Script

Scene one - train tracks
Molly
Diegetic sound:
*heavy breathing*
Breathing continues to become heavier as she runs down the track and slowly fades quieter as she runs away from camera

Diegetic sound:
*gasp*
As she turns around and sees someone in the distance she gasps with fear.

Diegetic sound:
*falling against the floor*
The sound created as she hits the floor


Cuts to flashback - the bar

Diegetic sound:
Molly 
‘ so are we going for some food then’

Friend
‘yes that would be great’
...
*phone rings*
‘oh! Just one moment’
*friend gets up and walks out*

Hustle and bustle of bar and ‘sweet caroline’ playing in the background


Cuts back to molly running down the track

Diegetic sound:


Continuos diegetic noises of her running down the track and heavy breathing

Face-Off Analysis

Face Off

 The first shot is a moving shot and is very blurry, the viewer cannot see what is being filmed, this creates a sense of suspense and mystery. The blurry pictures are in dull colours, mostly grey and brown which is not usual for a thriller as this creates the sinister atmosphere. The shot becomes clear and we realise that it is a moving carousel and this explains why the close up shot was blurred. A shot filmed from the other side of the carousel shows two character riding the carousel. We then see a little boy and a man in a closer shot, they are laughing and smiling whilst spinning on the carousel. The man is also wearing a dark brown shirt, as well as the little boy wearing a plain white t-shirt accompanied by a grey and brown checked shirt. The colours are washed out and dull, which is unusual as usually at a fair ground everything is bright and colourful. However, the washed out colours compel the audience to believe something negative is about to occur. As we are close up to the faces of the characters, they fade out as we see from a distance the whole of the fairground. As we are looking at the fair ground a white cloth appears at the bottom of the screen which is then taken ff to reveal a gun pointing towards the carousel. The silhouette of man stood in the grass with the grey sky behind him and the blurry trees next to him. The man throws the white cloth onto the ground. He then starts to kneel down as the shot fades out and cuts to him drinking from a straw. The camera moves upwards and we see his eye looking straight into the camera, making the audience feel uncomfortable and intimidated by this character. The fact that the killer has brought a drink with him shows that he is confident and suggests he has done this many times before. He places his eye into the lens and squints his left eye to gain focus. Through the point of view shot of the gun lens we see John Travolta and the little boy spinning on the carousel laughing and happy. The killer moves away from the gun and his emotions look resentful and sad, this suggests that he is not going to commit the crime as he feels guilty for what he has planned to do. John Travolta lifts up his child and places him in front of him on the same horse, facing each other. John Travolta strokes the child on his face to connote the affection and love they have for one another. They are both laughing and smiling as Travolta puts his hands round the child’s head and kisses him on the forehead. As he is hugging the little boy another point of view shot from the gun lens shows the back of Travolta and we see the killer release the trigger of the gun. The camera angles right in front of the gun and we see the bullet be released and watch it enter into Travolta’s back piercing through his jacket and blood pouring out. The force of the bullet causes Travolta to jerk back and fall off the carousel with his child in his arms. We then see the blood of the face of the horse which suggests the bullet went through the child as well. Balloons are slowly released into the air away from the carousel. John Travolta is facing down on the grass, he tries to pull himself along the ground to reach the child. A shot of the little boy on the ground not moving suggests the child is lifeless. We then see the emotion of the killer, he looks remorseful and upset as he sees the child lying on the floor. As Travolta reaches the little boy he places his head on to his heart realising he is not breathing. He then picks up his head and hugs him whilst the child is in an upright position, he cries into the child’s shoulder.

The non-diegetic music that accompanies the titles at the beginning of the film is a gentle high-pitched sound of bells accompanied with a more sinister deep tone. The bell sounds effectively sounds like a nursery rhyme, this is to create the contrast between happy and sadness. The sinister atmosphere, because it is a thriller, is created through the lower pitched piece of music in which is much quitter than the other piece. As the titles fade out we see a carousel, which parallels the up-lifting atmosphere of the music. As the carousel spins round the intensified diegetic laughter of a child echo’s above the music. The laughter occurs again as we then see the child. The music suddenly becomes quieter and is cut off by the intensified diegetic noise of the cloth being pulled off the gun.  The music changes into a much more sinister sound with no bells or high pitched instruments, the music sounds as though it is being sang by a large choir, however the voices are drowned and prolonged and the words are not apparent. A loud non-diegetic clicking noise becomes apparent as we see the killer through the lens of the gun. The same sinister music carries on, however a higher note as been added that plays over the music. The music changes, into a familiar happy tune whilst the camera focuses on the father and son on the carousel. The faded noise on gun shot plays over the music as the killer once again looks through the lens. Although the sound of bells are playing they become invisible as a really loud sinister tone takes over as the killer pulls the trigger on the gun. The exaggerated but diegetic noise of the bullet piercing the mans body becomes apparent with no music or non-diegetic sound to accompany it. A loud piercing screeching noise becomes present as the viewers attention is brought to the blood on the horse. The non-diegetic piercing noise continues along with the diegetic ‘chugging’ sound of the carousel spinning. For the first time in the film we hear John Travolta speak as he tries to wake up his son. The screeching noise has gone and it has changed into a deep, low pitched constant melody to create the sad atmosphere. The diegetic noise of John Travolta crying as he holds his son in his arms. The screeching noise returns once again but higher pitched and more intense and this time accompanied with a dark sinister melody and the faint diegetic noise of people talking and screaming.

The first shot is a swish pan which creates the blurry shots of the moving carousel, as a viewer we are unable to identify what this is portraying. A close up shot of the horses on the carousel moving around. A medium long shot of two characters on the other side of the carousel, this soon turns into a close-up shot of their faces as the carousel moves round. An establishing shot shows the whole of the carousel from a long shot view. A close up show is used to establish the gun, which is shown at the bottom of the frame. A long shot shows the killer stood up straight, which then become an extreme close up of the killer drinking from a straw. A tracking shot move upwards to capture the killers eye on a straight on angle. The camera stays on an eye-level angle as the man tilts his head towards the gun. A point of view shot from the killer looking into the gun shows a long shot of the man and child on the carousel. The shot is being taken through frame of the gun lens, and tracks the characters as they move. Another close up of the killer, the camera zooms out to allow the audience to see his full face. A medium close up shot is used again to enable both John Travolta and the child to be in the shot whilst on the carousel. A medium close up on the killer drinking from a straw. A close up shot of the man and child, and an eye line match to show they are looking and interacting with one another. A superimposition is used in a close up shot when the killer is looking through the gun lens. A close up shot of the bullet being released from the gun and a small elipses shot of the bullet leaving the gun and entering John Travolta’s back. A medium close up shot of John Travolta’s reaction as he shot, then a tracking shot to show him falling off the carousel onto the ground. A long shot of the balloons flying away turn into a dissolve shot, then a medium long shot of John Travolta sliding across the ground. It then cuts to the killer, a medium close up establishes his face, then a zoom into a close up shows his emotions. A medium close up shot shows John Travolta realising the child is dead and he cries into the child’s arms, this is all filmed straight on with the camera in one place.

We are introduced to the first two characters whilst they are riding the carousel (John Travolta). The characters are happy and smiling, which connotes they are enjoying themselves and are care-free. Throughout the opening scene the pin become more affectionate and loving towards one another, suggesting they are father and son. John Travolta seems to be a very caring father and idolizes his son, which is portrayed through his behaviour towards him whilst they are on the carousel. As we know Face Off is a thriller, therefore contains a protagonist and an antagonist. Through the way he is portrayed we are compelled to believe John Travolta is the protagonist. He is middle aged,male, fairly strong, he looks courageous and intelligent, therefore creating the ideal image of an thrillier protagonist.

Nicholas Cage is represented as the antagonist as he is the one that commits the crime in the first scene. We are made to believe he is not a stranger to crime as he seems very relaxed and calm about the murder. Cage is also drinking a drink, which shows his confidence and arrogance as he is not wanting to get it over and done with as quick as possible. His aim was also very impressive which again suggest he has experience. Nicholas Cage creates the perfect image for a villain, he is male, dark, mid 30’s and his pointed and structured facial features make him look more stern and harmful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiwA3C2qeRo

Research into thriller conventions

Research Into Thriller Conventions

Research Into Thriller Conventions A thriller always consists of a hero, stereotypically a middle aged men who is high ranked in his profession and doing well for himself. The hero usually tends to have a flaw, perhaps a mental disorder or physical handicap. Different examples of this type of character are Christian Bale in The Dark Knight, a billionaire who despite his status is a lonely grumpy man. In ‘Face-Off’ Travolta plays a middle aged head detective (as proven by his wall of achievements. His flaws are that he is still grieving over the accidental death of his son, and the fact that him and his wife are no longer as close as they used to be.

Strauss’ idea of an equilibrium is apparent through Travolta’s character as he starts off as a happy family man, spending some quality time with his son. This is then followed with the disruption as Cage accidently shoots his son. When this happens, the shot is slowed down so that the sense of panic is emphasised and we can see the expressions on characters faces. The resolution (we can only assume as we have only watched the opening of this film) is that Travolta, being head detective manages to somehow catch the villain (Cage), and somehow manages to resolve his flaws, by becoming closer with his wife and finally be at peace about his Son’s death. In comparison, Bruce Willis, in the ‘Sixth Sense’ plays a middle aged child psychologist who is highly ranked in his profession as proven by the plaque that he has just been awarded. Willis’ flaw (although not apparent until the end of the film) is that he is dead.
In these thrillers, the hero’s seem to consist of the on-going idea that they are usually middle aged men, highly ranked in their profession but consisting of a flaw. Thrillers also consist typically of a villain, usually a middle aged man like we would expect the hero to be. We often find a lady character who plays the ‘damsel in distress’, who we often find falls in love with the hero. For example, in ‘ Dead Again’, the ‘damsel in distress’, (Emma Thompson), falls in love with the hero of the film ‘Mike Church’, played by Kenneth Branagh, who again is stereotypically a middle aged man who is a high ranking detective. Claude Levi Strauss’ theory of ‘binary opposition’ is always present in a typical thriller film. Some examples of these could be: day and night, hero and villain, life and death, black and white, strong and weak and the protagonist and antagonist. We often find in thrillers that the antagonists take action at night and the protagonist takes action during the day time. This links in with light connoting purity and darkness connoting evil. In ‘Ills’, the opening scenes show us a murder taking place at night, accompanied by the use of stormy weather (pathetic fallacy), despite not seeing the antagonist at night, we see his work. This then cuts to a lady who we can only assume is going to either be the ‘damsel in distress’ or the hero walking through school halls during the day time, which could reinforce the idea that she is pure. ‘Hero and villain’ is the most obvious binary opposition that we see in thriller films, for example: Travolta and Cage, Pitt and Spacey and Pacino and Di Nero. Again, stereotypically all middle aged men. Todorov’s theory of narrative structure states that thriller openings consist of an equilibrium, followed by the disruption (often some sort of crime, usually a killing of some sort), and eventually at the end of the film is the resolution. An example which proves Todorov’s theory of narrative structure is the film ‘Memento’. The equilibrium is how Leonard used to be; a happily married man, doing well in his job as a highly ranked detective. The disruption occurs when his wife is killed, and he suffers an injury to the head, leaving him with short term memory loss. The resolution is left open to interpretation as we do not know whether he finds the man who kills his wife, although the clues are there to suggest that he does. Leonard also suffers with a flaw, like most protagonists in thrillers. His is that he suffers from short term memory loss and cannot make new memories since his accident, and in order to catch his wife’s killer must use a series of notes and tattoos. Physcho: This film starts with a woman at work, she’s happy and the whole atmosphere is positive, it is only when she steals the money and the mood changes. This is typical of a thriller as it usually starts with a positive scene to create the contrast between good and evil. Later on in the film we see the woman get murdered in her own bathroom, however id this was the opening of the film it would loose suspense. 4) Opening Titles There are a few different ways in which titles can be shown in the openings of films. Examples of two different ways are in the films, Sixth Sense and Face Off. In the film Sixth Sense the titles appear in white with a black background. This makes the audience concentrate just on the titles and in this time period the mood of a thriller can be created as it is done in Sixth Sense by using sinister eerie music, and the moving ghostly text used in the titles. Different styles of fonts are used for the titles, usually San Serif and Serif. The font in these titles is ‘Sans Serif’ portraying it is more youthful and does not need as much intellectuality to be able to follow the film. The introduction of ‘Usual Suspects’ uses the title sequence really well. At the start we see on the screen; • Polygram filmed entertainment & Spelling Films International Presents • A Blue Parrot/Bad Hat Harry Production • A Bryan Singer Film The above titles were all white writing on a black background with smoke rising from the bottom of the screen. Words are in Serif which tells the audience that the film is for people of a higher intelligence and the film requires a lot of concentration. After these opening titles we have overlay titles of what we assume are less important aspects of the film. This consists of names of the producer and people within the film. We then cut to a clip of a cigarette in a glass ash tray; we presume this is where the smoke is originally coming from. The final title is ‘The Usual Suspects’ in a large white font on a black background with the smoke. The smoke connotes mystery and fore, this is portayed later on in the film when an explosion occurs.

Obsession- Student Thriller

Obsession Student thriller from Holly Entwistle on Vimeo.

Obsession: Student Thriller

The production starts off with a full screen image of the ‘Miramax studios’ logo. The logo is presented as a full screen title telling us that it is important information, and the colors of the logo are white writing on a black background. This has been chosen because the black and white contrast with each other as binary opposites and create a sinister atmosphere. Next the ‘fractional studios logo appears, this again is full screen on a black background and the image and writing are in white. The crow is all black with a red eye, black symbolizes darkness along with red symbolizing fear and death, the use of the red in the crow’s eye makes the crow look more sinister and dangerous all of which sets the mood for the upcoming thriller, fear. Crows are a bird associated with mystery and power, many people see them as a symbol of superstition and bad luck, therefore the crow has been used as it helps to create the thriller genre of dark and evil and also adds to the sinister effect. We then have the title of the opening of the thriller, ‘Obsession’. This is full screen so we focus on it. The writing is white and Sans Serif and the background is black. This shows us the binary oppositions and foreshadows the genre of the piece; thriller. There’s no sound, and the silence is significant until a non-diegetic, industrial rock type of music plays with a repetitive, machine like rhythm. This is played while the titles are still on. This creates a sinister atmosphere.

As the titles fade out, the music becomes louder and louder and hits a crescendo. From this we have a sound bridge of the music (hitting the crescendo), and takes us to the emphasized diegetic sound of a tap dripping. The music dies out and we hear the diegetic sound of the water hitting the basin of the sink. This has been done to build tension from the audience and to emphasize the sinister atmosphere the scene is intending to create. The shot is an extreme close-up and we see the water dripping one-by-one. Whilst the music is still playing there is an emphasized sound of water dripping from the tap.

Sound bridges are constantly used to link each of the shots within the opening scene. We cut away to a long shot of a hill from inside the house looking out of the window, followed by a series of ellipsis edits showing other point of view shots looking out of other windows is the house. In the corner of one of the shots is a pair of binoculars, these are placed in order to imply that the character is spying or stalking someone. The camera is slightly wobbling on these shots adding to the effect of the point of view. Here there’s natural light used and it’s bright. This creates controversy with the fact that it’s a thriller and the setting seems positive. On this shot we have white, overlay titles. These are in sans-serif, which tells us the film does not require intelligence to understand the plot; it implies that the film will be action filled and modern. The titles grow as we cut away to a medium close-up of the window. Here it’s still ambiguous but we feel due to the mysteriousness of the opening that we have seen villain.

From here we cut to a montage of cuts; the titles disappear and we cut away to a bed shot, here it’s at a low angle. There’s high key low contrast lighting involved to represent more a feeling through the camera work. We cut away to a high angle shot of a mobile phone; it’s an extreme close-up to show the significance of the phone. The phone also shows the modern era juxtaposing with the exterior of a rural area. The phone turns on; here we hear a diegetic sound of the phone vibrating once again to reinforce the significance. Only a hand appears and this could show, once again, the importance of the phone. We once again get overlay titles, in the same font, as we fade into another close-up of the t-shirt. From this we cut to a low angle of a coat, the low angle could suggest dominance alongside with the dark lighting. From this we cut to a close-up of the zip of a blue jacket someone is wearing. We hear the diegetic sound of the jacket zipping up; this creates ambiguity because we still don’t know who the person is as we’re yet to see his face. To reinforce the idea of mystery we cut to the back of the character who is putting his hood up. This allows the audience to believe he is trying to hide himself and makes it more of an ominous opening.

We cut to a close-up of his shoes on a red carpet. The red carpet could give the idea that something is going to go wrong due to its negative connotations of blood and death. The black shoes also signify unhappy things; on top of this we have more overlay titles. From the fairly static pictures so far, there’s a match on action edit of him walking out of his bedroom door. We have a close-up of the door; we hear a diegetic sound of the man walking on the ground and the door opening. We then cut back to the previous shot on the floor to represent the match on action.

From here, we’re once again looking at the back of the character to continue the mystery as he walks down the stairs. We cut to a low angle long shot of the stairs, with the camera cutting off his face. The titles are still ongoing from here as the ellipsis edits of his morning routine continue, we hear the diegetic sound of his cereal crackling as he pours the milk.

We feel a sense of normality with this character currently as he’s partaking in everyday activities so it’s something we can relate to. But alternatively, his character is never fully revealed which consequently allows us to think something is wrong, something bad is going to happen and he may be the villain. This idea is supported by the non-diegetic music in the background at this point, the same industrial rock music that played at the beginning.

Once the person has left the house we fade to black. From here we cut to him walking, he does have a bag which allows us to think he’s going somewhere. Maybe he is going to school, or on the other hand he may have alternative motives which we, the audience, aren’t aware of. 

A graphic match is used to follow the boy as he walks, this is done from a front angle long shot, this is used to continually shoot his walk and move time on so it does not get boring for the audience. An ellipsis edit is then used to introduce a young female character, who we presume is the victim. We presume she is the victim because she is a young female character, using Propp’s theory about character roles in films she fits the character of the ‘princess’ or damsel in distress. The constant sinister background noise merges into a happier melody accompanied with diegetic bird noises in the background to create juxtaposition. This has been done to portray to the audience a little about the girls character, the bird noises are to represent her innocence and happiness compared to the contrapuntal non-diegetic music represents the danger she is unaware of. We can see that she will be the protagonist character in the film and soon become the victim. The music is used to create happiness around this character in order to create a love for her so when the girl later becomes the victim the audience feels empathy. A cut away shot is used to show both characters walking along the same path, not together but with the boy following behind the girl. As the girl comes into contact with another boy we hear the diegetic sound of their interaction and greetings. Meanwhile in the background when another person appears we see the boy, who we presume is the protagonist, disappear behind a tree, this is done to show the audience he does not want to be seen. This is done to create tension from the audience as we know something bad is soon going to happen however the girl does not. Doing this gets the audience involved with the film and entices them to watch more.

Throughout this the music is still playing in the background. Overlay titles are being shown over the scene in white writing, overlays are used to as they are an important piece on information within the star of the film, however they are used as overlay as it makes the beginning of the film flow as we focus on the action.

The girl drops her bag as she is walking; this makes the audience question why she dropped her bag? Did something make her drop her bag? A high-angled shot is used which creates a sense of weakness and vulnerability about the girl. As the girl bends down a medium close up is used and we see the boy stood behind her however when she stands again she looks around and they boy is no longer there. We see she looks concerned, we can tell she senses a presence of some sort.

he is no longer there showing the audience that he is stalking her and makes us wonder where he is which then builds tension and creates an air of mystery.

The screen now fades to black and the music tempo and pitch decreases and once more the sinister sound that was used at the beginning of the film. An ellipsis edit is used to take us to a street, at first the lights are blurred used to create a sense of unknown and mystery amongst the audience, this then focuses showing a long shot of the street. 

It then cuts to a long shot of the victim (the girl) walking down the street alone, her face is dark as chiaroscuro lighting is used. This makes the viewer’s uneasy and on edge as they do not know what is going to happen next however they know the girl is in danger. Another cut to medium to long shot of someone else walking behind her who is unidentified, the character has a bigger body build and their hood up so we presume this is the boy from earlier. At first we just see one figure however as she continues to walk the second figure emerges from behind her, this creates a shock to the viewer and build the tension as we realize that the incident. The diegetic sound of cars is used in the background as this links with the scene and makes it realistic, simultaneously the non-diegetic music is building in the background towards a crescendo, and this mirrors the action of the film as we know the disaster is drawing near. A medium shot of the attacker’s legs standing in front of the victim just before an extreme close up of the girls mouth is showed as we hear the diegetic sound of the girl screaming in a loud, unpleasant pitch. A dissolve edit is used to transition the shots, the use of the dissolve here helps build the tension as it is quite a slow edit, is also makes the characters seem closer than they have ever been.The shot of the boys legs is used in order to show a barrier between the audience and the girl, is makes her seem more helpless and provokes emotion from the audience of a will to help her. We are not shown what makes her scream as is creates more interest and a want to know what is happening, it leaves us on a cliff hanger in order to be hooked for the rest of the film. We assume that the boy who features in the start of the film has attacked her in some way; we are just not sure as to whether she survives the attack or is the attacker gets found. What will the resolution be?

A cracking sound of faded voices end the scene whilst the film title is shown again, flickering each letter on and off. This leaves the opening of the sinister tone needed to continue this effect throughout the rest of the film.

I think the opening as a whole was very well done and creates the sinister tense mood that thrillers need. The end scenes help to build the tension for the viewer because of the lighting and non-music used. All of the editing done is smooth and does not create confusion or a jump in the flow of the opening so the viewer is clear about what is happening. An area that could be improved is the middle section of the opening, when it is shot in daylight outside. I think the process is a little drawn out and could have been done more efficiently and less confusing to keep up the flow of the film.