Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers are sometimes used in films when a sequel or prequel is wanted. They often feature the main character in a precarious situation, or are confronted with a shocking revlation. This can entice the audience to keep watching in order to see how the situation resolves.

The most commonly thought of cliffhangers are those in soap operas. At the end of each episode the soap is drawn to a close using a cliffhanger to make sure the audience will watch the following episode to see how the situations pan out.

Red Herring

The 'Red Herring' is a device which intends to divert the audience from the truth or an item of significance. It can work with other devices, such as the enigma, to create extra suspense.

An example of this is Hitchcock's 1958 film 'North by Northwest'. The main character Thornhill, is sent to meet a man (Kaplan) who will explain why he has been mistaken for a government agent and help him.

Locations

The locations we are planning to use to film for our thriller are dark, dingy spaces. We wern't planning to film in school but at the last minute didn't get permission for the warehouse we were originally going to use, so we walked around school to look for possible locations. We discovered a 'backstage' area, a rarely used gym which would be perfect when we block out the windows with black card.We can also film in my house or possibly my cousin's house if permission doesn't come through, and a black wall where the 'Victim Board' will be.

Stairs Backstage

Gym

Me checking out the gym

Gym

Gym

Backstage corridor

Enigmas

An enigma is a puzzle, something mysteious or unexplainable, or a ridde or difficult problem in thrillers. This is commonly something which the protagonist has to try to find out or solve before the 'final stand off' or the conclusion of the film.

Narrative; Structure, Formulas and Devices

The clear establishment of 'cause and effect' plotting which establishes character motivations and helps tell a interesting story which proceeds logically and steadily. Also the automatic use of 'continuity editing' in a piece of film. This is where the editing has little or no flaws in it. For example, if someone was wearing a red shirt in one shot and a green one in another, this would cause continuity editing problems.

Hitchcocks 'Maguffin'

A 'Maguffin' is a plot device that advances the story and involves the charactors, but has little relevence to the story.

''We have a name in the sudio and we call it the ''Macguffin''. It is the element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the necklace and in spy stories it is always the papers.''
-Alfred Hitchcock


The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with one another or by merely trying to demolish the others mental state.
Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitarty character where characters must resolve conflicts in an effort to understand something that has happened to them.

Production Meeting 1

Task 1: Create a spider-diagram of potential thriller ideas.


Task 2: Take on one idea and develop it onto a second spider-diagram. Consider locations, props, camerawork, cast, etc.


Task 3: Write a 'Proposal' outlining your idea for a thriller opening and the locations/props ect, that you require.


Task 4: Storyboard it.

Rope by Alfred Hitchcock

'Rope' directed by Alfred Hitchcock is another film that is all about suspense.

Two young well educated men strangle and murder a friend of theirs just to see if they have the intellect to get away with it. They then invite close friends, their old professor,and the murdered mans parents round for a dinner party while hiding the body in a covered chest under all the food in the sitting room.
The chest is always in the centre of the shot, which builds anticipation and suspense as we don't know if they will get found out. There is also a strong sense of disgust as there is a dead body in the middle of the room! 
The audience was almost part of the murder and therefore we know something the other character's don't, which gives us an advantage over them, we hold the upper hand. A part of us might not want them to be found out and prosecuted, just to see how things play out.

Sabotage by Alfred Hitchcock (1935)

'Sabotage', directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a classic example of suspence. An secret agent from a foreign country owns a cinema and lives with his wife and her younger brother. The agent plants a bomb in a can of film and uses the boy to transport the bomb to the other side of London to blow up another cinema.
Suspense is created because the audience know what time the bomb is going to go off at, we fret for the young boys safety as the viewer wonders if the bomb will go off when the boy is holding it and therefore killing him. Hitchcock has cleverly made the audience empathsize and care for the young boy as his childish nature is revealed, for example his marvel at the parade, and we are literally on the edge of our seats as we see the time for detonation growing nearer.

Children Of Men

'Children of Men' is one of my favourite movies, it's not so much a thriller as a brilliant example of shock and suspense.

I noticed shock was used more heavily than suspense, for example in the opening scene everything was all calm, the camera follows the lead charactor out af the shop and down the road where he stops to put sugar into his drink. The camera rotates 360 degrees around him at a normal pace, prehaps so the viewer can take a good look at him, and rests on him with his side to the shop. Out of nowhere the coffee shop he has just exited explodes without warning; this is shocking to the audience as we had no idea or suggestion that the peace would be disrupted in such a shocking manner.

Zodiac

Zodiac is set at night time, so there was little light and the car in which the two characters were in was dimly lit which portayed an air of mystery, you dont know what could come out of the shadows. This builds suspense as we don't know what is going to happen. We also never see the face of the murderer, this worries the viewers as we generally take comfort in knowing who is the killer, the majority don't like guessing games or mind games at the end of a film, we prefer the story to be wrapped up.

The opening is full of tension and suspense which is a typical convention of the thriller. I can use this in my thriller as and I can also use the dim light effect as it creates a mysterious atmosphere along with the creation of suspense and tension.

A History Of Violence

Today I watched the opening scene of ‘A History of Violence’, we are introduced to the two main charactors, one wearing a black suit in the middle of a desert, while the other in more appropriate t-shirt and shorts. This instantly contrasts one another as the man in the black suit is instantly seen as the antagonist- a cliche in the thriller genre.


The two men were casual in their way of talking, moving and body language, almost too exaggerated in their casualness which builds suspense as we want to know what's happening, and frustration at their exaggerated slowness. 



There was hardly any sound at all in the opening, there was little speech with only the sound of crickets as a background buzz. The car radio is turned on momentarily but then switched off when a western folk song begins to play.

The camerawork was rather simple; panning, mid shots, over the shoulder shots and close ups. It was very slow moving, almost exaggerated which built suspense and kept the audience guessing what was happening or what had happened. The audience pieces everything together really slowly which then builds more anticipation and tension.

The Usual Suspects (1995)

Following a truck hijack in New York, five con men are arrested and brought to a police station for questioning. As none of them are guilty, they plan a revenge operation against the police. The operation goes well, but then the influence of a legendary mastermind criminal called Keyser Söze is felt. It becomes clear that each one of them has wronged Söze at some point and must pay back now. The payback job leaves 27 men dead in a boat explosion, but now the real question arises: Who is Keyser Söze?
The Usual Suspects is a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat right til the very end. It makes you question everything and everyone, plays mind games as every good thriller does.
 ''Who is Keyser Soze? Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone.''
-Roger Kint (played by Kevin Spacey)

Editing; Psycho

Today in class we watched the iconic shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The director had used fast and frantic shots to make the scene more gruesome and scary than it actually was, as at no point does the viewer see the killer stab the woman. We see her reaction to the killer, the knife, the stabbing motion, blood around her feet, but we don't at any point see any harm being done to her, but we assume shes been stabbed to death due to the rapid edits.

Suspense and Shock

Suspense and Shock


Imagine a scene of a film in a classroom like this one, the camera reveals that there is a bomb under the table to the audience but the students and teacher are unaware of it.
This creates suspense as the audience knows about the bomb but the characters don't. This also creates anxiety as the audience will ask themselves questions such as: 'Will the bomb go off?' and 'Will we be saved?' 
This is suspense!


Now imagine the same scene except that instead of the camera revealing the bomb under the table it, without warning, explodes and kills everyone present.
This is shock!

Alfred Hitchcock Quotes

"The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them."


"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."


"If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what's going on."


"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."


"I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach."


"Under the strong influence of Alfred Hitchcock, thrillers often begin with a crime and the accusation of an innocent bystander. When the accused tries to contact the authorities, no doubt the case could be promptly solved, but instead the poor bystander runs from the law thus jeopardising life and limb." - Rick Attman

Do films follow rules?

Most would agree that there are certain conventions that mainstream films observe in order for them to be accepted to the mass audience.


MY THRILLER RULES;

• They run a lot, sometimes for no reason.
• Turn away from explosion, don't really care if they kill people.
• Walk away slow while victim runs and somehow reach them.
• Doesn't always follow the Protagonist, sometimes its the Antagonist.
• Cool gadgets.
• Femme Fatales.
• Twist in the plot.
• Antagonist gives away his whole evil plan.
• Revenge.
• Sidekicks.
• Sidekicks/Women who fall over at the most inappropriate times and in the most inappropriate places.
• Set in urban areas such as major cities. Eg, New York, Paris, Chicago,London.
• Fight sequences.
• Car chases.
• Point of view shots.
• A problem, sometimes called an Enigma.
• Kidnapping.
• Slow motion.
• Mind games.
• 'Who dunnit?'
• Dramatic music.
• Trade off.
• Stand off between Antagonist and Protagonist and various other people.
• Cliff hanger between scenes and at the end of the film occasionally.
• Drive off into the sunset leaving trail of destruction.
• Time limits.
• Low key lighting.
• Serial killer.
• Suspense.
• Helpless innocents.
• Extreme close up.
• Fast pace edits.
• Antagonist returns at end for revenge.

The Thriller

"Thrillers are films of suspense... supposed to instill terror into the audience" - Susan Hayward, 'Key concepts in film studies'


When looking at thrillers, we have found that it is very difficult to define what passes as a thriller as most thrillers are also put under other genres, the most common one being action, horror and even romance.


Thrillers :


Usual Suspects
Disturbia
Buried
Panic Room
Phone Booth
Hostage
Battle Royale
12 Rounds
No  Country for Old Men
When a Stranger Calls
The Strangers
Law Abiding Citizen 

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock (13 August 1899–29 April 1980) was a British film director and producer. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned a distinctive and recognisable directorial style after a successful career in British cinema and silent films. He directed 52 films and is often regarded as the most influential British filmmaker. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense/psychological thriller genres, for example he framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. 


His stories frequently feature fugitives on the run from the law and have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring violence, murder, and crime. Through his cameo appearances in his own films, interviews, film trailers, and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon.

The Daily Telegraph said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else."