Title Ideas

By creating lists of words which we associate with the concept of our short film, we were able to trial and error certain titles. As shown on the right we used arrows to match up words which seemed to work well with each other. An example of this 'Timeless Plea' which were originally two words which we then matched together. The word 'Timeless' came from the idea that Johnny is in a fantasy where time isn't a real concept. The word 'Plea' on the other hand originated from Johnny's guilt - the idea that he has an internal plea for redemption.


After much deliberation we short listed the best ideas. These were:

-Suffering Truth
-The Ticking Clock
-Unlocked Dreams
-Contained Visions
-Mind Etcher
-Guilty Adviser
-Lost Scrutiny
-Timeless Plea
-Lifeless Etching
-The Second Hand
-Dark Elation
-The Second Tick
-Crossover
-Terminal Crossover
-Etching Crossover
-The Inner Crossover
-Inner Crossover
-Guilty Crossover
-Backspace

The title we decided to use for the short film was THE INNER CROSSOVER. It really encapsulates the idea of Johnny's dream and his reality beginning to internally crossover by the end of the film; and furthermore imposes the unanswered question of whether Johnny will really reach the heights of insanity presented in his dream.

On the left you can see that the title 'The Inner Crossover' being edited on AfterEffects. We wanted striking lights to emerge and disappear on some on the letters to reflect how chanagable Johhny's character is.

We used the effect 'Light Rays', and key framed different layers to move the title as well as light it up.

Here you can see the title fly off the screen so that the short film may so begin.

Below is the finished title product:

Even though we had completed this title on AfterEffects, we decided to change the short film's title to 'Purgatory'.

Audience Research

Target Audience Research

For our first question we asked how old the participants in our questionnaire were, the reason for this is because we want to target our film at 15-30 year olds, the reason for this is because this bracket brings in the most profit and are more likely to watch the film. The age bracket excludes people under 14 as the film we are making may not be appropriate as it contains some adult themes.

The second question attempts to understand which genre is the most popular and hopefully can cater to our audience. Fortunately the genre we chose was the second most popular, these are positive results as we are now aware that there is a market for our short film. Originally, we planned to do a horror film however after consideration and the responses from this question we decided to change the direction of the film into a thriller in order to become more appealing to our target audience.

Thirdly, we wanted to know why people watched films as this would help us understand the reasons behind viewing films which in turn, would give us an advantage to try gear the film in this case due to our results; entertainment but also with element so convoluted plot points in an attempt to make it thought provoking.

For the next question we wanted to know what draws people into watching films. The main feature was actors which shows the high importance and influence on a films success. This also will make us strongly consider who we cast in our film due to the impact they have on the audience.

The following question refers to elements within a thriller which is our chosen genre of film. The questionnaire helped us with knowing the key things to include in our film, this is positive because we are including what the audience wants therefore, it should be appealing to them and successful. We hope to use as of the elements as possible so that it has a wider appeal.

This question refers to age restriction on films, we decided to ask this as we felt that we miss out on thrillers we would like to watch due to the fact that the rating is to too high. When asking people who filled out the questionnaire about this question many agreed, namely people under 18 wanting to watch 18 rated films. Due to this we are making our a film a 15 to attract more of an audience.

 The next two questions are regarding short film, we thought it was important to include a question about them as we are making a short film. As you can see short films are rarely watched unless you have an interest in the area, we believe that this is due to the fact that they are not widely shown and many people wouldn't know how to go about to view a short film. Our aim is to get as many people as we can to watch short some short films and our final production, then do another questionnaire regarding short films to see if they now enjoy them.

Conventions of a Thriller

There are certain  in the thriller genre. In the most basic sense of the word 'thriller' could be simply defined as a film which provokes excitement through suspense and mystery. However it is the specific characteristics and themes which act as singular components within the film to make this happen. When the audience see that a film is of the thriller genre there are general associations made which automatically spring to mind - typical conventions which are expected to re-occur in some way, even without knowing any plot detail. The basics of which are illustrated below:  

Lighting
Perhaps one of the most iconic and recognisable features of the thriller genre is a certain manipulation of lighting (as shown on the right). It is a vital part of film making as it has the ability to change an atmosphere from light/ normal, to dark and moody. Note how the image on the right is drenched in low key lighting to reinforce their doom. The dark shadows on the edges of the frame draw the viewers attention into the centre of the image - as there figures are completely in darkness, it almost gives the impression that they have become shadows of themselves.
The use of lighting is particularly effective in films of the thriller genre because the contrast between high and low level lighting can serve a very enigmatic purpose, as the lighting reflects the tension or downfall of the characters. 

Locations are a key element of many thrillers, the locations are usually in cities like New York, Chicago or San Francisco and usually at night. Locations is many of the film below help create the right mood for the film. Our film will be set on many different different locations including an office, a psychiatrists office, a home and the solitary confinement cell of a mental asylum. Therefore the city location is only shown in the office scene which will be in London. Cities give a

Titles

Conventionally titles used in films of the thriller genre embody either one of two aspects of the film: either the weakness of the main character(s) i.e. Vertigo, or the main concept of the film i.e. Matrix. However some of the best thriller titles manage to do both. The title 'Inception' for example highlights the weakness of Leonardo DiCaprio's character as it is what he fears most; and it is also the concept which is a constant main plot point throughout the film.

Props

Props typical to the thriller genre are

Costume sometimes reflects moods and character

Narrative style

Type of character and attributes




Conventions of Thriller Characters





In the thriller genre the typical style of acting would conventionally be method with a tone of gritty realism. This is because the nature of thriller films tend to gear towards actor performance. General use of monologues are often used to emphasise the more suppressed and bleak tone of the film. Sometimes thriller actors must convey a sense of insanity in addition to the more serious nature of their acting. For example, in 12 monkeys Brad Pitt must communicate his manic nature through varying rampages in dialogue. Below is a clip of Brad Pitt doing this:

Christian Bale who plays the lead character in American Psycho spends much of the film doing internal or external monologues to convey his sense of danger and insanity. This is fantastic way to contrast his character which the others in the film, and therefore unnerve the audience because of how evident the difference is. Through these methods the character can really explore his own nature in comparison to societies view of him. Below is a clip of his internal monologues in the film which captures the essence of his insanity:

However the clip below shows a more externally and obvious statement of his senseless nature, and therefore puts his thoughts to practise:

However 'The Usual Suspects' thriller film has Kevin Spacey's character Keyser Soze who poses a much more subtle view on thriller character's. The more conventional thriller cop is found to be outwitted by this character of a seemingly disabled nature. Below is the clip where 'the cripple' becomes the crippler:

Please read:
a personal appeal from
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

Read now

 

Then there is the standard convention of the good cop with logical thought. I think a good depiction of this is Morgan Freeman in the film 'Se7en'. He presents a real sense of knowledge from experience, and is therefore able to mentor Brad Pitt's character into the cop of the future. He is able to also find insight into himself from the innovative and youthful thought of his 'younger version' so to speak. Below is a clip of Freeman and Pitt having an in depth discussion in the film:

The film 'Shutter Island' poses the idea that leonardo DiCaprio's character has blocked all of his reality from himself because it is too painful. He is therefore stuck in the fantasy that instead of begin trapped on an island for the mentally unwell, he is actually investigating a case. His performance really brings forward a strong sense of 'who can we trust?' which I think is a key aspect of thriller characters. As the audience we are given the perspective that whatever DiCaprio's character says/ does much be right as he is seemingly the 'hero' of the film. Which means that when we learn that he is mentally unstable, the film seems to flip itself over as the viewers don't know who to trust. This moment of understanding for the audience and characters seems to be a very common convention of the thriller genre. The clip below encapsulates the moment when DiCaprio's character learns of his own insanity:

Also an extract from Shutter Island, this clip presents a moment of sadness as not only is it obvious that DiCaprio cannot remember his life, but also that there seems to be no resolution to his problem. The concept of there being no real satisfaction for the audience and main character is seemingly a highly used convention of the thriller genre.

 Another aspect of thriller characters is their use of wit, and musings about life. A film that I really think encapsulates this concept is Hitchcock's 'Strangers on a Train'. In the clip below a gentleman muses to another about what the perfect murder would be - the twist being that the other man (representing the audience) thought all the talk was hypothetical.

Many thriller films have main characters who are somewhat suppressed by some hideous guilt of their past. Based on the Oscar Wilde novel the film 'Dorain Gray' brings fourth a character so guilty of sin that his whole living becomes consumed by it. The clip below highlights how, even though Dorian is in love with this female, the guilt of his past can never let him take action upon it.

Actors/ actress' who would conventionally be seen in Thriller films

Actors used for thriller films are usually very versatile in their acting ability, as they are expected to be extremely complex characters. Below are some examples of actors who are typically connected with the thriller genre:






Brad Pitt - Se7en,Inglourious Basterds, Fight Club, Twelve Monkeys, Oceans Eleven

Morgan Freeman - Se7en, The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, The Dark Knight

Leonardo DiCaprio - Inception, The Departed, Shutter Island, Blood Diamond

Kevin Spacey - L.A. Confidential, American Beauty, The Usual Suspects, A Time to Kill

Sigourney Weaver - Alien, Eyewitness, Half moon street, Death and the Maiden

Michael Douglas - The Sentinel, The In- Laws, The Game, Basic Instinct, Falling Down

Christian Bale - The Prestige, The Dark Knight, The Machinist, American Psycho

Samuel L Jackson - Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Fury, Unthinkable

Uma Thurman - Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Pay Check, The Life Before Her Eyes

Tom Cruise - Rain Man, Magnolia, Risky Business, Collateral

Matt Damon - The Departed, Good Will Hunting, True Grit, Bourne Ultimatum






Consequential to research into films of the thriller genre, it has become apparent that a male lead would be the most effective. This is somewhat the product of our target audience being young males who typically see thriller films with women who are arguably one dimensional (James Bond). Therefore we have decided to add a conventional female love interest into the film to try and attract our target audience.




Famous Thriller Films


Se7en (1995)

Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker
Stars: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gywneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey
Budget: $33,000,000 (estimated)
Gross: $316,400,000 (Worldwide)
Production Company: Cecchi Gori Pictures and New Line Cinema
Prestigious Accolades: Nominated for academy award - Best Film Editing

Plot: A serial killer is on the loose who kills his victims based on them embodying one of the seven deadly sins. It is the job of two detectives (Morgan Freeman

 and Brd Pitt) to track him down before he completes his psychotic mission.






North By Northwest (1959)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Written by: Ernest Lehman
Stars: Cary Grant, James Mason, and Eva Maire Saint
Budget: $3,101,000 (estimated)
Gross: $13,275,000 (USA)
Production Company: MGM

Plot: Cary Grant plays an advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent. After being framed for a murder Grant flees, but it pursued by the police. He meets up with love interest Eva Kendall, who after initially helping him, is found out to be more involved than Grants character may have thought.

Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Written by: Thomas Harris (original novel) and Ted tally (screenplay)
Stars: Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins
Budget: $19,000,000 (estimated)
Gross: $272,742,922 (Worldwide)
Production Company: Strong/ Demme Production and Orion Pictures Corporation
Plot: Buffallo Bill is on the loose murdering and skinning his victims. FBI trainee Clairice Starling (Jodie Foster) is put on the case. After no leads she seeks expert help from none other than the legendary Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Starling is put in the terrible position of needing help from this notorious cannibal who spends his time

bargaining his expert knowledge for information on her own life story.



Rebecca (1940)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Written by: Daphne Due Maurier (novel), Robert E. Sherwood (screenplay), Joan Harrison (screenplay), Philip MacDonald (adaptation). Michael Hogan (adaptation)
Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and George Sanders
Budget: $1,288,000 (estimated)
Gross:
Production company: Selznick International Pictures
Plot: Young woman marries the rich widower of manderley. He is troubled by the death of his wife, and his new wife mistakes it for love when really he had killed her. Will they be able to carry on with their lives without anyone finding out this secret?



Matrix (1999)

Directed by: Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski
Written by: Andy Wachowiski and Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie - Anne moss
Budget: $63,000,000 (estimated)
Gross: $203,600,000 (Worldwide) (12 September 1999 - except USA)
Prodcution Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot: A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the was against its controllers. He discovers that his reality is in fact not actually reality, he is living in the matrix.








Jaws (1975)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb.
Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gray and Murray Hamilton.
Budget: $8,000,000
Gross: $430,510,134
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Plot: When a gigantic great

 white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and a grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.





The Sixth Sense (1995)

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, and Toni Collette
Budget: $40,000,000 (estimated)
Gross: $672,806,292

 (Worldwide)
Production Company: Barry Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, Kennedy/ Marshall Company, The, and Spyglass Entertainment
Plot: Child psychiatrist Malcom Crowe is hired to help a troubled nine year old boy called Cole. At first Crowe doesn't believe the allegations that this child can see dead people, but after increasing evidence it just may be true.

The Usual Suspects (1995

Directed by: Brian Singer

Written by: Christopher McQuarrie
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, and Chazz Palminteri
Budget: $6,000,000 (estimated)
Gross: $23,272,306 (USA)
Production Company: PollyGram Filmed Entertainment, Spelling Films International, Blue Parrot, Bad Hat Harry Productions, and Rosco Film GmbH
Plot: Five 'usual suspects' are arrested under suspicion of a crime they didn't commit. Together they develop an operation of revenge. The influence of the legendary criminal mastermind Keyser Soze is ever present, which becomes terrifying for them when they receive word that individually each of them has wronged this legend in some way through previous operations. But the really question is: Who actually is Keyser Soze?

Inception (2010)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Josheph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page.
Budget:$160,000,000
Gross: $825,532,746
Production Company: Warner Brothers
Plot: In a world there technology exists to enter the human mind through a dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception.




Fight Club (1999)

Directed by: David Fincher
Written by:Chuck Palahniuk and Jim Uhls.
Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter
Budget:$63,000,000
Gross:$73,000,000
Production Company: Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises.
Plot: An insomnia suffering office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that transforms into a violent revolution.





Strangers on a train (1951)


Directed by: Alrfred Hitchcock
Written by: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, Whitfield Cook, Patricia Highsmith, Ben Hecht.
Stars: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker

Budget: $1,200,000 (estimated)
Gross: £23,764 (UK) (15 August 1999)
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot: Two men (strangers) on a train devise a scheme which entails agreeing to kill somebody the other person wants disposing of. When one of the men gets cold feet, the other man plants evidence which leads the police to believe the other man is the murderer.