ESTABLISH SETTING: where going to start of with an establishing shot of the train station which cross cuts to the park where charlotte is running a stick against the fence.
ESTABLISH EQUILBRIUM:
INTRODUCE CHARACTERS: lots of ristricted shots on charlotte to connote she is the antagonist. close up mid shot etc
long shots, mid shots on mica so that the audience can identify hey as the protagonist
SET UP CONFLICT DISTRUPTION:
CONVENTIONS EVIDENT/ CHALLENGE CONVENTIOS:use red herring making the audience think misca could be the antagonist
Saturday, 30 January 2010
TAGLINE IDEAS FOR MY OPENING SEQUENCE
- i will be you! if not today or tomorrow the day after
- what i want is what i get
THRILLER REVIEW 2 - HALLOWEEN ||
i think this was an excellent thriller giving that there was minimal dialogue, the tension was built right up throughout the entire film. the film kept me at the edge of my seat wonder what was going to happen next, if he is dead and so on.
Friday, 29 January 2010
WHAT IS A TREATMENT and past students treatment
- a treatment is a full account of a films narrative which is written in continuous prose.
- it gives a strong sense of how the film may look
- often used to sell an idea
what should a good treatment include?
- a tittle
- a tagline
THRILLER OPENING SEQUENCES DO'S AND DONT'S
As a class we came up with things which we should definately think about putting into our thriller openings and things which we shouldnt.
the diagram above is of some of the conventions of a thriller which i had to list during lesson time.
OPENING SEQUENCE?
how important is the opening sequence?
- first impressions
- introduces characters
- set the tone
- introduces themes
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
PRODUCTION LOG
Pre production stage
19th January 2010- today we decided on the type of thriller genre we would like to produce for out opening sequence. We have decide to produce a physiological thriller
20th January 2010- our aim for today was to decide on an original logo for our production. Shapali and Charlotte came up with a production company name called hollow tree’. Our inspiration came from trees located in the park which looked slightly gothic. We also wanted crow flying away from the tree. We are hoping to make this image soon.
25th January 2010- today we discussed the importance of an opening sequence and its purpose we also watched a few trailers such as fight plan, panic room and American psycho and briefly discussed them during lesson time.
26th January 2010- as a class we went through the things we should include in our thriller and the thing we really shouldn’t. Also I wrote a quick list of a few of the conventions of a thriller.
27th January 2010- Today Mica and I researched on the audience we would like to appeal to. One of the sites I used was the British board of film classification which helped us decide on the age of the audience we want to target. We have gone for aged 15 and over.
i also made a mood board on audience and camera shots.
29th January 2010- today I learnt what a treatment is which I will explain within my blog and as a class went through a past students treatment.
2nd febuary 2010- today i wrote up the audiece profile and pitch my title and tagline to the group. which was successful as both team member liked it.
3rd febuary 2010- today we pitched our idea to the whole class which didnt really go good as we hoped as our idea didnt appeal to our target audience/classmates and teachers
4th febuary 2010- today we had a production meeting and decided to change our idea.
5th febuary 2010- we came up with our new idea
6th febuary 2010- we pitched our new idea to to ms Berry and started to think about settings and props we would need for this
7th febuary 2010- today i wrote the group treatment up and uploaded it on the group blog
8th febuary 2010- today we started to story board our idea and decide to do our recce on the 10th feb.
9th febuary 2010- Mica and i sat down together and nearly completed the storyboard
10th febuary 2010- went on recce with a friend who is not part of the group
11th febuary 2010- updated my blogg casino royale analysis.
12th febuary 2010- went on another recce to show the particular areas we want to focus on but had lots of technical problem and was not able to upload the videos on my blog.
did auditions for our thriller we audition 6 people and decided to choose 2 of the group members as they are more relable and easy to gget when neddded.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
THRILLER CONVENTIONS IN TRAILERS
The Final Destination
'The final destination' is a supernatural horror film written by Eric Bress and directed by David R. Ellis which can also be seen as a thriller as the trailer reveals some of its conventions.
Such as theatre of the mind, making the audience imagine. this frequently used convention builds up the tension and suspense throughout the trailer keeping the audience intrested and wanting more. for example the trailer allows the audience to see short clips of the scenes were each teenager may die however because its short and fades into other clips the audience is left to think of what may be happening.
Another convention it uses it constant use of enigma codes which creates a sense of mystery and uncertainty for the audience which makes them drawn into the film right from the start. the trailer suggests that the main character has supernatural powers which allow him to see the future mintues early biding him time to change what may happen. this gives the audience a sense of abnormality however even though it seems abnormal people in society right now believe they can see the future and tell the future which signifies it can be classes as normal. normality and realism is another convention of a thriller which this trailer has clearly portrayed that final destination has.
The Non diagetic slow paced music is another convention of a thriller film which helps create suspense and a tense atmosphere. As we get to the part were everything is going wrong, the bolts unscrewing themselves and the care breaking into pieces etc the music builds up, it becomes faster in pace and the speed of the music risens connoting something has gone wrong and that something bad is going to happen.
The Hand That Rock The Cradle
I think this thriller trailer portrays a good thriller in some ways. it starts of with a red herring making the audience think the nanny is a good person however as the story develops we discover she is infact the atagonist.
the trailer uses alot of sound in orders to create suspence and tension such as tense mysterious music around the nanny, soud effects of the glass breaking etc
the mise en scene helps in identifying this film to be a thrilller it uses props such has a knife, the nanny reached out for the knife which creates a tense atmosphere. the editing is generally slow but when the tense music approaches the pace becomes faster. the cienmatography include lotws of long shots close up and mid shots which help the audience understand who is who and wht is happening.
'The final destination' is a supernatural horror film written by Eric Bress and directed by David R. Ellis which can also be seen as a thriller as the trailer reveals some of its conventions.
Such as theatre of the mind, making the audience imagine. this frequently used convention builds up the tension and suspense throughout the trailer keeping the audience intrested and wanting more. for example the trailer allows the audience to see short clips of the scenes were each teenager may die however because its short and fades into other clips the audience is left to think of what may be happening.
Another convention it uses it constant use of enigma codes which creates a sense of mystery and uncertainty for the audience which makes them drawn into the film right from the start. the trailer suggests that the main character has supernatural powers which allow him to see the future mintues early biding him time to change what may happen. this gives the audience a sense of abnormality however even though it seems abnormal people in society right now believe they can see the future and tell the future which signifies it can be classes as normal. normality and realism is another convention of a thriller which this trailer has clearly portrayed that final destination has.
The Non diagetic slow paced music is another convention of a thriller film which helps create suspense and a tense atmosphere. As we get to the part were everything is going wrong, the bolts unscrewing themselves and the care breaking into pieces etc the music builds up, it becomes faster in pace and the speed of the music risens connoting something has gone wrong and that something bad is going to happen.
The Hand That Rock The Cradle
I think this thriller trailer portrays a good thriller in some ways. it starts of with a red herring making the audience think the nanny is a good person however as the story develops we discover she is infact the atagonist.
the trailer uses alot of sound in orders to create suspence and tension such as tense mysterious music around the nanny, soud effects of the glass breaking etc
the mise en scene helps in identifying this film to be a thrilller it uses props such has a knife, the nanny reached out for the knife which creates a tense atmosphere. the editing is generally slow but when the tense music approaches the pace becomes faster. the cienmatography include lotws of long shots close up and mid shots which help the audience understand who is who and wht is happening.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
PRODUCTION COMPANY LOGO'S
The images below are of existing film production company logos. i used these logos for inspiration in order to create my own original logo for my production. The one that i really like is the dark chastle one however we decided on a scary looking tree with a crow flyig away for our logo.
SPY GAME- brief synopsis and my review
task - in few words as possible sum up the plot to 'spy game'
- spy game is about Tom Bishop who gets captured (Brad Pitt)
- Robbert Redford retires
- Robert finds out Bishops captured
- he works against CIA to free him
- CIA interviews Robert
- Bishop is freed
- Robert leaves CIA
- CIA realise what he did
task - what made spy game a gooo thriller?
good
- star apeal
- action
- sense of mystery
- race against time
bad
- no cheap suprises
- not enough enigma codes
- not much tension
- lead story not exiting enough
task - loooking back at spy game what was is needed for it to be a good thriller?
what make a good thriller
- restricted narration
- enigma codes
- something to save
- red herrings
- theatre of the mind
- interlinking story-lines
- sense of realism for the audience
- non linear
- twists to put you off the plot
my review on 'spy game'
From watching spy game I would say it was a satisfactory thriller but it didn’t draw me into watching it. For me this film lacked in building up the tension and creating suspense, when I watch a thriller I expect it to make me jump and sit at the edge of my seat but this never happened. There were no cheap surprises and not enough enigma code. There was a lot of action within the film and it contained time ellipses which were irritating, they never made sense I didn’t get why they kept showing it part from time going by. A good thing about this film was that it had a red herring however i never understood what was happening. The thriller sub genre I think it falls into is an espionage, it used a non linear narrative as it constantly had flashbacks and it had lots of takes in 2 locations which was very boring Overall this thriller was good however not my cup of tea and i wouldn’t encourage anyone to watch it.
THRILLER FONTS
physcological thriller fonts
THESE FONTS ARE ALL FROM EXISTING PHYSCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS WHICH ALL ALSO LOTS OF SIMILARITIES AND SOME DIFFERANCES. THE FIRST SIMILARITY I DENOTE IS THE COLOUR PALLETTE USED FOR THE TYPOGRAPHY. REDDISH PINK, BLACK, WHITE. THE COLOUR RED CONNOTES EVIL, BLOOD, WAR, WARNING, DANGER, VIOLENCE , HOWEVER IT ALSO REPRESENTS LOVE, PASSION, CUPID. THE COLOUR WHITE CONNOTES PURITY, CLEANSINESS AND INNOCENSE. BLACK CONNOTES REBELLION, MOURNING, MYSTERY. AND PINK WHICH IN CONTRAST TO RED IS A LESS DOMINANT COLOUR SEEN AS FEMININE AND WEEK CONNOTING LITTLE GIRLS AND MIGHT SIGNIFY THHAT THE FILM WONT MAKE YOU JUMP AS MUCH AS OTHER FILMS?
THE DIFFERANCE BETWEEN THESE FONTS ARE THE SIZE OF THE TEXT. THEY ARE EITHER REALLY THIN OR REALLY THICK CONNOTING THAT THERE IS MYSTERY WITH IN THE FILM AND IS ALSO THAT SIZE TO CATCH THE AUDIENCES ATTENTION, TO INGAGE THEM.
ANOTHER DIFFERANCE IS THE LETTERING. SOME HAVE ALL CAPITALISED LETTERS WHERE AS SOME DO NOT. CAPITAL LETTERS CAN CONNOTE A SENSE OF SERIOUSNESS, MAY BE BASED ON TRUE HAPPENINGS, WHERE AS LOWER CASE LETTERS CONNOTES SOMETHING LESS SERIOUS AND UNREALISTIC.
political thriller fonts
these fonts have been used for existing political thriller films and have some similarities between them. Such as rhe pointed ends, capital lettering and simple colour pallete. 
THESE FONTS ARE ALL FROM EXISTING PHYSCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS WHICH ALL ALSO LOTS OF SIMILARITIES AND SOME DIFFERANCES. THE FIRST SIMILARITY I DENOTE IS THE COLOUR PALLETTE USED FOR THE TYPOGRAPHY. REDDISH PINK, BLACK, WHITE. THE COLOUR RED CONNOTES EVIL, BLOOD, WAR, WARNING, DANGER, VIOLENCE , HOWEVER IT ALSO REPRESENTS LOVE, PASSION, CUPID. THE COLOUR WHITE CONNOTES PURITY, CLEANSINESS AND INNOCENSE. BLACK CONNOTES REBELLION, MOURNING, MYSTERY. AND PINK WHICH IN CONTRAST TO RED IS A LESS DOMINANT COLOUR SEEN AS FEMININE AND WEEK CONNOTING LITTLE GIRLS AND MIGHT SIGNIFY THHAT THE FILM WONT MAKE YOU JUMP AS MUCH AS OTHER FILMS?
THE DIFFERANCE BETWEEN THESE FONTS ARE THE SIZE OF THE TEXT. THEY ARE EITHER REALLY THIN OR REALLY THICK CONNOTING THAT THERE IS MYSTERY WITH IN THE FILM AND IS ALSO THAT SIZE TO CATCH THE AUDIENCES ATTENTION, TO INGAGE THEM.
ANOTHER DIFFERANCE IS THE LETTERING. SOME HAVE ALL CAPITALISED LETTERS WHERE AS SOME DO NOT. CAPITAL LETTERS CAN CONNOTE A SENSE OF SERIOUSNESS, MAY BE BASED ON TRUE HAPPENINGS, WHERE AS LOWER CASE LETTERS CONNOTES SOMETHING LESS SERIOUS AND UNREALISTIC.
political thriller fonts
these fonts have been used for existing political thriller films and have some similarities between them. Such as rhe pointed ends, capital lettering and simple colour pallete.
The following font you are about to see are fonts that i found using the internet web 2.0 sites, which was called 1001 free fonts.
THE MACHINIST (2004), VINTAGE POINT & WHAT LIES BENEATH
why do i think they are good?
Here are 3 thriller opening sequences and explanation for why i think they are good thriller openings.
PHYSCOLOGICAL THRILLER
SUPERNATURAL THRILLER
POLITICAL THRILLER - VINTAGE POINT
PHYSCOLOGICAL THRILLER
SUPERNATURAL THRILLER
POLITICAL THRILLER - VINTAGE POINT
The opening sequence to Vintage point starts of with a creative title. i like the way we have been introduced to the film. we starts of with lots of establishing shots, such as birds eye view and panning shot inorder to introduce the setting, which in away is effective as it easily help the audience feel part of the setting and engages them.
the sound is very confusing it unbalances with what the audience sees, there are more then one non diagetic voice over when we see the establishing shots. the music at the begning of the clip gives the film a sort of tense atmosphere connoting that this is a thriller and something is goin to happen unexpectedly.
Cinematography is used to show that this thriller. The first shot we see is a long shot of the back of a women sitting on a bench in a train/ tube station and I denote she is alone at this station. This creates a sense a suspense by theatre of the mind as it gets the audience thinking someone may be behind her about to approach as the director moves from a long shot to a close up by zooming in. The long shot doesn’t introduce her character straight away, which keeps the audience wanting to know who is much more which builds a tense atmosphere for them.
Mid shot of moving train. Long shot of the back of a character sitting down, in front of a stationary train. Camera zooms into character- but her face not yet seen. Camera switches quickly from behind to in front. Camera then zooms into her face- portraying her fear.
The shot lead to a flashback which uses another long shot of a room with a coffin in the centre. I denote this is a flashback as someone cannot be in to location and a fade is used. This gives the audience an idea of what the story is going to be about and enable them to decode the enigma codes shown. Near to the end, another long shot is shown, portraying the main protagonist and the man outside and all of a sudden then birds fly up and into a black screen. This is a cheap surprise shocking the audience.
A list of other cinematography used
Mid shot
Low angle
twi shot
Shot reverse shot o
Several long shots
Panning
Zooming
Sound is also used to signify it’s a thriller genre. The diagetic sound of the train creates slight tension by the screeching sound. The sound of the rain works effectively and doesn’t really need any music to support it and there were no sound effects used.
the editing or the opening sequence consisted of a mixture of slow and fast pace editing is used throughout the opening title sequence of this film, which effectively builds up the tension and suspense. I think the train coming at the beginning creates a cheap surprise, even though it is expected it will always make the audience jump.
and finally the mise en scene also shows this clip as a conventional thriller. This train plays a significant role in the clip as it works with the titles. The framing of the clip shows the facial expressions of the women which tells the audience allot about the protagonists emotions and feeling. The lighting within the mise en scene is mostly dark however the bright electric lighting makes the room look lighter which creates an atmosphere and is conventional as thrillers always use dark lighting causing lots of tense scenes and suspense scenes.
THRILLER GENRE
thriller is a broad term that is used in film marketing, as a positive selling point for many types of films. Thriler is interprited in many ways such as:
- lots of action
- edge of the seat
- thrills
- excitement
- suspense
- engima/intrigue,puzzle
People class the genre Thriller and Horror as one genre however they are very differant. a thriller is the genre where there is suspense, tension, some sort of hidden mystery, engmas. where as a horror genre is scary, gruesome, very graphical, explicit - uses villans such as ghosts, vampiers, zombies and deformed people.
there are several types of thrillers some of them are the following:
- political thriller
- espionage 'spy'
- action
- physcological
- supernatural
- slasher/salker
- erotic
- legal
- crime
What makes a good thriller?
- restricted narrations
- non linear
- enigma codes
- sense of mystery
- red herrings
- theatre of the mind
- sense of realism - for the audience
- twists to put you of the plot
- something to solve
EVALUATING PAST SUTDENTS WORK
In order to prepare myself for my thriller opening sequence i had a look at 3 past productions done by past students which allowed me to see how to hit the higher grades and how to avoid the lower ones.
PRODUCTION NAME: Above The Law
The original grade this piece was given was a 'B' which is what I also graded it as. Above the law was a great clip but it was lacking in a few areas. For holding a camera steady, where appropriate I gave it a level 4. I thought it was excellent as it was steady and there were no unwanted sudden movements. For the framing of the shots including and excluding elements as appropriate I awarded them a level 3 the person thought about the farming of the shots carefully but it wasn’t concise. In order to get a level four it should have been constant. for the selection of mise en scene which included colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting I awarded it a level 3 this is because generally the candidate shows lots of ability however colour and the lighting could have been better. Few things I that am the group should have worked on was their editing as this is one of the key areas in which they were lacking in. they uses a shot reverse shot which was good however it wasn’t really edited and because of it it was quiet slow and had me confused as it broke the 18 degree. This group decided to use one soundtrack which worked reasonably with their opening sequence but I think if they added a few more other sound effects it would have built up more tension and suspense in places where needed. Moreover the group did not work hard enough on their title which looses the audience attention; if they worked on the titles I think they could have pushed themselves up another grade. Nonetheless the group uses a good amount of enigma codes which allowed the audience to question what is happening; which used theatre of the mind, one of the conventions of a thriller film.
PRODUCTION NAME: Ex Nihilo
PRODUCTION NAME: The unknown
PRODUCTION NAME: The gardener
PRODUCTION NAME: Above The Law
The original grade this piece was given was a 'B' which is what I also graded it as. Above the law was a great clip but it was lacking in a few areas. For holding a camera steady, where appropriate I gave it a level 4. I thought it was excellent as it was steady and there were no unwanted sudden movements. For the framing of the shots including and excluding elements as appropriate I awarded them a level 3 the person thought about the farming of the shots carefully but it wasn’t concise. In order to get a level four it should have been constant. for the selection of mise en scene which included colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting I awarded it a level 3 this is because generally the candidate shows lots of ability however colour and the lighting could have been better. Few things I that am the group should have worked on was their editing as this is one of the key areas in which they were lacking in. they uses a shot reverse shot which was good however it wasn’t really edited and because of it it was quiet slow and had me confused as it broke the 18 degree. This group decided to use one soundtrack which worked reasonably with their opening sequence but I think if they added a few more other sound effects it would have built up more tension and suspense in places where needed. Moreover the group did not work hard enough on their title which looses the audience attention; if they worked on the titles I think they could have pushed themselves up another grade. Nonetheless the group uses a good amount of enigma codes which allowed the audience to question what is happening; which used theatre of the mind, one of the conventions of a thriller film.
PRODUCTION NAME: Ex Nihilo
PRODUCTION NAME: The unknown
PRODUCTION NAME: The gardener
SEVEN ESSAY
What makes a thriller and how is this evident in se7en? A macro/ micro analysis of se7en (David Fincher)
In this essay I am going to explain what makes a thriller, which are the conventions and I am going to show evidence of the conventions using the film se7en. I will also be looking at the macro elements of the films and how the micro elements have been represented throughout the film.
The production Company that made the film 'se7en' was New Line Cinema, which is a visionary film company. The film was made in 1996 and directed by David Fincher; David Fincher has also made films such as Alien, the game, fight club, panic room, zodiac and the curious case of Benjamin Button. Most of the films that he has made are very similar to each other and they fit in to the same film genre, which is thriller. The main actors in the film 'se7en' are, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, both stars making a big difference to the film as it attracts a wide range of audience.
'Se7en' came in at number nine in the box office rating and its gross amount was $100,125,643. It has made $13,949,807 in the opening theatres. It had received lots of good critics. Also David Fincher has similar actors acting in various movies made by him which attracts the target audience.
The target audience of this film are male and over the age of 18. The reason I think this is because the two male protagonists of the film, detective Mill and William Somerset are over the age of 20 connoting the language will be mature and formal so the audience should be able to understand the film. Even though the target audience is males it also appeals to the female gender as Detective Mills is played by Brad Pit who is visually a handsome guy which means his fans from other movies he has made will also want to watch this. Also detective Somerset is play by the actor Morgan freeman who is very famous, he also will attract female fans of his age but In particularly males who look up to him as an idol or some sort of role model. The actual certificate for the film is 18. This is because of the content of the film; it includes images for example a 12 year old wouldn’t be able to see.
The narrative of this film is linear; it has a start, middle and an ending in the exact order. The evident of it being linear is shown through the days of the week coming up connoting that the next day is here. One of the narrative techniques that have been used a lot in the film is restriction connoting there’s something going on as the director is hiding it. Having restrictions doesn’t allow the audience to see the bigger picture so it builds up the tension; this also makes the audience question themselves and keeps them thinking and wondering what going to happen next? Which is one of the intensions of a thriller. Furthermore the film se7en uses Todorov’s theory, which is when there is equilibrium disequilibrium, attempted repair then a new equilibrium. The evident of it being used is when both the detectives Mills and Somerset are getting ready to go to work; this is the equilibrium. Then the first murder take place causing the disruption; the disequilibrium. The attempted repair take place when the antagonist has been caught and finally at the end of the film when the antagonist is killed and detective Mill find out his wife Tracy is dead the new equilibrium starts.
A thriller is a type of genre that makes the audiences tenses and suspicious; wondering what’s going to happen next? The films se7en is a thriller/ crime investigation, which is clearly pointed out by the name of the main characters ‘ detective Mills and Somerset. The setting of the film is dark and has a lot of dim lighting creating a mysterious atmosphere. The lack of lighting creates a negative mood. The color palettes used are grey, brown and black shades, which create mystery and add to the suspense. The name of the film ‘se7en’ connotes seven things could happen during the film and it does, so it foreshadows what the film is about. 7 murders take place and it’s based on the seven deadly sins. ‘Gluttony, greed, lust, envy, sloth, wrath and pride’ all of these words are the 7 deadly sins and we see these words in the film at least once connoting I significance. The diagetic sound of Detective Mills talking, when he is in the room of the second death creates an image that is foul and disgusting for the audience. Mills talks about the smell of the room connoting a gruesome atmosphere. The codes and conventions of a thriller genre include lots of non-diagetic music or silence, which is there to create suspense and a tense atmosphere. One of the conventions used is the color palette. The word greed was written on the floor in red writing connoting its blood, which signifies death. On day Wednesday there was a warning sign connoting danger ‘keep out’ however the protagonists didn’t connoting they are brave and dominant. This film is a thriller, which is connoted by the setting of the film. I denote dark colours and dim lighting, which is creating a mysterious atmosphere. This is a typical setting for a thriller film. A convention of a thriller usually includes images to pup a point across; near to the end of the film there was a room full of images and whilst it was shown to the viewers there was non-diagetic music playing which was slow and the editing was slow paced connoting the scene was significant and it also created a sense of mystery. A cheap surprise was used on day Thursday, when the ‘dead body’ representing sloth started coughing out of nowhere. Also there were lots of restrictions during this event allowing the viewers only to see what the character saw. Moreover Around the body and the room were lots of car air fresheners connoting the smell in the room is very vile. There is an upside down painting connoting there is something wrong. When the detective takes it down fingerprints are found connoting the film has a sub-genre of investigation as they have to use this to find out where to go next. When John Doe comes out of the prison and is walking towards the car there is a low angle shot, connoting he is dominant and powerful. Another shot used is a bird eye view of the helicopter moving allowing the audience to know where the film is set. There is a Christianity symbol in red, in the antagonists room connoting he Is religious however he could be following Satan.
The main characters are represented as complete opposites of each other. Detective Mills verbal codes are as follows. He wears casual clothing with a leather jacket and has an untidy hairstyle connoting he is a busy man and doesn’t really care about his image. Throughout the film Detective Mills vocabulary contains a lot of swear words such as ‘fuck’ connoting he is uneducated however is a serious determined man; very passionate about his work and also that he is a young detective. On the other hand detective Somerset’s dress code is formal he wears a suit mostly and wears glasses connoting he is an intelligent man and his image matters to him. This signifies that the character of Somerset is a stereotypical. He also shows his intelligent by going to the library and researching on the investigation. The guards at the library know him very well, this connotes he is at the library a lot. The character John Doe is also a main character however he plays the antagonist. When the audience first see him, they see him covered in blood which connotes he is dangerous and the villain of the film. The next time we see him is when he is wearing an orange uniform, this shows a negative representation as it connotes he is a murderer, a criminal as it is only worn by people who have committed acts like he has done. This also makes it easier for the audience to recognise him. John Doe isn’t a stereotypical murderer because he confessed to all his killings. John is a very calm natured person which connotes he could be insane. I think this because he doesn’t shout or scream and thinks what he has done is probably good and always tries to maintain a calm atmosphere around himself. “I’m not special, I was never special” when John Doe says this he says it with a calm manner, this connotes he could be doing this because he was never special.
In conclusion the film ‘Se7en’ shows evident of what makes a thriller. It contains the conventions of a thriller as it creates suspense and tension. The film makes the audience jump by using cheap surprise; restrictions to build up suspense and uses enigma codes to create mystery. All of theses are conventions of a thriller and is shown in ‘Se7en.’
In this essay I am going to explain what makes a thriller, which are the conventions and I am going to show evidence of the conventions using the film se7en. I will also be looking at the macro elements of the films and how the micro elements have been represented throughout the film.
The production Company that made the film 'se7en' was New Line Cinema, which is a visionary film company. The film was made in 1996 and directed by David Fincher; David Fincher has also made films such as Alien, the game, fight club, panic room, zodiac and the curious case of Benjamin Button. Most of the films that he has made are very similar to each other and they fit in to the same film genre, which is thriller. The main actors in the film 'se7en' are, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, both stars making a big difference to the film as it attracts a wide range of audience.
'Se7en' came in at number nine in the box office rating and its gross amount was $100,125,643. It has made $13,949,807 in the opening theatres. It had received lots of good critics. Also David Fincher has similar actors acting in various movies made by him which attracts the target audience.
The target audience of this film are male and over the age of 18. The reason I think this is because the two male protagonists of the film, detective Mill and William Somerset are over the age of 20 connoting the language will be mature and formal so the audience should be able to understand the film. Even though the target audience is males it also appeals to the female gender as Detective Mills is played by Brad Pit who is visually a handsome guy which means his fans from other movies he has made will also want to watch this. Also detective Somerset is play by the actor Morgan freeman who is very famous, he also will attract female fans of his age but In particularly males who look up to him as an idol or some sort of role model. The actual certificate for the film is 18. This is because of the content of the film; it includes images for example a 12 year old wouldn’t be able to see.
The narrative of this film is linear; it has a start, middle and an ending in the exact order. The evident of it being linear is shown through the days of the week coming up connoting that the next day is here. One of the narrative techniques that have been used a lot in the film is restriction connoting there’s something going on as the director is hiding it. Having restrictions doesn’t allow the audience to see the bigger picture so it builds up the tension; this also makes the audience question themselves and keeps them thinking and wondering what going to happen next? Which is one of the intensions of a thriller. Furthermore the film se7en uses Todorov’s theory, which is when there is equilibrium disequilibrium, attempted repair then a new equilibrium. The evident of it being used is when both the detectives Mills and Somerset are getting ready to go to work; this is the equilibrium. Then the first murder take place causing the disruption; the disequilibrium. The attempted repair take place when the antagonist has been caught and finally at the end of the film when the antagonist is killed and detective Mill find out his wife Tracy is dead the new equilibrium starts.
A thriller is a type of genre that makes the audiences tenses and suspicious; wondering what’s going to happen next? The films se7en is a thriller/ crime investigation, which is clearly pointed out by the name of the main characters ‘ detective Mills and Somerset. The setting of the film is dark and has a lot of dim lighting creating a mysterious atmosphere. The lack of lighting creates a negative mood. The color palettes used are grey, brown and black shades, which create mystery and add to the suspense. The name of the film ‘se7en’ connotes seven things could happen during the film and it does, so it foreshadows what the film is about. 7 murders take place and it’s based on the seven deadly sins. ‘Gluttony, greed, lust, envy, sloth, wrath and pride’ all of these words are the 7 deadly sins and we see these words in the film at least once connoting I significance. The diagetic sound of Detective Mills talking, when he is in the room of the second death creates an image that is foul and disgusting for the audience. Mills talks about the smell of the room connoting a gruesome atmosphere. The codes and conventions of a thriller genre include lots of non-diagetic music or silence, which is there to create suspense and a tense atmosphere. One of the conventions used is the color palette. The word greed was written on the floor in red writing connoting its blood, which signifies death. On day Wednesday there was a warning sign connoting danger ‘keep out’ however the protagonists didn’t connoting they are brave and dominant. This film is a thriller, which is connoted by the setting of the film. I denote dark colours and dim lighting, which is creating a mysterious atmosphere. This is a typical setting for a thriller film. A convention of a thriller usually includes images to pup a point across; near to the end of the film there was a room full of images and whilst it was shown to the viewers there was non-diagetic music playing which was slow and the editing was slow paced connoting the scene was significant and it also created a sense of mystery. A cheap surprise was used on day Thursday, when the ‘dead body’ representing sloth started coughing out of nowhere. Also there were lots of restrictions during this event allowing the viewers only to see what the character saw. Moreover Around the body and the room were lots of car air fresheners connoting the smell in the room is very vile. There is an upside down painting connoting there is something wrong. When the detective takes it down fingerprints are found connoting the film has a sub-genre of investigation as they have to use this to find out where to go next. When John Doe comes out of the prison and is walking towards the car there is a low angle shot, connoting he is dominant and powerful. Another shot used is a bird eye view of the helicopter moving allowing the audience to know where the film is set. There is a Christianity symbol in red, in the antagonists room connoting he Is religious however he could be following Satan.
The main characters are represented as complete opposites of each other. Detective Mills verbal codes are as follows. He wears casual clothing with a leather jacket and has an untidy hairstyle connoting he is a busy man and doesn’t really care about his image. Throughout the film Detective Mills vocabulary contains a lot of swear words such as ‘fuck’ connoting he is uneducated however is a serious determined man; very passionate about his work and also that he is a young detective. On the other hand detective Somerset’s dress code is formal he wears a suit mostly and wears glasses connoting he is an intelligent man and his image matters to him. This signifies that the character of Somerset is a stereotypical. He also shows his intelligent by going to the library and researching on the investigation. The guards at the library know him very well, this connotes he is at the library a lot. The character John Doe is also a main character however he plays the antagonist. When the audience first see him, they see him covered in blood which connotes he is dangerous and the villain of the film. The next time we see him is when he is wearing an orange uniform, this shows a negative representation as it connotes he is a murderer, a criminal as it is only worn by people who have committed acts like he has done. This also makes it easier for the audience to recognise him. John Doe isn’t a stereotypical murderer because he confessed to all his killings. John is a very calm natured person which connotes he could be insane. I think this because he doesn’t shout or scream and thinks what he has done is probably good and always tries to maintain a calm atmosphere around himself. “I’m not special, I was never special” when John Doe says this he says it with a calm manner, this connotes he could be doing this because he was never special.
In conclusion the film ‘Se7en’ shows evident of what makes a thriller. It contains the conventions of a thriller as it creates suspense and tension. The film makes the audience jump by using cheap surprise; restrictions to build up suspense and uses enigma codes to create mystery. All of theses are conventions of a thriller and is shown in ‘Se7en.’
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