2. Setting
Within this aspect of a typical convention of the genre Thriller, the
location is usually set within the city which is more intriguing and
creates a known presence/atmosphere for the audience. In addition,
they can closely relate to the where everything is set which makes
them feel involved. Our example is incorporating the use of London
as it has famous landmarks and destinations, as well as being quite a
crowded area.
3. Protagonists/Hero’s
In our opening sequence the protagonists are clearly highlighted,
especially within the scene that incorporates London because we
implemented the use of a tracking shot which emphasizes their
importance and significance. They are usually typical of solving a
mystery or puzzle that involves crime with the antagonist/villain.
They usually realize when something isn’t right or reflected in a
positive manner.
4. Low-Key Lighting
In the typical Thriller film, low-key lighting is usually introduced in
some manner. This can usually be displayed to reflect upon the
Antagonist/Villain because audience’s use negative elements towards
this type of character like darkness and evil which brings them
power. Also, it illustrates the use of not knowing what’s coming next
or is going to happen when everything progresses.
5. Solving The Puzzle/Mystery
In our opening sequence, solving the puzzle/mystery isn’t resolved
as it’s not clearly depicted across to the audience in terms of the final
product. This aspect allows our opening sequence to progress to a
further extent as it creates the illusion for the audience of what to
think and how everything has occurred or is going to in the near
future.
6. Costume’s
The costume’s within Thriller’s usually confronts to the audience
who the character’s are, whether they are good or bad. In our
opening sequence they convey the meaning that Alex, Nathan and
Emily are the ‘Apprentices’ because they dress professionally and in
a smart manner which helps clarify that their minds are set on
business/work.
7. Antagonist’s/Villain’s
In our opening sequence the antagonist isn’t clearly clarified because
the audience doesn't get to see them which emphasizes and
exaggerates the mystery of who killed the character ‘Shakur
Blackman’.
9. Setting
• The setting in a thriller is usually a city, which is a
busy place where you wouldn’t expect anything
abnormal to happen. We use this convention in our
opening sequence because it helped make the plot of
the film a lot more mysterious, as well as making the
sequence more realistic, in terms of a thriller opening
sequence.
10. Heroes
• Every thriller film has heroes in it in order to make
the plot go forward. These characters are the ones
who solve the mystery and end up thwarting the
plans of the villain. We used this conventions
because it allows the narrative of the film to be
continued so they can find the villain solve the
mystery.
11. Villains
• Just like in any other thriller film there has to be a
villain so they can make a mystery that can be solve
the mystery that can then be solved by the hero. We
decided to develop this convention by showing what
the villain thus providing the mystery for the hero to
begin to solve. We thought this would better because
it makes the audience think about what the villain
might look and how they might act.
12. Low key lighting
• Low key lighting is used to add the potential element
of surprise to sequences because you can’t see
everything that happens in the frame. We challenged
this convention because in our sequence we want to
shy away from being completely identical to a thriller
opening sequence, we wanted it to have a unique
feature to it.
13. Costumes
• In thriller films you don’t usually see any unique or
outrageous costumes and they seen to be everyday
clothing. We used this convention to our advantage.
This can be seen in our choice of costume as it can
be classed as smart attire. We did this, once again, so
we could be as close as possible to a thriller opening
sequence.
14. Mystery
• The mystery in a thriller film is what makes it a
thriller because the audience doesn’t know what is
going to happen which will make them thrilled when
they find out. We used this convention because it will
make the opening scene more intriguing and will
make them want to know what is going to happen
throughout the film.
15. In what way are the conventions
used or challenged in my sequence
16. Slow paced editing
• What this means is that the editing is slow and
isn’t faced paced allowing the location and characters
to be seen which doesn't’t confuse the characters.
• We have conformed to this convention.
We have done this when our two characters
were walking on the bridge. This was a long take and
was also edited in slow motion. This allowed the
audience to understand our characters and work
out where they are situated in terms of location.
• If we was not to conform to this idea of slow
paced editing, we would have a lot of shot takes
which would make the sequence move quickly.
This would confuse our audience which then mean
they wouldn't’t understand what is going on and
would lose interest in our film. For this reason
we conformed to this convention.
17. Ident and titles
• An ident is a short clip showing
the logo of the production
company or distribution
company. The titles are the
title order, why the director is
always last.
• In my final product, we did conform to using indents and titles.
We used two indents, the first was of our distribution company
and the second was of my production company.
18. Close-ups
• A close-up is a camera shot where the camera is zoomed into one
specific object or a persons face.
• We used the use of a
zoom in to show the
frustration and
impatience of the male
boss. By zooming in we
showed
the emotions of the boss which then created an anxious atmosphere
for the audience.
19. Establishing shot
• An establishing shot is a shot of the location to give the audience an idea to where
they are.
• We did not conform to this
convention in our opening sequence.
The reason why we did not conform
to this convention is because we
wanted to add a sense of mystery to
our opening sequence. Although it was
obvious to where we were filming as the audience can see Parliament Palace, we still
wanted to add mystery to the sequence.
• Because our film is based around apprentice agents, who will turn into official secret
agents, we wanted to hide the location like they want to hide their identity. This
creates a secretive atmosphere.
20. Title sequence
• Conventional order;
• Name of studio
• Name of production company
• Director film
• Starring
• Rest of cast
• Music by
• Costume designer
• Edited by
• Production designer
• Edited by
• Production designer
• Produced by
• Written by
• Directed by
We have followed the conventional order of title
sequence. The reason why the director will always be at
the end is because they are the most important person. By having
them last people will be more likely to remember the director. We
have done this as Nathan acted as director so therefore will be
mentioned last as now people will be able to remember his name as he
has a whole section to himself.
21. Mise en scene
• This is the arrangement of
scenery, props and the
location.
• We used the location of London.
The reason why we chose this is
because our audience are
nationalists and by having this as the
location, it would appeal to our target
audience as well as making the film more
rational, which is a convention of a
thriller.
• We used smart costumes to make our characters seem like they have authority; a thriller will have
protagonists who have authority.
