Journal

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/cinematic
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

It took us some time to find the right soundtrack for our title sequence. We found fast paced music to go with the sequence and also to move it along and make it not drag. We found a soundtrack of nursery thyme as it goes with the narrative and audio in the begging.We found our other music on http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/cinematic and downloaded them to iTunes before transferring them to final cut pro.

Sub-Genre

Sub-Genres

The Thriller genre is split into different sub-genres to describe the type of thriller film each one is.


Psychological- Psychological thrillers focus on the mental and emotional state of the characters. It also plays on the audiences minds by using enigma which produces suspense in the film as it reflects on the characters mentality. Mystery and crime are often incorporated into the psychological genre. The 2010 film Shutters Island Dir. (Martin Scorsese) is an example of psychological sub-genre.

Political- Political thrillers normally include the main protagonist ensuring the stability of the government. Political corruption,terrorism and warfare are common themes of political thriller. The 2012 film Argo Dir.(Ben Affleck) is an example of Political thriller.

                                                                          

Spy- Spy thrillers mainly have elements of action. Spy films usually use government agencies as the main base of the film. Spy thrillers usually focuses on the main protagonists travel and adventures of either escapism or revenge. Sometimes spy thrillers have a combination of the genre of action and science. The 2002 film The Bourne Identity Dir.(Doug Linman) is an example of spy thriller,

Crime- Crime thrillers focuses on the criminals of the crime rather then the actual law. The main topics of crime thrillers are often about murder, killers, heists and robberies. The 2006 film The Departed Dir.(Martin Scorsese) is an example of crime thriller.

Audience Profile

Journal

Sound

Sound is important in every sequence as it creates the mood of the film. Sound is to help create tension with eerie or intense music being played in the background. High pitched sound is often used as it makes the audience uncomfortable it also shows that something unpleasant is going to happen. For example the 1958 film Vertigo Dir (Alfred Hitchcock). In this title sequence the sound is high pitched throughout creating suspense and making the audience uneasy as its also repeated over and over again along with the Saul Bass geometric shapes that also repeat so it makes everything seem never ending.

Vertigo- https://youtu.be/4CZfSc6nJ8U

In thriller it is also common to use add dialogue or inner monologues to the sequence as it creates enigma but also narrative which could link to the film further on. It also creates more direct tension towards the audience as it seems like they are experiencing the the film from the characters point of view.

Gone Girl monologue- https://youtu.be/vyYkttbnPK0

influences

Gone Girl

We are taking influence from the 2014 mystery thriller film Gone Girl Dir.(David Flincher)  Because our film idea is about an old case being reopened of a missing boy. We will be showing this through our title sequence by having props such as missing posters, clips of the news report, montage of locations.
In Gone Girl there is a scene in the beginning of the film of a persons speaking about the protagonist with an extreme close up shot of her. We are going to use the idea of an audio telling a narrative at the beginning of our sequence to add enigma.
In the Gone Girl montage there are locations of the city in the film, the shots have been filtered with a blue tint this creates a sinister mood.
In our title sequence we have decided to add a montage at the end with it including road signs such as arrows to represent her journey, signs of locations and maps of the area.

The typography is faded onto the screen and is placed on the bottom of the screen, the colour of the font it white it stands out from the shots which changes the viewers eyes to the text to read but as its also small

Analysis of sequences following codes and conventions

The Machinist

The title sequence of the 2005 film The Machinist Dir( Brad Anderson) follows the codes and conventions of the thriller genre. At the beginning of the sequence we see a black screen with the text of the film company but we hear the sound of a pant or someone struggling to breathe this already makes to the audience uneasy as they don't know where its coming from or who it actually is.

The soundtrack is mainly digetic in the sequence, the music is ominous and creepy which creates a thriller atmosphere. Danger is foreshadowed as there are digetic police sirens playing at the beginning of the scene.
As the audience we are watching the protagonist through a window this suggests that we are seeing it from a persons point of view, as it seems like he doesn't know that someones watching him.
Low key lightning is used throughout which creates heavy shadows also shows us the facial expression of the protaganist which makes his face look more creepy.
The sequence is overall slow paced this makes us look at whats going and pay attention to every detail

Cape Fear

The title sequence for the 1991 film Cape Fear Dir(Martin Scorsese) was designed by the graphic designer Saul Bass, he is well known for his geometric shapes and use of bold colours,
This title sequence follows the codes and conventions of thriller genre. The first scene opens on a river current with a reflection of an eagle, eagles are represented as predators and hunt by themselves for prey this suggests foreshadowing as in the film there may be a innocent be attacked by a predator.

As the sequence goes on we see an extreme close up of an eye this shot is effective because it makes the audience feel very uncomfortable. We also a silhouette of a man which hints the narrative of the film. There is a complete change of colour when we see red dipping into the water then the whole screen changes red which symbolizes danger and anger which also links back to the narrative.

The sound track is fast at first then gets slower creating a sense of panic and suspense.The music is played throughout the whole sequence. The music is very effective on creating the mood of the film as it sets a creepy and manic atmosphere.

The typography flows with the rivers current but the font is also sharp and aggressive which fits with the thriller genre.

Audience Profile

Journal

We researched music to go with our title sequence because our genre is thriller we are going to need a slow and eerie soundtrack to create a creepy atmosphere.

As a group we decided to add an audio to our sequence influence from the Gone Girl sequence. We choose to have one of our group member to say a few sentences from the Brothers Grimm story Hansel and Gretel as it links to our narrative of the missing boy this is effective because it adds suspense and tension towards the audience.

Thriller Codes and Conventions

Codes and Conventions of Thriller

The aim of thriller is to create suspense and excitement for the audience.
A thriller normally consists of a battle between the protagonist and antagonist, the story usually shows a chain of bad events building tension and suspense for the climax. The Thriller film often uses the busy streets and environments of is usually urban or suburban areas.

Conventions of a Thriller

Quick cuts
Low key cuts
Changes in the angle of shots
Tension music
Black and white shots
Montage of shots
Shadows
Close up shots

In Thriller the protagonist is often a brave male who seeks to restore equilibrium.
The antagonist will have a hidden identity to create mystery, but will uncover as the film carry's on.

In thriller there are a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the protagonist, this is often to show their emotions, also it can be used to focus on the props which links to the narrative.
The shots of the antagonist will be quick shots to hide the identity, low lighting , silhouette or the shadow can also create creepiness and mystery towards the antagonist.

Music is essential to understand and set the mood of the film. In thriller it adds suspense and tension. It will usually start as a slow pace and then build up to make shots more dramatic for the audience.

Pitch

Danny Yount

Me and my group made a presentation on prezi about the graphic designer Danny Yount to present to my class.
https://prezi.com/mnxtrgzo_3fd/copy-of-danny-yount/

Research Typography

These fonts all have a lot in common with each other. The typography is simple but bold, it stands out from the background even if it has an image it still draws the attention of the audience.The colour schemes across the thriller genre use the colours such as red, white and black. They stand out and have connotations of danger and blood. Some thriller fonts like cape fear can be distorted this is common as it has connotations of mystery and can sometimes be a metaphor or represent a character of the narrative of the film.



As a group we decided that the typography for the title sequence would be in a handwritten like font. We choose this as it links to the narrative of the missing boy so we will have the writing in a childlike font to represent the boy or the font to be written by the protagonist so her handwriting would be joined up but also quick and scruffy.
We took influence of the typography from David Flinches film Se7en as in the sequence it looks like the font is a handwritten by the antagonist himself it also metaphors him being childlike and manic with the handwriting font being scruffy and not very neat.

Saul Bass

Saul Bass

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer who became famous for his title sequences.

He is best known for his use of simple geometric shapes and symbolism he often created a single dominate image to stand alone to convey an influential message.

Bass started out designing posters; he was able to capture the mood of the film with simple shapes and images. He preferred this technique then using dull photographs from the film or using the film stars. 

Bass's work is often hand drawn to create a casual appearance and unique look.

Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese. He became well-known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955. For Alfred Hitchcock.

“I began as a graphic designer and as part of my work I created
many film symbols for ad campaigns. During that period I happened to be working on the symbols for ‘Carmen Jones’ and ‘The man with the golden arm’ for Otto Preminger. At one point in our work Otto and I just looked at
each other and said: “why not make it move?” It was really as simple as that.”


— SAUL BASS – “Bass on titles,” 1977

Se7en

     Kyle Cooper created the title sequence for the 1995 film Se7en dir (David Flincher), he              changed the whole movement of title sequences and influenced many other graphic                      designers when it was released. Cooper sets the mood of the film straight away with the              gritty and eerie music which emphasizes the thriller genre.

     The close up shots creates a claustrophobic feel to make the audience uncomfortable but also        forces them to look at the smaller details on the screen and what you wouldn't necessarily            look at also on what the character is doing such as what hes highlighting, titles of                

     newspapers and photographs. It also makes the audience think on who the character is, what        hes doing and why hes doing it.

The close up of the dirty hands shows that he does a lot of manual work as which also makes the audience uncomfortable as the character is using a razor to peel of the skin which isn't classed as a normal thing to do. Also when the perpetrator is suing the book it also makes the viewers fear the needles and reminds them of stitches. The props are books, journals and files which can be associated with investigation and detectives which gives the audience on what the film could be about.

The colours are neutral such as black and white but when it goes further into the sequence bits of red show up and when photographs are getting developed in a dark room which means he had taken them himself. The colour red also represents danger and power.

The font in the sequence when showing the actors names is childlike which can represent the perpetrator with mental disabilities to show an innocent side of the character but with it being shaky it also represents his manic and unbalanced mind.