Most production companies produce a wide range of genres.

Universal Studios -

Universal are one of the largest media corporations in the world. There main film area is called Universal Pictures.

It was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle

It is the second oldest Hollywood production company (The oldest is Paramount Pictures by a month)

Universal's main studios are based in California

Examples of thrillers produced by Universal:

• The Strangers
• Psycho (although originally distributed by Paramount)
• Jaws
• Jurassic Park
• Twister
• Inglourious Basterds

20th Century Fox -

The company was founded in 1935

It is now one of the six largest production companies in the world

It is located in Los Angeles in California

It has created some of the Largest franchises in film such as:

• Star Wars
• Alien
• Predator
• Ice age

Some of their most thrillers include:

• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Aliens
• Predator
• Independence Day
• Fight Club
• Hide and Seek
• Taken

Miramax Films -

An art-house/independant film company

Founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 1979

In 1993, Miramax was acquired by the Walt Disney Company

Some of Miramax's most famous thriller films include:

• Reservoir Dogs
• Pulp Fiction
• Kill Bill
• Hostage
• No Country for Old Men
• There will be Blood

For my title, I used quite a simple font. I decided to use a simple font such as this because a big complicated font would ruin the atmosphere, or detract from the message of the film. It also seems more sinister and menacing.
I also used the same effects that I used for the credits before it to keep the flow and style of the film.

• The first decision I made when editing was to use Adobe Premiere CS3 instead of iMovie. This was because I was a lot more familiar with Premiere as i have used it several times before when working on other films in my own time.
  
• I decided to make the dream scene at the beginning of the film black and white because it is then easy to determine that what is happening isn't normal. It then makes it clear when the boy wakes up in bed that the man in the car was in his dream.
  
• I raised the contrast on the dream scene to make the image darker. This makes it seem more mysterious and sinister. Here is an example of this.

Original -

After Raising Contrast -

• I found a piece of royalty free music called "Ghostpocalypse - The Call" in the dream scene of my film. This is because it is very suspenseful and dramatic. It has a solo piano part that sadly drifts over the lone drone of the bass underneath that creates a very eerie feel. It also features a drum part that keeps coming in after certain periods of time. I thought this was effective as it will make the audience feel uneasy as they will be listening and waiting for the next drum to come in.
  
• I decided to have the camera shot and images change in time with the hitting of the drums. This is effective as it gives the feel of a more professional scene as i have carefully chosen the music, and used it to craft the imagery.
  
• I decided to have a bright light reduce into each one of my titles to give the film a professional feel once again. It looks a lot more interesting so therefore keeps the audiences attention on the film.
  
• For the end of the dream scene, I decided that I wanted the tension to rise so that the audience expects something to happen. I achieved this by getting a rising sound off of a royalty free website called "Sound Dogs". I had the rising sound get louder, and the screen get brighter and brighter until suddenly the screen turns to black. This was effective because the sudden change from and almost completely white screen to a completely black screen is very startling and enagages the viewer instantly. This automatically allows the audience to acknowledge that this will be a suspenseful film, and it also prepares them for the next scene.
  
• For the next scene, I needed to use sounds I had recorded with the camera when filming. However, the sound from the camera had a constant white noise throughout. So I attempted to get rid of this. I used "Audacity" and used the "Noise removal" tool to remove the noise as best as I could. The white noise had been removed, but instead was replaced by a very low "digital" sounding noise. However, it is almost too quiet to be noticed unless listened to very closely.
  
• When the back door opens in the next scene, I added a drone that was quite high pitched to show that this isn't normal, and to start building suspense. However I did not make it a loud, low drone to show that this is not the final tension building section. When he hears the knock at the front door I added a low drone to the high one to create the full suspense and build up to the climax. I used the same rise that I used near the beginning of the film at the end of the scene to raise the tension at the end to build up the climax.
  
• The main thing people will notice about the build up to the end is the use of quick flashing images. I used stock images (royalty free), and I found disturbing pictures to use that would unsettle the viewer make them feel uneasy. The audience would almost take the images in subliminaly because they are quiet quick. I also made the images pop up faster and faster until it was just a stream of pictures, one after the other. These are some of the pictures I used:
  

As you can see, I chose pictures that would pray on the fears of a lot of people (especially within the age group of my target audience). I also changed the pictures and added contrast to them to give them more of a eerie feel. Here is the spider picture with more contrast:

• CGI is probably the most important development to the thriller genre as more spectacular things can be created for the film. Such as aeroplane crashes, explosions, disasters and anything that is not easily achieved in real life. This has created more breathtaking and heart stopping movies which create high octane images that people may not usually see. For example, a disaster thriller such as "The Day After Tomorrow" would not have been possible without the use of CGI.

• Camera's that are used to film have also improved, so a clearer, and more interesting picture can be created. This can be used to draw the audiences attention in and also make the film seem more realistic. The picture can be made to look different. For example, a film can be changed from black and white, to sepia and the contrast can be changed easily.

• Travel throughout the world has improved greatly since the beginning of the century, so therefore films can span throughout different areas around the world. For example, the thriller "Jumper" features many different countries (Egypt etc.) which creates a very interesting and engaging viewing, as you are constantly imagining where the next place will be.

• The sound recording used now is a lot more engaging than earlier films as it is clearer and can also be made to sound fantastic because many different layers of sound can be used. For example, in a war scene of a film (Saving Private Ryan), many realistic sounds are used together, all layered over eachother, to create the realism of a real battle.

SHOOTING PLAN

9th January: 7.00pm - 10.00pm
Film scene with boy waking, walking downstairs etc

10th January: 9.00am – 11.00am
Film dream scene for the beginning

11th January – 1st February
Edit film

For my preliminary task, me and my group made a short film that featured a social worker and one of his clients who was facing alcohol problems. We wanted the speech to flow as best as possible. We achieved this by recording both characters saying their whole scene from 3 different angles. So in the end, we recorded 6 takes of the whole scene. Ultimately it did make the film have a better continuity and it flowed very well. I learnt from this task that to achieve the best possible result, time and care must be taken in perfecting the filming. This helped in my final product as I took more time in planning and practising the shots to get them perfectly correct.
This is also where I first used the rising camera shot which made me use it in my final product as it turned out to look really effective.

I have decided to change the plot because of limitations within filming schedule and actors etc, and I will have to use myself within the film which is not what I first intended. However, I was not completely satisfied with my plot anyway, and my audience research proved that they preffered psychological thrillers, which is not what my original plot was. So therefore my new plot is a psychological thriller that will fit better with my plan of filming.





Plot:

After the mysterious death of Vincent's best friend, Nathan, hiss mental health decreases as he mourns. Strange things start to happen around him, he sees shadows, hears voices whispering his name, and a strange Man dressed in black is appearing everywhere he goes, always facing with his back towards Vincent. He believes that this man is following him as he was the killer of Nathan, and for some reason, he wants to kill Vincent aswell.

This type of occurance repeats continuously, he complains to his parents and to his friends but no one believes him. After seeing the man at a shopping center, he points him out to his parents, but they cannot see him. That night, he awakes to see the man standing at his window, he gets up and walks towards him. He puts his hand on the man's shoulder and turns him around. The man has no facial features apart from a mouth. No eyes. No nose. Nothing. The man and Vincent talk, he keeps asking him asking the man why he killed Nathan, but he never replies with an answer, he just keeps repeating that he isn't real, and is only a figment of Vincent's imagination.

In the morning, Vincent tells his parents about the previous night. They become worried, and they send him to a therapist to understand what is wrong. During a course of hypnosis, the therapist uncovers that it was in fact Vincent who murdered Nathan, and that his mind created the man to block out any memories of it. He describes how he and Nathan had been in a big fight which climaxed in Nathan hitting Vincent with a spade, and in a deep uncontrollable anger within his mind, Vincent had gone to Nathan's house and killed him later that night.

Analysis of “The Hunted”:

The film begins with an action packed war scene. This is effective as it throws the audience right into the action and story. The whole scene looks red due to lighting; this may be used to represent the bloodshed and murder happening within the scene, and in fact, the rest of the film. The scene ends with a bloody murder of a man which again informs the audience that this will be a violent film.
The next scene completely contrasts the first scene as it is shot in snow, so the screen is very light. This is used to tell the audience that the man in the scene may be a good character within the film (the character the audience will feel sympathy for).
Later, two “Deer hunters” are in a forest following a deer. However, within a short time you realise they aren’t hunting Deer, but are trying to track down and kill a man. They then have a conversation with the man; however you do not see him as he is hiding from them. The audience not being able to see the man adds to the idea that he is unknown, and mysterious. You then see that this man is the soldier who killed the man violently with a knife at the end of the first scene. After this conversation, a suspenseful “hide and seek” type sequence takes place. He kills both the men (who have rifles) with just one knife. This shows and informs the audience that he is a very skilled and dangerous man. It is obvious he will be the ‘bad’ guy within the film. The scene ends with a strange noise that gets louder and louder which would make the audience feel uncomfortable.
The music is effective within the film as it is very uneasy and mysterious, much like the main characters. This adds to the overall feel of the movie.
The costume was obviously chosen very carefully for each character. For example, the killer often wears very simple and bland clothes which represent that he is a very precise and one sided person.

This film is very successful as a thriller as it has plenty of action, suspense and an interesting story line. The gore within the film adds to the uneasiness that flows throughout the whole movie and adds to the appeal of the target audience who may enjoy films like this.
The one main point I think that let the film down was that they revealed too much information about the killer, which allowed the audience to feel more comfortable, and therefore not feel the terror in some of the later scenes. I think it would have improved the tension and suspense if the information about him was not revealed until later in the film, which would give the audience things to think about while watching the film from the beginning.

The title sequence of Se7en is very good at building the tension and apprehension within the audience because of the soundtrack, editing techniques and other elements.

First the soundtrack is taken from a song by the band Nine Inch Nails. This was a clever move on it's own as the band are very controversial and dark, so therefore suit the style of the film. It will also interest people who like the band because of this point. The song is very subtle, yet it has a big impact because of the echoing bass drum, the weird noises and the general uneasiness it creates.

The editing is also very interesting. The editor thought carefully about what kind of effects would make the audience feel tension and fear. This was achieved by using a flicker like effect on the writing and videos, The video changes colour. The text constantly changes size and focus and several different layers of film are processed on top of eachother to create a very engaging and interesting sequence that will draw the audience in.

David Fincher, the director, chose the images that were shown very precisely. He chose things that would make the audience uneasy and uncomfortable like the peeling of skin off a finger with a razor and a picture of a disfigured man. The sequence also makes the audience question what they are seeing, and what it is going to relate to within the rest of the film. It creates an enigma as they cannot tell who the person is who is doing these things.

The opening sequence to Psycho is a classic example of Alfred Hitchcock using the title sequence as a way of automatically placing the audience into a state of uneasiness. The constant lines that slide across the screen may be representing the cuts of a knife. This idea is used throughout the sequence as it looks as if the screen is being constantly sliced apart. This obviously relates to one of the film's themes, Murder.

The music used on the sequence is very fast paced and exhillerating. This builds up the adrenaline of the audience and almost shocks them as it is very loud and powerful. The constant "hits" of the violin strings that are used have also been chosen carefully as they represent the stabbing of a knife. We know this because, later in the famous "shower scene", the same idea is used with the music to represent the stabs.

This title sequence is good because it almost subliminally puts the audience in fear by using symbols of murder and knives.

The opening of the shining was intended to set the scene of the film, and build an eerie atmosphere by using the soundtrack. The camera shots are from what seems to be a helicopter as it is very high up in the air. It shows the surroundings, and the car driving through it. They make sure not to show any other signs of civilisation. I think this opening sequence is subtly very clever. This is because it lasts an unusually long time. This may have been done to show just how far the car was travelling, and how there is no other sign of civilisation anywhere near where the car is heading. This instantly creates that fear of being alone, and away from any kind of help.

The soundtrack is also very effective as it uses a low, constant bass line that creates suspense (a lot like the theme tune for "Jaws"). It also occasionally has a high pitched, echoing noise that may also be used to show the vastness of the landscape the car is in and to match the visuals. The actual piece of music is very cleverly written as the bass line seems to be quite random as it changes note constantly. This is effective because it represents the film as a whole, the audience never really know what is going to happen next and are left in suspense as to what the conclusion could be.

My target audience is primarily 15 - late twenties. This is because it is the type of film many people in this age group enjoy watching. People of this age enjoy being scared, in suspense and intrigued by an interesting storyline. For example, I asked ten 16 year olds what type of thriller they prefer. I did this by giving them 5 thriller films of different sub genres.

• Sci Fi thriller: District 9
• Psychological thriller: Donnie Darko
• Action thriller: Casino Royale
• Religious thriller: Da vinci Code
• Crime thriller: Reservoir Dogs

Suprisingly, Donnie Darko recieved the most votes with 4 people voting it as their favourite film in this list. Casino Royale recieved 2, District 9 recieved 2 and both The Da Vinci Code and Reservoir Dogs recieved 1.

This survey may not have been a fair test as the people surveyed may not have been very different from eachother. I should have asked more people from a range of different ages in my target audience. However, my results show that the Psychological thriller is the most favourable of these sub genres, so I will incorporate psychological elements into my film.

I think this may be the most enjoyable Sub genre to my audience because it takes thought to understand and they are very engaging films. It requires the audience to concentrate amd think about the plot. The plots are also frequently dark and twisted, which intrigues the audience. Personally, my favourite is psychological thriller also.