The document discusses the conventions of the thriller genre that are incorporated into the opening sequence of a student film project. Some conventions included are the use of extreme close-ups of the protagonist, shorter shots of the antagonist to maintain mystery, intense music, handheld camera during action scenes, rugged costumes for protagonists and sleek costumes for antagonists. Editing and camera techniques similar to films like John Wick and Taken were also employed. Sound design included both diegetic and non-diegetic elements like drums, bass, and violins to build tension. Costumes, props, settings, and lighting were chosen to adhere to thriller genre conventions and create a dark and mysterious atmosphere.
2. INTRODUCTION
• Our chosen genre for our opening sequence is a Thriller. Therefore,
there are certain conventions we must adhere to for our sequence to be
classed as a thriller. Some of the conventions we have included in our
thriller are. Extreme close ups of the protagonist, this shows their
emotions. A shorter shot duration of the antagonist to hide there
identity and make them seem more mysterious. The use of intense
music. The use of hand held shots when the action begins in the clip.
This is also shown as it is the longest shot in the hole sequence. This
puts emphasis on the action. The costume of our character also
adherer's to the thriller conventions as it is rugged for the protagonist
and smart and sleek for the antagonist.
3. EDIT
• Our thrillers editing is similar to the editing of the opening scene of
John Wick. They are both similar as the pace of both of them are the
same. The effects used in John Wick is also similar to ours. They use fake
blood and that’s it. In our thriller our protagonist also ends up with
blood on him. Finally the transition of from each shot is similar. In john
Wick they cut back to similar shots of the phone. Where we cut back to
similar shots of the protagonists face.
4. TITLES
• Our titles follow the conventions of a Thrillers titles. This is shown in a
number of different ways. The background we used for our titles is dark
and gives a atheistic of danger due to its black colour.
5. CAMERA
• The camera usage in Man on Fire, John Wick and Taken is fairly similar
to our thriller. In the opening of Man on Fire, the character also starts in
a car. We see shots of the character from both inside and outside. This is
similar to our thriller as our character is also shown from the inside of
the car.
6. SOUND
• The sound we used in our thriller was both diegetic and non-diegetic. It
adhered to the conventions of a thriller. We used dark sounds, such as
drums heavy bass and high pitched sounds to add the concept of a
build up. To achieve this we used violins. The diegetic sounds we used in
our thriller where, sound effects such as the hammer hitting a body. We
also had a small amount of dialogue.
7. COSTUME/ HAIR AND MAKE UP
• Our thriller has very similar costume styles to Wild Bill and Harry Brown.
This is because they adhere to the costume style conventions of a
thriller. This means our thriller also adheres to thriller convention in
costume. However, our thriller is period set and has elements which are
epically British. Such as the gang men and wearing Barbour jackets Our
main character was also wearing a black jacket which had a large collar.
This is very common in thriller films such as Harry Brown and Taken.
8. PROPS
• In our thriller the props we adhere to the genre conventions of a thriller,
when it comes to props. For example we used Hammers and Guns. The
gun is one of the main props used in thrillers. We also used a hammer
to ad difference and verity in the weapons. We also used a phone in the
beginning this was similar to the opening of John Wick, as in both clips
shows the protagonist watch a video of a loved one.
9. SETTING/LOCATION
• The setting we used for our thriller coheres with the thriller conventions.
This is because we set our thriller in a pub. We chose this location as it
goes with the theme of our thriller which is set in the English
countryside. Another thriller which has scenes in a pub is Wild Bill. It also
has a very British theme about it. Therefore, by choosing a pub as our
location we are slightly braking the conventions of a thriller.
10. LIGHTING
• The lighting we used was both natural and false. We used natural
lighting when we where outside so we could get a realistic feel. We had
to use lights when shooting inside as it was dark and we wanted to be
able to shoot with the right amount. The lighting also adhered to the
stereotypical conventions of a thriller as we used low lighting to create a
dark and mysterious atmosphere.