Sunday 3 November 2013

Research into the subgenre of crime thrillers and preparation for the beginning work on my storyboard

Opening scenes...

Heat
The opening sequence of Heat follows the expected conventions of most crime thrillers by starting off with a dark scene at night with the main light coming from a train in the background and smoke drifting over the train to immediately create tension and to draw the attention of the audience. It also uses tense music which becomes louder and therefore more dramatic as the train travels closer to the camera, and the pitch of the music becomes higher which gives the impression to the audience that something bad could happen. It also uses sound effects which are created to make the audience feel uneasy like most thrillers use, for example the sound of the train become louder as the train travels closer towards the camera and the train screeches very abruptly as it stops. There is a wide variation of camera angles used in the opening scene of Heat once one of the main characters is introduced, starting with a close up shot when he is getting off the train which then changes to the view from behind the character to a close up of his feet which gives the feeling of the audience following him to find out where he is going. Overall this opening uses a lot of typical crime thriller conventions including the lighting and music as it is a very mysterious scene and creates tension for the audience.

The Godfather
The music in the opening sequence of The Godfather creates tension straight away by using a violin during the opening credits to build up to the scene. It then stop\s just before the first line 'I believe in America' which is followed by a gradual fade in to the close up shot of a main character. This shot is in a very dark setting with the light creating shadows down the characters face as he is explaining to someone about an attack on his daughter. The camera then very gradually zooms out to show the hand and silhouette of someone sitting at a desk this suggests that the man is speaking to some sort of private investigator. The sound effects in the background of birds chirping isn't a very typical convention used in a crime thriller however the music and lighting represents a crime thriller very well. Also, the iconography in the scene of the blinds in the background and a tall office chair with a large desk shows that this is an office in which will symbolise the investigating of a crime which has occurred in the film.

Target Audience
I think that the target audience for our product should be those aged 15 years and above as this allows us to use a lot more thrilling elements in our product which will excite the audience as it will not be restricted to the themes only suitable for young children, however it will still be suitable for most teenagers. I asked 5 people from this social group which aspects of crime thrillers they most enjoy and the results were:
  • Interesting storylines with a surprising twist
  • The build up of tension
  • The way the scenes excite them and draw their attention
  • The amount of action which is used in the film
  • A hidden story between characters
Ideas for our opening sequence:
  • Based on the disappearance of a victim (a teenage girl)
  • The opening could show flashbacks of the events which led to the disappearance
  • The first shot would be of the girls bedroom in a dark light, the way it was left before she disappeared as if nothing has moved since her disappearance, and there could be a flashback of her getting ready to leave the house in a happy lighting with tense music to show that something bad is going to happen to her
  • Then we could see her parents at the door looking into the room with disbelief and explaining to a police officer that she couldn't have ran away as she was leaving for a normal day
  • The titles will show when the camera is panning across the girls bedroom
  • The girls mum is explaining that she isn't the type of girl to get into trouble and so adds to the mystery of her disappearance.
  • There will be quiet, mysterious music playing in the background to add to the suspense
Gemma Barham

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