Before we begin the process of planning and producing our own thriller, we needed to thoroughly understand what the thriller genre entails. Therefore we did some research on thriller suspense films, closely studying some previous thriller films that have been made.
The Thriller Genre simply intends to 'thrill' Its audience. More specifically, the objective of a good thriller is to create a high level of excitement, anticipation, uncertainty, surprise, and terror. Suspense is key to a Thriller film, it stimulates the viewers mood and engages them throughout the film. The suspense is born out of the plot which usually involves the investigation of an enigma, such as a crime. This convention drives the film, accompanied by action and violence. The narrative usually consists of a battle between a protagonist and an antagonist, featuring a disruption in the equilibrium. The story will build the tension until the climax, where the protagonist will restore justice and reinstate equilibrium.
Typical conventions of the Thriller Genre are:
Suspense
Action
violence
Interesting camera work (e.g Dutch Angles)
Close ups
Fast cuts
Montages
Flashbacks
Tension music
Low key lighting
Shadows
Cold grading
Thrillers are very often Hybrids. Here are the most popular sub-genres of thrillers:
crime thriller - Plot revolves around a crime
physiological thriller - conflict is mental and emotional rather than physical
political thriller - Hero/heroin has to ensure the stability of the government
spy thriller - The protagonist is generally a secret agent who must take on, an enemy government/terrosits
Alfred Hitchcock: 'The master of Suspense'
The english director Alfred Hitchock is considered the master of Thrillers. His films, such as 'Strangers on a train', 'vertigo' and 'Psycho' helped shape the modern day thriller genre. Alfred Hitchock is one of my favourite directors, I especially like his films 'rear window', and 'strangers on a train'. In these films his visual style creates so much suspense that you crave to find out what will happen next. He draws you into the world of the film,
with his exciting and strange, yet believable, characters and situations, making you desperate to see the outcome. His films are highly rewarding. Hitchock shows his audience the story, rather than telling them, meaning more thought is involved. As an audience we are given more involvement. We are left to make revelations and connection with the characters and story, thus making it a more satisfying experience.
He exerts the full potential of suspense, making him one of the most iconic figures and influences in the film world.
How is suspense created?
I believe suspense is created when the audience begin to anticipate bad or dangerous events, and they feel helpless to prevent it. A good director will create suspense effectively by giving the viewer subconscious hints about the forthcoming events. This plants bad thoughts into the audiences mind and engages them to the film, making them desperate to see what happens. Sometimes the best films, create lots of suspense where the audience presume something bad to happen but then nothing does, Leaving them on the edge of their seat.
A great example of this is 'The shining'. Leading up to the corridor scene where the twins appear the viewer is put on edge by the great low angle, stedicam shot following the boy as he cycles around the hotel. Every corner he turns, we have the idea implanted in our heads that something scary is going to be on the next turn. This is because Stanley Kubrick and the conventions of horror/thriller films have led us to believe that something is going to burst out onto the screen giving us a 'jump scare' in the traditional style of movie suspense.
Finally after watching the boy cycle around for 2 minutes, he finally turns a corner to reveal the twins. Our minds our now telling us that something bad will definitely happen. However what Kubrick chooses to do is hold the suspense with some uncomfortably long shots, before the boy continues on his tricycle releasing the suspense as nothing scary actually happens.
By doing this, the director does not waste away the suspense he has created throughout the film in a cheesy 'jump scare' featured in many poorly made horror or thriller films. Instead he builds the suspense to a point where, we are completely engaged in the visuals and the story, and have more of a psychological connection to the events, meaning we get a bigger reward at the end of the film when everything is revealed.
Sometimes our imaginations create much more fear and adrenaline than any visuals could.
We have decided to go for a location shoot to give the feeling of a natural environment compared to filming in a studio. Our chosen location is a forest. This is because we want to create a sense of isolation, and secrecy for the murder. It can also be a very peaceful and beautiful place which I believe makes a nice contrast from the events. In the entire narrative it is not revealed until the end that the boy was the murderer, therefore the murder needs to be commit in a deserted location such as this forrest. the reason they end up here would be explained in the film.
Ideally I would like these woods to appear very cinematic and picturesque like this image on the right. However, that all depends on the weather. Bright sunlight is what we hope for, however it is possible that we may get rain or cloud. Rain would be good as it adds pathetic fallacy. However cloudy weather throws soft dark shade over everything, making it appear dull and plain on camera.
We have discussed using the woods behind Peaslake house. Which look very similar to this.
CASPER the murderer who is running through the forest;
RICKY the victim who is shown in the flashback scenes.
We decided that our main character should be about 17-18 years old (A2 student). Tall and sporty so that he can run without any problems for a whole day. He needs to look innocent and unlikely to be a murder. Someone who appears smart and clever. We also require someone with very good acting ability to communicate the fury building within him as he is provoked by Ricky. He also needs to convey the emotion at the end of the sequence where he breaks down. Our film will not be effective unless he can convincingly convey this on camera.
The Actor portraying Ricky also requires good acting ability. This character needs to show extreme rage and adrenaline as he fights back casper leading to the murder. He also needs to look intimidating, like a bully, short hair with a tough looking face; Very different to Casper.
Basic Description:
Capser: Male, 18, white, physically fit, good looking, smart and innocent-looking.
After various group discussions, we have all agreed on a final idea for our thriller. Here is a narrative action list explaining exactly what happens:
Begin with two Establishing shots of picturesque forest, over the top we hear the sound of someone running.
Boy 1 (The murderer) then enters the frame.
The camera follows him as he runs through the forest, we see little of his face.
He is clearly panicked and distraught.
Intense music begins to grow, along with siren sounds.
As we see his expression more clearly as he is running, a flash back cuts in.
Flashback - It shows Boy 2 (The victim) pushing around Boy 1, provoking him, they shout at each other. Boy one is saying under his breath "Stop", as he builds with anger.
Cut back to Boy 1 running, we now begin to realise he is running away.
Flashback - shows boy 1 exploding with anger, boy 2 has pushed him to the limit. He throws him down to the floor and punches him in the face.
Cut back to running. He now starts to slow and stumble as he tires and begins to break down.
The camera tracks up to reveal one side of his face. Reveal that he is a teenager. He is crying.
He hits his own head, as if to get the thoughts out of his mind as we cut to another flashback.
Flashback - Boy 2 bursts back at boy 1 for punching him, They both struggle. Boy 1 defends and resists boy 2's attack. Blood from his wound drips onto boy 1's face.
Boy 1 now fully stops running, he falls to his knees and begins to cry in the middle of the forrest. camera tracks from one side of his face to the other, revealing a big splatter of blood on his cheek. he looks at the blood on his hands. As we see the blood, the music turns to a high tension, synth sound.
Flashback - great struggle between the two. boy 1 pushes boy 2 away. As boy 2 crazily ludges towards boy 1 to attack him again, boy 1 swings a log uppercutting boy 2. On the impact the screen cuts to black.
Echoed screaming from boy 2, boy 1 crying and distant sirens can be heard as the synth noise fades out.
Here is a selection of clips in which myself and my group have found inspiration for our Thriller. The shots, and use of camera is the main influence in these sequences.
THE CHASE (Action Short): (Forest chase sequence)
Inspiration: Handheld, chaotic camera movement/ Music
This chase sequence effectively creates a sense of chaos and anxiety, and establishes a clear narrative. Despite the CinemaScope ratio being a little over done, it is also very cinematic and is similar to what I want my thrillers' running sequence to look like. The film maker has used fast cuts and chaotic, unfixed, movement of the camera, to create a sense of disorder and panic. Ignoring the chaser, I picture the shots of our murderer running through the woods to look something like this. I intend to use a combination of handheld, medium and close up shots, creating panic, and revealing very little about the appearance of the runner.
The director has chosen to use a slow camera shutter speed, whilst quickly panning with the actor, this blurs out the background and intensifies the pace at which the boy is running, I intend to use this technique, to increase the pace at which my actor is running.
The music featured in this sequence is also suiting to the mood and atmosphere I want to create in my thriller. The high tension drums, combined with the violin adds a sense of empathy needed in my thriller. As the man has just commit murder, simple fast paced action music is not sufficient. therefore we need music that also expresses his feelings of desperation, regret, and fear.
SHERLOCK HOLMES - A Game Of Shadows: (Forest Chase Sequence)
Inspiration: Use of Slow Motion/ fast paced editing
I love the shots in this scene, they are incredibly interesting. The director offers many different angles and perspectives of the action. I am particularly intrigued by the use of slow motion. On the right you can see the camera rapidly crab through the forest, where a man bends down to grab his riffle. although our character may not be reaching for a weapon we could perhaps use this editing technique as our character looks back over his shoulder at his abandoned crime scene.
I also admire this extreme slow motion shot exhibited on the left. Here the character leaps over a log as a bullet passes close by him. This makes it seem epic and has a massive impact on the audience focusing their attention to the danger of the scene by pin pointing how close this bullet was to the man, this enables them to appreciate the intensity of the scene. This also creates a more interesting perspective on the action and adds a twist, so that it isn't just plainly a man running through a Forrest.
The last section I find very exciting and interesting is at 1:51, we see a medium close up shot of the man from a profile view, once again in extreme slow motion, however this time the music completely stops, and it is silent. This holds a huge moment of tension and is very alluring. We hope to create lots of tension in our thriller to keep the viewer engaged, this use of silence may be an effective method to create it.
Twilight - Forrest Scene: 360 degree shot
Starting at 0:49 there is a 360 degree track in medium close up of the two characters, this would be challenging to achieve however it shows depth and extent of the forest, making the character seem isolated creates a sense of the audience being in the forest watching and observing the character. It is elegant and engaging and I can imagine this working moments where we see the character break down. We coud use this to reveal the splatter of blood on the side of his face, moving from one side of his face to the other, creating a pivitol moment where we realise he has killed the other teenager. It rotates on the same level and keeps almost in eye line with the woman in the scene, this retains our interest through out the shot as it has quite a long shot duration and lasts for about 8 eight seconds. The whole shot creates suspense and dramatises the situation, and this could easily be applied to our opening sequence.
The Talented Mr Ripley: (Accidental Murder Scene)
I saw this sequence in a movie I recently watched which features a scenario very similar to the one in my thriller. This accidental murder is what will happen in my thriller however will be shown with no dialogue and in a serious of short flashbacks. This is what happens: Boy 2 provokes boy 1, thinking that he wont fight back, but he takes it so far that boy 1 explodes with anger and does fight back in an extreme sense. Hurt badly, Boy 2 goes crazy trying to kill boy 1 until boy 1 has no choice but to use a weapon to kill boy 2.
This build up of anger between the two characters, is required from my actors to display how this boy has been led to commit murder. I need two very good actors that can make this scenario appear real, If the on screen events are believable then the audience will feel more engaged and connected with the characters.
I hope for my flashback sequence to look like this. Here are the key moments I intend to focus on:
The first flashback shows the moment where boy 2 provokes boy 1. This is what it should look like however set in a forest of course. Boy 2 will shout at boy 1, slapping him around like he is worthless and pathetic. We will see the anger building in boy 1 as he does this. Boy 2 here shows his dominance by standing above boy 1 and looking down on him. I intend to do this also to show who is in control of the situation.
This will be the second flashback showing the point where boy 1 is pushed to the limit. After boy 2 mocks him, he makes a drastic move in an outburst of anger. In this clip he hits him with an oar from the boat, in my thriller boy 1 will grab boy 2 and punch him in the face. This will be the turning point in the flashback sequence where the serious violence really begins, and the audience now begin to presume that this is going to end badly.
In the third flashback, boy 2 who is injured from the punch will fight back, between them there will be a great struggle. Here boy 1 will be defending himself as boy 2 goes crazy trying to fight back at boy 1 for punching him in the face. These shots will be very shaky and cut fast creating an intense sense of danger and struggle.
This will be the fourth flashback. Here the two will be mid fight. Boy 1 will be frantically trying to defend himself from boy 2 as he uncontrollably attacks him. Blood from boy 2's punch wound should drip onto boy 1's face. Boy 2's expression will be filled with intense anger and adrenaline. Boy 1 will show fear and panic. After a few seconds of struggle boy 1 will manage to push boy 2 away from him into a tree.
In the final flashback the final murder will be shown. after pushing away boy 2, boy 1 will quickly stand up. As boy 2 crazily lunges towards him from his knees. Boy 1 will grab a log and swing it at boy 2, uppercutting him and killing him. The screen will cut to black a split second after this has happened and we see some blood fly close past the lens.
After some more group discussions we have now decided to discard the second half of our sequence. We now will only see the boy running through the forest without the section where the mother is informed by the police. We did this in order to focus our storyline to one moment. We also researched murder, and how the police inform parents, and they very rarely tell the parents themselves, they are either spoken to by a lawer, or the person themselves.
We have also decided to add flashbacks in order to make clear what is going on without giving away too much.
We also think it is an important factor of the storyline that the murderer and the victim are both teenagers. So we have decided to hide their identity until the end of the sequence showing just shots of the murderers body as he runs until the end of the running sequence where the boy will break down to the floor as he has a realisation of what he has just done. This is where we will reveal the Murders face, with a distraught expression and a splatter of blood on one side.
The director has chosen to use a slow camera shutter speed, whilst quickly panning with the actor, this blurs out the background and intensifies the pace at which the boy is running, I intend to use this technique, to increase the pace at which my actor is running.
I love the shots in this scene, they are incredibly interesting. The director offers many different angles and perspectives of the action. I am particularly intrigued by the use of slow motion. On the right you can see the camera rapidly crab through the forest, where a man bends down to grab his riffle. although our character may not be reaching for a weapon we could perhaps use this editing technique as our character looks back over his shoulder at his abandoned crime scene.
I also admire this extreme slow motion shot exhibited on the left. Here the character leaps over a log as a bullet passes close by him. This makes it seem epic and has a massive impact on the audience focusing their attention to the danger of the scene by pin pointing how close this bullet was to the man, this enables them to appreciate the intensity of the scene. This also creates a more interesting perspective on the action and adds a twist, so that it isn't just plainly a man running through a Forrest.
The first flashback shows the moment where boy 2 provokes boy 1. This is what it should look like however set in a forest of course. Boy 2 will shout at boy 1, slapping him around like he is worthless and pathetic. We will see the anger building in boy 1 as he does this. Boy 2 here shows his dominance by standing above boy 1 and looking down on him. I intend to do this also to show who is in control of the situation.
This will be the second flashback showing the point where boy 1 is pushed to the limit. After boy 2 mocks him, he makes a drastic move in an outburst of anger. In this clip he hits him with an oar from the boat, in my thriller boy 1 will grab boy 2 and punch him in the face. This will be the turning point in the flashback sequence where the serious violence really begins, and the audience now begin to presume that this is going to end badly.
In the third flashback, boy 2 who is injured from the punch will fight back, between them there will be a great struggle. Here boy 1 will be defending himself as boy 2 goes crazy trying to fight back at boy 1 for punching him in the face. These shots will be very shaky and cut fast creating an intense sense of danger and struggle.
This will be the fourth flashback. Here the two will be mid fight. Boy 1 will be frantically trying to defend himself from boy 2 as he uncontrollably attacks him. Blood from boy 2's punch wound should drip onto boy 1's face. Boy 2's expression will be filled with intense anger and adrenaline. Boy 1 will show fear and panic. After a few seconds of struggle boy 1 will manage to push boy 2 away from him into a tree.
In the final flashback the final murder will be shown. after pushing away boy 2, boy 1 will quickly stand up. As boy 2 crazily lunges towards him from his knees. Boy 1 will grab a log and swing it at boy 2, uppercutting him and killing him. The screen will cut to black a split second after this has happened and we see some blood fly close past the lens.
