Thriller Opening Idea 3

The scene will be set down a dark alley way, a male figure is lent on the wall on foot on the wall he looks very dark and mysterious he is just about to leave when another man joins him, the first male begins to get quite nervous and does not make eye contact with the other male. The conversation is minimal. The shots we would like to use in the meeting of these two characters are mid shots and also close ups. The male figure that arrived last  wants some information from the other male, however the first male does not say anything and turns away, we then get a over the shoulder shot from the second mans point of view he then pulls out a gun and says to the man ‘turn around and tell me what I need to know or i'll shot’ we will get a reaction shot from the man that has turned away and then a close up of his face, the man says nothing but he has a smirk on his face. The screen then will go black and the title will appear.

Thriller Opening Idea 2

 To set the scene we have had the idea of an establishing shot of a derelict house, then in the shadows we will see a man sat slumped up against a wall, the man is mysterious and the audience do not know what he has done wrong if anything. A gun is on the floor beside him, has he used it the audience does not know, the man looks all battered and beaten, in his shaky hand he is holding a photo (family photo or a memory) the man begins to cry a tear rolls down his cheek and we get a close up of his eyes. As he cries we flash back what the picture is about, it is a happy memory then we flash back to him he rips the photo up and lights a match we get an extreme close up of the flame and then we see the man get up pick up the gun and walk away, we get a long shot of the man walking away from the house. And then the camera explores the house as the title appears on screen. We will use one main character because from our questionnaire results the audience prefer one main character, we will also use quite and tense music because from our questionnaire this is peoples preferred choice of music at the start of a thriller. This thriller will be in black and white because of the results shown from our questionnaire results. We would like the setting to be mysterious.

Thriller Opening Idea 1

Our first thriller opening idea is set in a church and churchyard. It will be in black and white and will have some quite, eerie music playing in the background, to create tension as we found through our questionnaire results that this is what people prefer at the beginning of a thriller. This idea will also use just one main character as this from our research we found is what most viewers before, and it will also help the viewer to connect more with the main character before the film begins and gets into depth. This idea is a Religious Thriller, and will be quite mysterious in the way that it gives nothing away to the viewer, that will give away what has happened or what’s going to happen, we have chosen to do it this was as when we sent out our questionnaire we found that most people prefer the beginning of a thriller to be mysterious rather than it giving away everything about the story. The scene will start off with an establishing shot of the church and churchyard, and will show time passing by showing the clouds moving across the sky, this will create some tension and the suspense builds for the scene to begin. The shot will then cut to a mid/long shot of a man running through the graveyard into the church, as he runs the shot will jump to the gravestones or statues in the graveyard to give the idea that he is being watched, even judged. The man will then burst into the church and crash down onto his hands and knees, holding some prayer beads and almost begging for forgiveness. This will create mystery and tension as the audience will still not know why he is doing any of this. As he is doing this, footsteps will begin to be heard quietly in the background then slowly getting louder, they will then stop, and the man will abruptly open his yes and look at the camera to create a very dramatic effect. As his eyes open the shot will turn to black and the title of the film will show up. The scene will then end.

This idea relates to the conventions of the thriller genre as tension and mystery is created, the music used will be very conventional of a thriller genre. It will also have dark scenery and a main event at the beginning that will introduce the main characters, and will keep the audience on the edge of their seats due to the fact that the main story line is not revealed.

Thriller Opening Powerpoint

We like the idea of having shots that show a lot of emotion, and having shots that create a lot of tension and so plan to use a lot of extreme close ups and close ups. We also from our research can see that more people prefer older thrillers and so like the idea of editing the shots so that they are in black and white. We are also planning on having establishing shots of landscapes, that shows time passing by having the clouds moving over the top of them and we also like the way that certain objects can be made clearer in the shots by blurring the background and think that this would be a good technique to use to draw attention to key features, such as a person or a gun. We also like the way that an emotion can be created by having an extreme close up of someone’s eye to show anger, or panic.

We decided that the location of our thriller opening needed to be mysterious and eerie and so we have looked at places such as churches, old abandoned houses/sheds, alleyways and graveyards, we decided to have this sort of setting due to the research and feedback that we received after giving out our questionnaire, we found that this is the effect that most people like created by a thriller opening.

We are planning on setting our thriller in the 1960’s due to some of our research results and so have planned our costume ideas around this time period, a lot of suits, dresses, and hats, umbrellas and scarves.  We chose this time period as well because we like the idea of having the main male characters in suits as it makes a scene more interesting and mysterious if it is out of a business context, and also will contrast the idea of someone running away, or being in trouble as you generally represent people in suits as businesses men, classy and upstanding. We also this that these types of clothes relate well to older thriller movies and will work better with the older, black and white effects.

The props we will use will be related to the thriller genre, such as guns, the bible, photographs, but will also relate to the time era we would like to set out thriller in, props such as umbrellas, scarves, hats and pocket watches.

Questionnaire Results

We gave out 30 questionnaires to a group of different people to get some feedback on thrillers and what people look for in then, we found that most 15-17 year olds as well as people ages 18+ watch and enjoy thrillers and so 15 is the age classification that we will use for our thriller as it will be watched and enjoyed by a large number of people. We also found from our questionnaires that crime, psychological and religious thrillers are some of the most popular and so the thriller ideas that we have thought of are based around these three thriller sub genres. We also found from our results that more people preferred having just one main character and that they preferred old fashioned thrillers compared to newer thrillers and so our ideas have taken into account these two results, by not having too many characters and editing the scene so that it is black and white to give it an older look, and also by using less high tech equipment to make sure that it doesn’t look out of place in the time period that it is set in.

We can also see from our results that at the beginning of a thriller more people prefer mystery than a crime or action and so each of our ideas have been made so that the viewer does not know much about the story behind what is happening in the scene, to make it mysterious and to create tension. We also found out that in the opening of a thriller people prefer quiet tense music compared to bold and dramatic music, and so this will be the style of music that we use in our opening to make it creepy and tense.

Thriller Movie Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Are you male or female?

Male               

Female           

What is your age range?

12-14  

15-17  

18+      

What is your ethnic background?

White British          

Mixed British          

Asian                        

Black African           

Black Caribbean      

Chinese                     

Other                        

Do you watch thrillers?

Yes     

No      

Do you like thrillers?

Yes       

No       

(If yes) What type of thriller do you like?

Crime thriller                     

Action thriller                    

Psychological thriller        

Religious thriller                

Spy thriller                          

Medical thriller                   

Mystery thriller                 

Legal thriller                       

Who do you watch thrillers with?

Family          

Friends         

Other            

What do you do in your free time?

Watch films  

Sport             

Clubs             

Read              

Watch TV     

Other            

Where do you tend to watch films?

At home                   

At the cinema          

Other                       

Where do you hear about films?

Newspaper    

TV 

Internet 

Radio

Magazines    

Other            

What makes an advert catch your attention?

Bold colours            

Bold title                  

Dramatic music      

Pictures                    

Special effects          

All                              

In the beginning of a thriller do you like a main event taking place to set the story?

Yes     

No      

Do you prefer old fashioned thrillers (e.g. psycho) or the newer thrillers (e.g. The Davinci Code)?

Old fashioned          

New                           

What music do you prefer at the start of a thriller?

Bold and Dramatic             

Quiet and Tense                 

At the beginning of a thriller do you prefer?

Dark and mysterious         

Other                                    

Character wise do you prefer?

One main character     

Many characters           

Other                               

Does the opening of a thriller to you have to be?

Action packed          

Gun fighting            

Mysterious               

Other                        

Thriller Classifications

The Usual Suspects
This thriller has been classified as an 18, this may be due to the content within the film, the main character is a con man, and the other four characters involved in the film are also criminals and so in the film criminal actions and law breaking sequences will be shown, and so may effect younger more impressionable viewers another reason why this film has been classified as an 18 is due to the event in which the plot is set around, and fire and massacre on a boat, which some younger viewers may find upsetting and cause anxiety and stress.

The Shining
This thriller has been classified as a 15, this is due to the plot and content of the film, the film involves a family going to an isolated hotel for the winter, where and evil, spiritual presence influences the father into violence, at the same time as the psychic son sees horrific events from the past and of the future. Due to the nature of this film is has been classified as suitable for only 15 years and over because of the violence and horrific scenes that are shown as it may upset anyone younger that may watch it, and because parents may not want their children younger than 15 watching a film with content like this has.

Taxi Driver

This thriller has been classified as an 18, this is due to the violence and content in the movie. It involves a mentally unstable war veteran who works as a night time taxi driver in the city who feeds his urge to violently lash out, attempting to save a teenage prostitute in the process. The violent scenes in the movie will be one of the causes of it being classified as an 18 and also the involvement of a prostitute may have caused the classification as it is showing an illegal action and can be quite influential on anyone younger than 18 watching the movie.

From looking at different thrillers and their classifications I can see that most are classified and 15 or 18 with a few exceptions such as Vertigo which is a PG. They have been classified in this age range due to the violence within the film and the horrific scenes and other content. Due this these classifications we can tell that most thriller are aimed at an older audience, as they will be understood and enjoyed more by this age group.