to be dressed like this and when the man approaches them some grime music will start to play to show the manner of the gang.

This is an image taken from Silence of the Lambs.
When the man leaves the shop after doing his shopping we would like to track him till he arrives at the assault scene. This is one of the shots we will use when tracking him.

This is an image taken from the film Fighting.
Clearly not to this extent but we are going to trying to get a high shot of the man and the main thug surround by the rest of the gang a bit like this image here.

This is an image taken from The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift.
This is an over the shoulder shot. We will be using many of these but i think the most powerful one we will be using is in the last scene when the camera is doing an over the shoulder shot of the 40 year old mans shoulder whilst the camera is staring at the photos of the thugs on the wall.

Harry Brown conventions

The opening scene is filmed by a camera phone to give the effect of urban youths, showing what the gang get up to and what sort of people they are. This helps to set the scene and the violent manners of this group.  The first thing we see is the use of drugs within the gang. This furthers our earlier point of them disrupting the local area and surrounding people. The setting is in a dark underground walkway with graffiti all over the walls implying there thugs. The use of guns is obvious in the opening scene as they show their guns off with pride and power.

We then see a couple of the gang on a motorbike, they are in a very aggressive mood, they are shouting and screaming. They are terrorising the local area. We see them ride across a local green, here they ride up to a woman and a child, they begin to circle her and fire their gun at her, it appears they dont want to hit her, it seems that they are doing this to intimidate the local people but they then hit her in the upper body. In shock they ride off as quickly as they can, on their escape route they cross a road and are hit by a lorry. This event shocks us, which makes a very powerful opening and from this moment onwards you know that  the film is going to be full of action and violence.

5 Important Factors for a Thriller

Some of the most successful thrillers quite often have far fetched story lines as there are so many different components to thriller writing, yet the writer must tell the story in such a way that the audience see it as believable and can be totally entranced by it. In my opinion, there are five very vital points everyone needs to consider when come to make a good thriller film.

Creating a Sense of Danger

In most thriller films you see, there is bound to be a central main character that ends up in danger somewhere. Often, the character will be isolated from the world around them to give the audience a much wider insight to their inner feelings and emotions. In order to achieve this successfully, there needs to be a great sense of loss and betrayal. Another word for this type of character is a ‘Protagonist’.
It is also quite likely that the protagonist will be at risk of death, or worse, at the hands of their main opponent; also known as the antagonist. The antagonist is not crucial to use in thriller films, although they do build up a great sense of excitement for the audience. Antagonist or no antagonist, the important thing to remember when coming to make a successful thriller is to get the audience to literally feel the problems which the protagonist encounters and to get them to realise that it could happen to them which will drive force of fear, worry and dread through them. Therefore, considering the previous factors, I would think that since J.M.T productions focus on a niche market, if they were to make a thriller, they should include all of the points in this paragraph.

The Balance of Power

The second ever so very important aspect of making a thriller is balance of power. This ensures that the antagonist (villain) has the balance of power shifted in their favour throughout the majority of the film. This absolutely vital point draws the audience’s attention into the feelings and struggles the protagonist needs to try and overcome. This nicely places the audience onto the protagonist’s side for the battle of good and evil where the villain is always one step ahead, until the climax of the movie when the power balance shifts and the villain is eventually defeated.

The Importance of Pace

I’m sure that everyone has previously watched a thriller in the past and has got very bored after the first 40 minutes. When one makes a thriller film or video, they must make sure that it is fast paced throughout in order to make it work. Usually, the beginning of a thriller wastes no time in putting the main character (the protagonist) in a dilemma from the very start which enables the audience to relate to their situation immediately.

Twists and Turns

Most good thrillers use twists and turns to attempt to draw the audience into a false sense of security where they should be led on an adventurous journey, unsure of what lies ahead. An excellent way to maintain the suspense and tension is to have scenes which build up to a certain point where the audience think they know exactly what to expect and to then dramatically change the scene to and unforeseen outcome

Character Growth

Another important aspect of making a great thriller is to make sure that the audience get to know and understand all of the fears and weaknesses of the protagonist’s character. Also, as they begin to overcome the challenges they are given, the film or video also must reflect their determination and strength and have the final outcome showing that how they have overcome their greatest fear and rising to the challenges they were set, has made them a better person. At the same time, it is also important to show the antagonist’s weakness and their fears as the balance of power finally shifts and good wins against evil.

Often in thrillers, good writers build up to a climax where good wins and the audience feel they can finally relax and stop biting their finger nails, when the villain will have one final attempt to beat the hero before being finished for good.