RESEARCH INTO THRILLERS - Miss Georgiou

RESEARCH INTO THRILLERS
(opening sequence analysis)

Opening sequences catch the audiences eye quickly and intrigue the audience. An good opening sequence is vital when creating an thriller film. An opening sequence is a mystery it gives away small clues for the audience about the rest of the film.

The film i have chosen to study for the research of thriller is Halloween. This film was made in 1978 and has many great features.

In the film 'Halloween' the Narrative is a thriller film set on the night of halloween. This film was directed by John Carpenter and he was inspired to make this film from the film made in 1960, Psycho.

Firstly, i looked into Cinematography. Cinematography is the art of photography and camera work in film making. The first point i made about this film was 'shallow focus'. This happens when the knife is coming out of the drawer. When this is happening it creates suspense for the audience and makes them wonder what is happening. This scene keeps the audience on the edge of there seats and makes them look further into the story line. This is conventional as there is always a main weapon in a thriller film. A main weapon creates suspense although the protagonist or the villain can use this.

Secondly i looked at Editing. The first point i am going to talk about is 'slow editing'. At the beginning of this short clip the antagonist is looking through the windows, spying on the young girl. This camera view creates suspense, as she walks slowly up to the door this is slow editing. This slow editing shows her strong facial expressions and focuses on the main weapon. This creates suspense for the audience as the main view is on the knife and you don't know whats coming next. Her facial expressions are blank the the slow editing works well by creating a build of up the scene.

Furthermore, i looked at Conventions.  Conventions are commonly used things in films. In thriller films the most seen conventions are; female victim, main weapon, slow editing, low key lighting, isolated area or scene and blood and gore. and My first point is 'iconography'. Iconography simply means props. The prop in this clip of Halloween is knife, it is in the lime light of the screen and creates suspense for the audience. A knife is the main prop and is a scary weapon to be holding in front of the screen. Also, the 'timing of shots'. The protagonist walking up the stairs really slow creates tension and suspense as you don't know what's coming next. The camera slowly watches the antagonist, and creates an image to feel like we are actually there. Also you don't if he's going to make it up the stairs in time and kill her.
Furthermore I also looked at Sounds. Sounds in thrillers are very common and without background music and extra noises to create tension a thriller would be boring. Firstly in the film Halloween, there was non-diagetic sound. This was when the light in the room turnt off, this noise creates tense atmosphere for the audience, aswell as a small shock. This is a small background noise and blends in with the background. Moreover, there was also a diagetic sound, there was many examples; chiming of the clock, the victim humming and finally screaming. All of these diagetic sounds over come the voices and background music if there is any. all of these sounds creates an atmosphere so the audience feel like they are in the film themself and are surrounded by the scene that is actually going on. Diagetic sound is a convention of thriller films and is commonly used. They are used because the attract the audience to watch more and more of the film. Also diagetic sounds can create a jumpy scene and an intriguing soundtrack.

The Target audience for this thriller is of an age range of 16+. I would rate it as this because there is a few violent scenes  and can be quite horrific. A thrillers purpose is to scare and frighten the audience although on the other hand intrege and capture them into watching the rest. The opening scene is vital and without it the viewers probably wouldnt want to watch. An opening scene also informs the audience of what conventions are going to be used and introducing the characters and their enemies.
 

The film being set on Halloween is typical of a thriller film. The audience would expect fear, hidden identity and elements of scariness. Halloween night is full of suprises and has a lot of mystery and enigma.

Looking at opening scenes of thriller films has helped me to persue an idea of why they are so important. What is it the audience like so much about an opening sequence? Is it because they love to see the intoxication of the characters identitys aswell as their hidden ones. The audience like to figure out the rest of the scene themself and picture out in their heads what the film is going to be about. An opening scene is a mystery and throught opens secrets to the film. Watch ing an opening sequence helps you experience the whole film and intreges you to watch more. My opening scene will be very much like Halloween. There will be hidden identities and lots of suprises.