The Thriller Genre

The thriller genre mainly consists of fast paced, adrenaline pumping action, usually with a great amount of suspense shifted throughout scene to scene. There are all kinds of thriller, such as; The legal thriller, spy thriller, action-adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high-tech thriller, military thriller. The list goes on and on. All of these kinds of thriller  involve the ‘thrill’ that gives the genre ‘thriller’ its name.
This is an image of the shirt we propose to use in our peice:

The camera-work in thriller films normally consists of close-ups to further add tension and to show facial expressions of characters. Normally, when close-ups are shot, it gives a sense to the audience that something extreme is going to happen within that scene. Extreme Long shots however are just for setting the scene and to signify feeling of a situation in distance. The camera often moves swiftly during an establishing shot with music playing over the top. The editing within the camera shots would juxtapose the pace of the scene. For instance, if the editing and general scene was fast paced then the editing would be also, and vice versa. The mise-en-scene would usually consist of props such as guns, cars, weaponry etc, with blood also being a popular part in a thriller.

 The music would typically be orchestra based, similarly to the James bond series and many others including the classic 1960’s film ‘Psycho’

Prelim Task

This is my video upload of our preliminary task where we had to shoot some footage of a breif storyline within the school premesis. This is what we came up with and it is currently titled "Mafia prelim task". By me, Jamie Webb, Jamie Moulds and Rhys Evans.

Overall, I think that our prelim task was very succsessful because we shot all the footage that we wanted within the given time. It got some good feedback from the audience that watched it and the music, mis-en-scene, footage etc was very fitting to it's title 'Mafia style prelim'. If I was to change anything about it I would enhance the vocals as they are somewhat quiet.

Production Company Name Ideas

This is a mind ap of ideas for names of our thriller film production company. We chose a wide variety of ideas and discussed them within the group. These are the following:

Thriller Institution Company - Universal Studios

I have researched the institutions that produce thriller films and I have found out that "Universal Studios" have distributed thriller films in the past. University Pictures is one of the six major movie studios. It was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, it is one of the oldest American movie studios still in continuous production. Here are some examples of thriller movies that were produced and distributed by "Universal Pictures":

·                     Drag me to Hell

·                     The Strangers

·                     The Last House on the Left

·                     Stay Alive

·                     The Unborn

Being one of the oldest American movie studios still in continuous production, "universal studios" have a lot of experience within movie making, so they would be ideal for producing and distributing our thriller film. They are a worldwide production company which means they would definitly support films made the UK, and would also help within the merketing section as they could advertise and sell all over the world (mainly in the USA)

The reason why I chose "universal studies" over other producers, for example "summit entertainment" or "dimension films" is because Universal Studies is arguably one of the most famous producers and have the most knowledge, experience and financial support. Also, our thriller is very inspired by thrillers produced by Universal Studios, so in that sense they would be more of a help. However, the only problem is that Universal Studios is originally based in the USA, so convinience would be an issue. 

Memento review

The film “Memento” is classed as a psychological thriller, and truly lives up to this. With the option of viewing in linear or non linear really treats the audience which is what makes this film very unique. With flashbacks from the linear version, shown in black and white, creates a mind puzzle for the audience to solve. The black and white camera work denotes with the past, change and difference, which Is exactly why it has been used in the film. The sense of confusion is carried throughout the whole film, with senses of mystery which is what makes it live up to the thriller genre, along with mild scenes of violence, connoting with blood, fights and weaponry. Guns are a key factor within the mise-en-scene, as they are commonly used within the scenes, and in the thriller genre, which is why “Memento” lives up to its genre.

It cleverly uses Polaroid photos within the mise-en-scene to capture the story in an illustrated way, and adds to the sense of mystery. On the topic of mystery, the music choice is very typical for a thriller film, strings, eerie minor notes and low tonality. This adds tension in the fact that It juxtaposes with the dark depressing scenes. The impact this has on the audience is a positive, responsive one in the fact of the juxtaposition of the music and scenes. 

First Video Upload! Thriller Audio Track

This is an audio track I created for my upcoming project of filming part of a thriller movie. I mixed this using audio software, in particular audacity. It is great for changing pitch's, speeds and effects for any type of audio

Prelim Storyboard

This is a snap shot storyboard I made before the actual filming process of the prelim task. This pretty much shows all the shots in order and actually shows us what the shots are. However, I havn't included certain      and specific effects used as some of them can only be used on video software.

The happening Review

The Happening

The first 5 minutes from the thriller ‘The happening’ are action packed and full of suspense. The use of camera shots and transitions used within the opening sector of the film appeal to the audience and give off a great first impression of the film.  Also, I noticed that the non digetic sounds are greatly enhanced. For instance, when the knife gets plunged into the woman’s neck, it seems a lot louder than everything else in the cut-scene. This is because it adds suspense and is there to shock the audience and make them jump. Also, the sound of the bodies crashing to the ground is enhanced for the same reason as the knife. 

The eerie non digetic effects of the wind blowing  gives an indirect impact on the audience in the way that heavy wind is typically linked in within the thriller/horror based genre. The angles of the camera greatly shows the effects of the wind on the characters faces, which gives the audience a clear indication that wind is present. Weather deems to be a great convention within the thriller genre as it creates the ‘eerie’ effect that is popular within the genre. Weather also reflects on what is happening in the scene, for instance if the scene seems sad or angry, the weather would reflect on it and would be dark, cloudy, raining etc.

My personal favourite still frame is the image of the bodies falling off the scaffolding, mainly because it is a unique camera angle (Worm’s eye view).  The music played over this is string, orchestral sounds which again, typically denote with the horror/thriller genre.

Camera Shots

Extreme Long Shot (Establishing Shot) - This is a shot which gives the audience a sense of scene. It shows a large scale of an area and really emphasises the backround and environment the character is against, especially as the first shot within a sequence. When shooting at this kind of distance, it is hard to see the subtle dramatic performances of the character - (so gestures may need to be played big if this wide framing is to be continued for a long length of time).

Long Shot - the whole subject is in frame. The usual convention of the Long Shot (LS) is the character's head and feet are nearly touching the top and bottom of frame. As we are now closer to the subject, it is easier to identify aspects of the character and their performances, but also retain the audiences' awareness of the overall environment they are in, which makes the Long Shot (LS) a good framing for action scenes and observing social groupings.

Medium Shot - The convention of the Medium Shot (MS), is (when framing a person) approximately half of their body is in shot, ie. from waist up. More subtle perfomances and detailed actions can be seen. The Medium Shot is a good framing for conversation scenes between characters, especially if hand movements are part of the performance.

Close Up - The Close Up Shot (CU) shows a detail of the overall subject or action- ie. the head or hands if it is a person. Close ups of characters are a good way to engaging the audience into the character emotionally. We should also note, as we get closer to the character, we begin to lose the background information, therefore emphasising the subject, rather than the background.
Extreme Close Up - With the Extreme Close Up (ECU), a small detail of the subject is framed, often enlarged more than life size, creating a distortion of scale. This unnatural closeness to the subject is good at bringing the viewer into intimate or fetishistic relationship with the subject

Appetite for Destruction

This album is called 'Appetite for Destruction' and it is by my favorite band of all time, Guns 'n' roses. This is probably the bast hard rock album I have ever heard and gave me great joy from listening to it. Released in 1987, it features all the conventions you would expect from a hard rock band, from electrifying vocals, to heavy and melodic guitar riffs and licks. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a liking to either blues, rock, metal, alternative rock, anything! This album will leave you singing along to famous songs from it such as 'Sweet child 'O mine, welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Rocket Queen, Nightrain' and many more! appetite for Destruction, by one of the greatest bands that ever lived. Guns 'n' Roses.


Guns n' Roses consists of 5 members at the time of 1987. The members from the album 'Appetite for destruction' are (from left to right):
Izzy Stradlin - Rhythm guitar
Steven Adler - Drums
Axl Rose - Lead vocals
Duff Mckagan - Bass, backing vocals
Slash - Lead guitar

Rambo: First blood part 2

I watched the movie Rambo: First blood part 2. This movie was an overall adrenaline pumping action thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed. Staring Sylvester Stallone, this movie contains all the conventions expected from an action thriller, with scenes that will leave you in suspense, shock and pure amazement. I watched this film because it was a follow up from Rambo first blood. Sound is used very efficiently in this film, mainly because of the use of typical chinese xylophone used during establishing shots. The camera work is very clever as it always films close-ups, extreme close-ups and medium shots during the breakthrough of tension, and extreme long shots (establishing shots) to show the setting and scene. All in all it's a fantastic movie!

First post!!

First post ever by me!! Enjoy it..