Case Study- Horror Thrillers

For this case study I will be writing about the Horror Thriller sub-genre and I will look at three films The Silence of the Lambs, 28 Days Later and Psycho.
 For a film to be a horror thriller sub-genre it must create tension and suspense, anxiety, uncertainty and sometimes terror for the audience. It should also contain some gory, unpleasant scenes.


Psycho
Psycho is a film made from Alfred Hicthcock in the 1960's, so the opening of the film is in black and white and different to today's modern opening of films. The opening of the film does not really interest me it does not catch my attention but it may do with the older generation and other people. Even though nothing has been given away, there is no story line or anything, the audience can tell that Psycho is a horror thriller sub genre from the the music of the opening. The music is very heart pounding it is always building up tension and sounds very jumpy and it is the type of music that you can tell something is going to happen.

28 Weeks Later

28 weeks Later is a horror thriller sub genre which I think is quite an interesting thriller film. It has all the elements that a horror film would have. It is very jumpy and keeps you on your toes and can be quite scary at times. This film is completely different to Psycho but both are still horror thrillers.

The Silence of the Lambs
This film silence of the lambs is about a physco killer who escapes and is now again killing people. This is a horror thriller sub genre. It is a film that is quite tensed and can cause the audience to feel a bit uncertain and anxious as some parts of the film are quite gory.

Comparison
In my opinion, The Silence of the Lambs and Psyhco are quite similar. Both their story lines are about a serial killer and they were both made back in the 1960's to 1990's which shows why they are slightly different to the film 28 weeks later. 28 weeks later is about an outbreak of infection that soon becomes epidemic and everyone is soon evacuated but after 28 weeks they can move back into London however the dead people have turned into zombies and are after every living human being. It is quite tensed and scary but as you can see this film is a lot different to the other two films which may be due to the fact that 28 weeks later is a lot more modern and because they are directed by different people.

Case Study - David Fincher

I am writing a case study on a film director named David Flincher who is an American film maker. He is well known for his dark thriller movies such as Seven, The Game, Zodiac, Panic Room and Fight Club. He received a an academy award nomination for best director for his film in 2008. I will be looking at 4 of his films Seven, The game, Fight Club and Panic Room. After have looking at all 4 opening sequences, they have engaged me to watch them all as all the openings are very appealing.

Seven

The opening of seven is very appealing to the audience and creates a build up of tension and suspense for the audience. It is a very dark setting with deep hollow, creepy music which makes the opening more tensed. The sub-genre of this film is horror-thriller which can be easily seen, as it is set in a dark environment and the events that occur in the opening are the type of events that happen in a horror thriller. Also the film comes across suspicious and mysterious as we only see the characters hands and not the character itself.

The Game

The game is another thriller film of David Fincher, which is different to 'seven' as it is not set in a dark environment and it does not seem as creepy and the music isn't as tensed. The background music does show that it is a thriller and as the opening is running the music sounds quite suspicious and tensed and it tells us that something bad is going to happen. It can seem quite creepy at times and seems like a film that would make you jump and get your heart pounding but it doesn't look as scary and creepy as seven and I think that 'The Game' is more of an action thriller due to the fact there are a lot of characters and scenes where there are guns and cars involved.

Fight Club

Fight Club is another Action Thriller film by David Fincher. This film is totally different to a horror thriller it has no elements at all of creepy, scary, tensed scenes like in seven. It is a very violent film with lots of action. From the opening of the film you can tell straight away that it is an action thriller by the sound of the music, where the film is set and the voices of the characters.


Panic Room

The film 'Panic Room' is another of David Fincher films, Panic Room is also an action thriller sub genre. The opening is quite effective especially the way the opening titles are presented. You can tell that it is an action thriller as the opening is set in a city and the lighting is quite bright which suggests an action film, as most action films are set in the city and horror thrillers would be set in a dark and tensed environment. The music is a little tensed, it keeps on building up and the sound of the music suggests that something bad will happen.

Comparison

After having looked at the opening of all four films, I think that they are all quite similar in terms of sub-genre. Panic Room, Fight Club and The Game are all action thrillers with background music that shows something bad is going to happen in the film. On the other hand Seven is quite different to the other films and the opening of the films, it is more of a horror thriller and the audience can see this straight away from the opening as it is very mysterious and set in a dark and gloomy environment.
In the opening of Panic Room, Fight Club and The Game it comes across as quite interesting and rearing to go to find out what happens, it gives the audience a gush of excitement but at the same time a nail biting wait however with Seven the opening makes the audience feel tensed and expecting something gruesome and scary, making it heart pounding for them as they know that something scary or sick will happen as it is a horror film.

Audience Research

General Questionnaire

Kerry took a general questionnaire to explore the audiences views on film and music so that Kerry can improve and think about her thriller opening. By taking this questionnaire Kerry has now developed a helpful audience profile. It will help us when creating our opening as it means that we have more knowledge on the type of music and films people prefer and how to capture their attention when watching my thriller opening. The results show that different age ranges and genders influence peoples likes and dislikes. Below shows the questions Kerry asked in my questionnaire.

1.)What film genre do you prefer?  

2.) What age bracket do you fall into?

3.) Do you buy films online?

4.) How often do you go to the cinema?

5.) Are you male or female?

6.)What is your favourite film?

7.)Who is your favourite actor?

8.) Do you own more than five  DVDs?

9.) What genre of music do you listen to most?

10.) What was the last film you saw?

From completing this questionnaire Kerry found that the younger people she surveyed preferred rock and pop music and owned more DVDs and brought more films online. Whereas the older people she surveyed went to the cinema more and preferred more romantic and comedy films. She gave out her questionnaire to 15 people and received a variety of results, however she found similar results to those of similar ages. This could show that nowadays the media around us has changed and influenced us differently. Kerry has learnt that when creating our film we need to take into consideration our target audience because if we don't refer to what they want to watch it wont appeal to them. This task has helped her to understand that we need to make sure our film will captivate our target audience. From these results she will develop this further into a specific questionnaire as well as a one to one interview.

Specific Questionnaire

I have taken a Specific questionnaire to find out more about our target audience and their interest in the thriller genre. I have videoed a few people being interviewed and asked them questions about thriller films, what they find effective and what they think of our ideas for our production.                                                

This questionnaire will help us with creating our thriller film opening as we now know what our target audience is looking for in a thriller opening. Below is the video of the interview and list of questions asked.                                                      

Emily also interviewed two other people for our specific questionnaire in which she found out that thriller films can be a but too scary for some people and they prefer thriller films like 'dexter' as they are more interesting and not so tensed and scary. To view Emily's interview >>Click Here<<
The results we got from this interview were quite interesting and very helpful to us. I found out that not everyone likes the thriller genre but for the people who do, some prefer the horror thrillers that involve murder, violence and creepy and gruesome scenes. I found out that people are kept engaged when there is a twist to the film, and when there's a lot of action. Also the audience like it when the film is very tensed but when I interviewed someone they said no because they do not really like the thriller genre. I also found out that the audience find it more effective when there is music in the opening as it can create tension and suspense and that it can sometimes be effective if an over voice is used at some point in the opening.

From this questionnaire I have learnt that most people do like the thriller genre and the people that do are more or less round the same age, it is mostly teenagers and young adults who watch thriller films. This questionnaire will help us in our production as we have now got useful information about our target audience, we know what elements we need to include to make our thriller opening appealing and effective.

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

One to One interviews

For my one to one interviews Lauren wrote out 12 questions to do with the thriller genre and asked three people to answer each question. Her original idea was to film every one's answers however nobody wanted to be put in front of a camera so she changed her idea to writing the answers down to the questions which she was asking her peers. She interviewed three people which come from different age groups; one from the elderly, one from middle age and lastly a teenager, by Lauren doing this our group can see the age group who are mostly interested in thrillers and who we should base our target audience on.

To the left, Lauren has taken a picture of the questions which  she asked, as they are not clear. They are:
1. Name?
2. How old are you?
3. Do you enjoy watching films?
4. What do you think of the thriller genre?
5. When you watch thrillers do you understand the storyline?
6. What types of thrillers do you enjoy more, action or horror?
7. In thrillers, stalkers and murders are usually men, would you find a film more interesting if it was a woman?
8. Our idea is (She then explained) what do you think of this idea?
9. Would you be interested to go to the cinema to see this film?

10. What part of a film captures your most attention, beginning, middle or end?
11. If a thriller is set in a dark environment do you find this more intense?
12. Do you like films which are mysterious and leave you guessing?

The first person who she interviewed was Tracy who is 43 years old. From Tracy's interview she found out that she enjoys watching films and that Thriller is her favourite genre so was interested to hear my idea of a storyline. Tracy prefers to watch horror thrillers rather than actions as they interest her more, and says that she will only understand the storyline depending on how good it has been directed. From this we will have to take into consideration of how we are going to direct our film so that everyone will understand our storyline.

When she asked Tracy the idea which we have in mind for our film she found it very interesting as she said it leaves her with questions which she wants answered which would make her carry on watching the film. Lauren have found out that it would be best to set a thriller in a dark environment as it sets up more tension.

Secondly Lauren interviewed someone from the older age group of 63. From interviewing this person, she has found out that elderly people do not really enjoy watching up to date films which in our case means that it wouldn't be a good idea to base our target audience on elderly people as most do not like to watch thrillers.
Pat was interested in the idea which we have in mind for our thriller opening as she said that she would be interested to see the outcome, however she also said that the way we film it would have to grab her attention to make her want to carry on watching as she doesn't usually watch many thrillers.

Pat commented that the most interesting part of a film which captures her attention the most is the ending  as it concludes the story, in this case we would not have to take this into consideration as we are only filming the opening sequence.

Lastly Lauren interviewed Keeley, who is a teenager of our age group. Keeley is 14 years old and is very interested in films which are only aimed at her age group. This shows that it would be a very good idea to aim our opening of our films at teenagers as we would mainly know what they would be interested in.
Keeley likes the thriller genre as she likes films which make her jump a lot, this could be taken into consideration when we make our opening as we should make it heart racing and jumpy to keep the audience engaged. Keeley didn't like the idea of us having a stalker as a woman as she is used to watching a man committing a crime so she therefore thinks that the woman would just be 'crazy.'

When she asked Keeley what she thought of our idea she replied 'I think it sounds very good and interesting, i would pay to watch the film. I also think that your setting sounds good, scary and dark.'

When she asked if she likes films which are mysterious and leave you guessing, she replied no because she would like to know whats going on and doesn't like cliff hangers. When making our opening sequence however Lauren thinks that it would be a good idea to leave a cliff hanger as it will make the audience want to watch the rest of the film.

The analysis of the opening of seven

The opening of seven is very good but confusing as it doesn't give much away so I do not really know what the story line is or what is happening. The use of soundtrack in the opening is very heart-pounding and creepy. From the soundtrack of the opening you can tell that the film is a thriller/horror film because it has all the elements of what  the soundtrack of a thriller film would have i.e. it creates tension and suspense, it sounds quite dull and it creates attention to the audience.
The use of digetic sound is used a lot and quite well in the opening, there are sounds like creaking and crackling which is sometimes used at points like when something is being opened or equipment is being used and some of these digetic sounds you can hear in the opening is used to resemble the use of equipment.
In the opening you can only see a persons hands and fingers which I assume are the hands of a killer or someone who has committed a crime and this is because the person does things that are not normal and seem like the person is up to something, for example using a tool that peels of his skin and his hands are quite dirty with bandages on them and he has repulsive images of a person with a tool in there head. Also the fact that we cannot see the face of the killer but only his hands makes the character look quite suspicious. Also the use of editing is good and has been used a lot , it actually looks quite clever because they have edited it so there are flashing images and once something has flashed another image comes up or the opening titles appear. They have also edited it so that images appear very quickly, for like a split second so that it looks more creepy and effective.
When the opening is being filmed the camera does not really move and they are always close up shots of nearly everything which is done for example there are close up shots of the character putting thread through a needle, cutting up pictures and when his writing and i think there are a lot of close up shots of his actions to give the viewer a bit of a clue that this is what the character does and to get the viewer questioning and trying to figure out who this character is and what he does. There is also an over the shoulder shot of the character writing in his book which is effective because it gets the viewers wondering what he is writing in his book, why is he writing what does this all mean and etc.

Analysis of the opening of mimic & Dexter

The opening of mimic is very interesting to watch as it is very tension building and quite creepy. The soundtrack of the opening creates a lot of suspense and tension and sometimes can make the viewer feel a bit jumpy. The music is quite creepy, which starts to build up and get louder and then have sudden loud noises to create tension. They also use digetic sound in the opening which I think is very effective as it gives the viewer a small clue about the story line and what is going on. Towards the end of the opening they put in some dialogue which sounds like the police which one of them says "this is an epidemic", which gives the viewers the clue that the film is about an outbreak of an infection which may be spreading rapidly.
The editing used in the opening is very effective as it quickly cleverly shows images of different insects. The use of editing is used quite well as they also edit images to fade on to another or in to another to make it more effective.
The camera shots and positions in the opening do not vary as much, they use a lot of close up shots to give the viewers a little more detail of what they are seeing and also to make it seems frightening or creepy. They also use a high angle shot at the beginning of the opening to get the full view of action of the city and sometimes in the opening there are shots where the camera zooms out from an image or zooms in which is done to make it more effective.
The opening engages interest for the audience because the music is very suspicious and creates suspense and tension, also the images of butterflies and insects look quite disgusting, in my opinion I don't think the butterflies look attractive which normally they would but I think they are made to look disgusting and look quite repulsive for a reason. Also the viewers will have gained interest because there are pictures of children with needles stuck on them which will get the viewers questioning why as this is odd and so they would keep on watching to find out more.
The opening introduces a story line and this is when the police officers say at the end of the opening that they may be dealing with an epidemic which tells us that the story line is about something like an infection that has got out and is spreading rapidly.
The opening titles are quite good as they sometimes enter on-beat but then sometimes they just appear with some of the images and then fade away. The way the titles are displayed is effective because the titles will either be flashing or moving and they have some kind of effect on them that make the titles look a bit fuzzy.

Dexter

The opening sequence of Dexter is very clever and interesting as normal things in everyday life becomes so sinister. All the events that happen in the opening is Dexter's every morning routine but this morning routine is made out to seem quite evil and sickening. For example at the beginning of the opening Dexter is shaving but he cuts him self and draws blood and to stop it bleeding he puts a small bit of tissue on the cut which soaks up all the blood. When the tissue has soaked up all the blood the camera zooms in which then it looks like a pool of blood. The director has portrayed it in this way so it looks like there is lots of blood and that someone has been killed or injured. Also Dexter then looks like he is cutting open human flesh when in fact he is just cooking his breakfast and cutting up meat which again is made to look evil and gruesome. The director has purposely done this so it makes the viewers think that he is cutting open flesh. When Dexter is eating his breakfast, he cuts up his egg with a sharp knife and ketchup is splattered over his egg and plate which is made to look like blood. Also as he is tying up his shoelaces it looks very violent and looks as if he is strangling someone and as he puts his t-shirt on it pulls tight over his face which is made to look like he is suffocating. So as you can see they have effectively made all these normal events in a morning routine look so evil and sinister.                   
 The music was not scary or creepy but it was very mysterious and it kinds of builds up tension as the music sounds like your waiting for something to happen or know that something will happen. The title appears in the opening quite effectively, it isn't plain and boring but it isn't too dramatic either. It appears on the screen on a brown, yellow musty background with the title 'Dexter' in red which is made out to look like blood.
In the opening there is an over the shoulder shot of Dexter so that we can see that he is looking in the mirror. There are also a few close up shots of Dexter, for example there is an extreme close up shot of him eating his meet and a close up shot of him tying up his shoe lace and many others. There are many extreme close up shots and close up shots so that the things his doing look threatening and evil, also you are able to see every detail and expressions.