Research Questionnaire on the thriller genre

We asked twelve people to give their opinion on these simple questions about the opening of a thriller. We made the questions relatively simple, as this had to be quick and easy so we could gather information on peoples preferences to opening thrillers, so we have an understanding of what potential viewers want to see.

After the surveys were filled out we gathered the information together.

Question 1. How old are you?

The most common answer was 19-24 closely followed by 15-18.

We felt this was good as most thriller audiences are of this age.

Question 2. What type of Thriller appeals to you the most?

Psychological thriller was the most selected with action thriller close behind. We actually presumed these would be the most selected as they are the most common thriller sub-genre.

Question 3. What do you think is the most important element to a thriller?

The 2 answers chosen the most were Plot and Special effects, they also are the most conventional, which it needs to be in order to make an opening with limited tools.

Question 4. For you, what builds suspense in a film?

Music was the most chosen, and thanks to the results we know we would have to spend extra time getting the music right in order to create suspense.

Question 5. In the opening of a thriller, how much of the plot do you think should be revealed?

As little as possible was the most chosen, which says that audiences would rather the story be panned out throughout the film, so we wanted to reflect that in our opening.

Question 8. Do you think an opening to a thriller should conform to the thriller conventions?

The results said more people chose "no" which suggests that an opening could be deceiving, showing little or no thriller conventions in an opening.

Question 9. Do you think the opening to a thriller should include dialogue?

8 out of 12 people said yes, which contradicts question 5, so from the results we can come to a judgement that dialogue in an opening should not reveal too much of the plot.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Sin City

Opening Sequence Analysis
Sin city (2005)

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement
There is a long camera angle to show a girl in a red dress on a blacony, it is then cut to show the man walking up to her, and then cuts into speaking to her with a shot/reverse shot, and then a mid double shot, which then cuts into a close up of them kissing, moving back into a mid double shot of them close, which shows the close relationship between the two characters, before the man shoots her, then the camera moves into a high angle shot, with the rain coming down on them, almost like a POV shot of the rain, which then zooms out into an aerial shot of the city.

Sound
There is a composition of trumpets and a big band, which automatically makes us think of the 60s. There is narration from the man, as if he is reading the book in which the film was based.

Editing
It is heavily edited, and the scene is black and white, and only the womans dress is red,
It has an effect that highlights the red dress and makes it bold. It also cuts into a comic strip like cartoon. When the camera zooms out of the high angle shot into a aerial shot of the city, the buildings change into the words, sin city.

Mise en Scene
it is on a balcony with plenty of high rise buildings around,almost like a new york style of buildings. everything is black and white, which allows the audience to follow the two characters in shot. after the man kills the female character, it goes into an aerial shot and we can see that they are in a huge city, which plays a very important part, hence the title.
Characters
The man knows how to speak to the woman, and talks almost poetically, he is well dressed and impresses the woman. The audience does not learn alot about the woman, as she is not an important character, she does not say much, instead the man almost reads her mind, and knows what she is thinking, as if they have been friends or have known each other for a long period of time.
Locations
It is located on a dark n gloomy roof of a building that is in the middle of a dark and grey city.

Narrative/Plot
The man speaks with suave,and talks almost poetically and impresses the woman, the woman tries to be defensive but eventually gives up and goes into his arms before he kills her.

Themes
The opening is mis directed as it looks like the start of a romantic film, which is then turned around by the man killing her. From the male characters narration, the audience gets the sense that he didnt actually want to kill her.

Visual Style
It is black and white and very simple, which shows the relation to the novel it was actually based on, it makes the film almost like reading the book.

Genre
It is a thriller, but very misdirected during the intro to seem like a romantic film.

Opening sequence analysis - Casino Royale

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

The establishing shot is a long shot of a building, with a car stopping outside, a subtitle reveals that this location is in Prague, Czech Republic. The entire pre-title scene is shot in black and white, this is representative of the the hostile atmosphere between the two characters. When the two characters are talking, shot reverse shot is used frequently. A number of mid shots and close ups are used during the assassination scene, to create a sense of fast paced action.

Sound

The pre-title scenes use a mixture of diegetic and and non-diegetic sound. With strings  added over the scenes of dialogue, to add to the tension and hostility between the two characters already evident from the dialogue. The strings are played in a legato style, to give the impression that the tension is building towards a moment of action. During the assassination scene, brass instruments are added, these are played in a staccato style, to represent the fast paced action. 

Editing

Cuts are used frequently. In the scenes of dialogue the camera alternates between the speaking characters frequently, shot reverse shot. A cut is used to move to the assassination scene, cuts are fast paced and frequent during this scene, this keeps the action fast paced, which in turn shows that James Bond feels no emotion towards killing the contact.

Mise en Scene

Both characters in the scenes of dialogue are well dressed, which suggests high status within MI6. Areas of the office are disorganised, which suggests that the agent Bond has to kill is unreliable.

Characters

Bond is shown in detail, both speaking and in action. The agent Bond has to kill is also shown in a fair amount of detail, he is shown to be unreliable in both the dialogue and mise en scene.

Locations

Prague, Czech Republic. Bond assassinates “The contact” in a public toilet.

Narrative/Plot

The plot from the pre-title sequence shows Bond gaining his “00 status” by carying out two assassinations.

Visual Style

Using no colour as a visual effect is not often used in mainstream cinema today, so in that sense, the visual style is fairly retrospective. 

Genre

Action/Thriller

Opening sequence analysis - Se7en

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

the director has used extreme close-ups to show what the character is doing, it is mainly focused on his hands. The camera does not move and is always in focus on the characters hand, and is out of focus on the background.

Sound

the film has a non-diegetic sound all the way through, it has a typical horror style type of music, which adds a thrilling effect to the opening scene. it a synthesized piece of music, which is not normally used, but works very well. The music also gets faster gradually.

There is also diegetic sound of a mechanical like device, which again adds effect to the sequence, as this is a typical sound of a horror type film.

Editing

There are quick shots, which are changed after every credit is shown, this makes a thrilling effect that something is about to happen. There is also a red filter, in one of the scenes, which i think it was done as red represents blood.

Mise en Scene

there are shadows, which create a “scary” environment, there are books and photographs of which he is cutting out, and there is also a clip of him shaving off his skin on his thumb, which shows that he is not stable/sane.

Characters

you don’t get to see the characters face which works well, as it gives a mysterious effect, making the viewers curious as to who he is.

Locations

it appears to be in the house of the character that is shown, but the camera does not see much as it is constantly an extreme close-up of the characters hand and what he is doing.

Narrative/Plot

there is no dialogue throughout the sequence, this is done to create suspense and fear towards the viewer.

Themes

Visual Style

it is shot just like a typical horror film, and not at all like a thriller. It uses very different shots and editing, quick, glowing writing is used, and gives an amazingly shocking effect.

Genre

It is a Thriller, but not one with explosions or guns, but shocking violence and murders.

Opening sequence analysis - Panic Room

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

Long shots from high, aerial angles are used throughout, the title sequence shows a different landmark of the New York skyline with every different name in the credits. All of these shots pan to show some of the area that surrounds the landmarks. The opening sequence shows a great deal of Manhattan, an effect used to contrast the setting of the film being centred around one room.

Sound

Sound is non-diegetic. Strings are used within the two bass octaves to begin with, but move into the mid-range. The composition is in minor throughout, in order to give a ‘dark’ feel to the music. After a minute of the opening sequence, the tempo of the music increases and the strings are played in a staccato style, as opposed to the legato style used earlier in the opening sequence. This style of performance give an effect of heightening fear. 

Editing

There is an interesting use of typography used throughout the opening sequence, which blends the credits to the building. This was successful as this typography was used in a later film “Fringe”

Mise en Scene

New York City is shown in detail, from the skyscrapers to the cars on the road below, so that the audience gets a sense of the events in the film moving in real-time.

Characters

No characters are shown

Locations

It is an ariel view of New York

Narrative/Plot

There is no narrative.

Themes

From the opening sequence, I think it shows a theme of solitude, as the music is repetitive, and has no narrative.

Visual Style

 it is shot to show a “faceless city”

Genre

From the opening sequence it is very hard to predict a genre, but as it had shown a lot of solitude, it would probably lead to a thriller.

Opening thriller questionnaire