Thriller Audiences: RESEARCH

Below is an image showing which film genres appeal to certain genders



There are different types of thrillers, from psychological to supernatural thrillers which appeal to different people.
Action thrillers - MALE
Supernatural thrillers - FEMALES
Political thrillers - MALE
Detective thrillers - BOTH however they appeal slightly more to FEMALES

1. How many suspense films were released in 2009? How many films were released altogether last year?
Only 31 suspense films were released in 2009, altogether 503 films were released in 2009.
2. Action, animation and comedy account for 52% of Box Office in the UK in 2009. Why do you think these genres are so popular?
I think these genres are more popular because, not a lot of technology is required compared to something such as horror which is not found a lot in UK films. Furthermore cinema goers tend to be young people and these genres appeal to them.
3.Why do you think Thrillers account for quite a low proprotion of UK Box Office takings (4% in 2009)?
Thrillers tend to have a higher age certificate so some young people and children cannot view it, which has a big effect because they are the main people who go the cinema
4.Looking at the 'genre by gender' diagram above, what information can be derived about Thriller audiences and gender?
Thriller that is to do with action, or has elements of sci-fi are favoured more by men because it is more tense and requires a lot of pace. Females on the other hand prefer romance and although there are not much 'romantic thrillers' they tend to prefer suspense, psychological and passionate murders because, they tend to have an element of lust or romance.
5.Look at the age certificate for 10 of the films featured on the teaching blog. What does this tell you about Thriller audiences?

This tells us that thriller films are only suitable for people aged 15 and over. This may have an impact on the genre gross in the UK because, most people who go to the cinemas are also under 15. An example of how the age certificate has an impact on the genre gross is the gross in 2009 which was £42, 578, 104 compared to comedy which was £219, 228, 278

'Watching' Documentary on Film Openings: RESEARCH

1. Thomas Sutcliffe says 'Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistable'. What he means by this is that you should slowly lure into a film and not jam punch peopel straight away. He believes that films need to 'make' you want to watch it and, he compares this to sexual seduction which is metaphorical for this.

2. Director Jean Jacques Beineix, argues that there is a risk of 'instant arousal' this is because if you start a film so strong you have the question of what to do next.

3. 'A good beginning must make the audience feel like it does not know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little' this is so that something gives them reason to watch it yet not over doing it, because they may think it is a cliche. A film that does this greatly is The Stepfather it starts out very ordinary of a man getting ready for what we think is a normal day however, we see a dead child on the breakfast table which makes us think 'hold on soemthing is not right' giving us reason to watch more.

4. Stanley Kauffmann describes the classic opening, as an establishing shot of a New York building, thena close up of a window then, the receptionist office and the camera works its way into an office where we meet our first key character and that is usually where the first dialogue starts. This type of opening anticipates me to watch more because I personalyl think, 'A film cannot be so normal, what is his/her secret' and makes me want to watch more.

5. Kyle Cooper's title sequence of the film Seven is so effective because, it foreshadows what would happen and shows short characteristics of the film.

6. Orson Welles wanted the audience to automatically be plunged into his film so instead of putting the theme tune of Universal Studios whilst there logo was up he, added another sound track which caused an argument which he eventually won. Thr production company even wanted to put titles on it which he was angry about because he did not want that either.

7. There is a saying 'A favourite trick of Film Noir' the trick is that we see what we think is the end of the film in the beginning.

8. The film The Shining creates suspense in the opening title sequence because, there is a shot of a helicopter chasing a car which tells us that the person/people in the car is someones prey. Furhtermore the fact that they are the only car driving in an unknown country area the audience feel like they are going the wrong direction, 'ommens' and it is a no way out. 

Lurpak Sequence - THRILLING OMLETTE

In class we watched an advert of a omelette being made. The aim of this advert was to sell Lurpak which is the brand of butter. The idea of someone making an omelette sounds very boring however, it was turned into an advert so suspenseful and 'wierdly' kept me on edge to see whether it would fail or cook perfectly. During the first 9 seconds of the advert the lighting is very dark so the audience are wondering what the advert is about which immediately keeps us hooked. The backing track of the advert was quiet slow yet suspenseful and it almost sounds like a church choir, however there were a lot of bangs such as the opening of the fridge. The voice over in the advert is of a man with a very deep yet low voice which creates a lot of suspense and makes the audience want to listen to what he is saying, which is important because he is the narrator. What I really enjoyed about this was that there were a lot of close ups on the littlest things that we do not really pay attention to when we are cooking such as bread crumbs. There was even a bit of irony when the egg was being cracked because there is a high angle shot, which is quiet close up of the cracked bowl and I found it funny as the egg was about to be cracked. After however, when the egg is being mixed the camera zooms out and we no longer notice the bowl is cracked. I really liked this because, it has shown me that something so simple could be turned into something very interesting and suspenseful, and it has inspired me with an idea for our thriller piece to do something simple but turn it into something very suspenseful rather than sticking to something cliche.

  

Art of the title sequence

This is England



The font of the title 'This is England' is in a 'smudged' yet small font as a matter of fact all the titles are like this. The actual title of the film is placed over a wide shot of flats in England, I like this because it immediately tells the audience that the film is going to be based on the working class areas of England. From the look of the images I can see that this film is set in the 80's. The names of the producers and important people seem to be in a bigger font size than the title of their role in the film. This makes the audience aware of who they are and acknowledge them more. This title sequence mainly consists of mid-shots, close ups and wide shots. The mid-shots are mainly the group of people for example in the second box on the top row we see three men whereas, in the second row on the first box we have a close up of a man and woman making out, this may also suggest that they are being pointed out because in the 80's it was not socially desired especially because they look young, compared to the last box on the third row which is of two very formal people telling the audience that there may be conflict within this film. I like this sequence because, it looks very realistic which is something that British films are known for.

The Structure of Thriller Openings with examples: RESEARCH

When looking at film openings we notice three basic structures which are as followed:

- A narrative opening with titles running throughout
Examples: The Stepfather, The shining
-A discrete title sequence
Examples: Seven, Arlington Road
-Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening
Examples: Donnie Darko and Mezrine

Inspiring font titles

A font used in a film that really attracts me is Orphan. 
The font type is a Sans Serif font and, we know this because it is very informal. I have already seen the film and I must say it is quiet chilling and has the audience on edge. 


The font itself is in the colour red which is not used often because, some find it 'offensive' as it connotes blood. However it is used effectively in this film because, although it is not fully gory or bloody the red connotes anger, jealousy, hate and warning because, red is generally used to alert people. What I also like about this font is the way the letters are spelt, the correct way of spelling it is 'Orphan' rather than 'OrPHAN' this tells the audience that is in the handwriting of a child who may be an important character in the film hence there is a child on the front cover of the blu-ray. 
Furthermore the font seems to be written very harshly to emphasise their anger and the fact that they are an orphan. The informality of the text can symbolise the characters status as some people may refer to orphans as being quiet poor and less educated than others. 

Font Analysis: RESEARCH

There are two types of fonts, Serif fonts and San Serif fonts. 

Serif Fonts - Such as Times and Georgia and Courier 

Serif fonts are generally more traditional and much more formal than San Serif fonts. A Serif is the extra detail at the end of each stroke of every letter. 

Sans Serif Fonts - Such as Arial and Comic Sans

San Serif fonts are usually much more informal, more modern and more 'friendly'

Font Analysis

 The font used on the cover of Pearl Harbour is Palatino. The title is in capital letters, Serif font and in bold. The characters on the DVD cover are in very formal clothes and the gesture done by the woman in the middle states importance and the idea of formality which, the font itself connotes as Serif is very formal and the idea of it being in bold and capitals states importance. Furthermore the text itself is very 'tall' and 'lengthy' this is an old fashioned thing to do in films which tells us that the film may be something to do with the past, also the idea of the letters being tall links to the plane as they are both very high. I personally do not like this font very much however, I think it tells us a little about the film.

The font used in the film Rocky is Franklin Gothic Heavy. The title is San Serif, in capital letters, big and bold. The idea of it being big and bold reflects the film as it is to do with boxing, the font seems to remind me of a big thud and it is squashed into the cover which somehow reminds me of a punch as someones fist is being squashed into your face. The font is not fancy or very detailed which tells us it is quiet informal, and it is quiet modern.