1. What is the purpose of the opening to a film?
The opening to a film sets scene for what is happening and what is going to happen. The opening also introduces characters that will play a vital role in the film. The opening to a film also tells the viewers what genre film it is. This will either attract viewers or turn them away.
2. What technique can a director use to create suspense in a film?
There are a variety of techniques that a director can use to make the viewer feel tense when watching the film through creating suspense. Music is vital component in creating suspense. Music can draw audiences in and helps the audience predict when something is going to take place. Sometimes a director will add dramatic music to add suspense to make the audience predict action and then bluff and show this almost stops the audience from predicting the action parts and keeps them in their seats (horror films).
Lighting is also used to create suspense. Generally darker scenes are used to create tension as the audience cannot see as clearly this keeps action parts a surprise.
Camera angles are used also to create tension. Close up scenes of characters, over shoulder shots, shots from someone’s point of view, moving shots.
All these techniques are used to tease the audience and reel them in.
3. How do you think a crime film is defined?
A crime film is simply a film that involves numerous aspects of crime. A crime film can be divided further into sub-genres such as crime comedies, mob films, film noir, true crime and detective films.
4. What films can you think of that would fit into the crime genre?
Because there are many sub genre of crime there is a large scale of choice. In that sense a majority of films can be classed as a crime film. Even toy story 2 could be counted as a crime film as there is kidnapping of the main character. Other examples of crime films include:
• Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels
• Pulp Fiction
• The Italian Job
• The Godfather
• Scarface
• Air Force One
5. The thriller genre can be divided into sub-genres – what different types of thriller films do you think exist?
I think that thriller can be divided into:
• action-adventure thriller,
• disaster thriller,
• horror thriller,
• crime thriller
• psychological thriller
• etc.
6. What are the characteristics or conventions of a crime film? Narrative, characters, mise en scene, stars?
The characteristics of a crime film depend on the sub-genre of the film. If the film is gangster crime we can expect the film to be set in a big city, the characters will be dressed in a suit in most of the scenes. Props such as cars, guns and money will be highly used in this sub-genre of film. If the crime film is in the sub-genre detective crime films we could cannot to expect to stereotype where the film will be set as it can be in a variety of places such as in a city, in the countryside, in some woods etc. Characters will be dressed in police uniforms and the main police officers will most likely wear a long trench coat, or something that will set them apart from the other officers.
7. What do you think is the audience pleasure of a crime film?
The pleasure of the film depends on the viewer. The audience of the film might find joy from the film through numerous reasons such as having to try to work out the mystery in a film
8. What do you think are the differences between a horror film and a thriller film?
A thriller film is any kind of film that creates excitement. This can be through car chases, explosion, or even American football. On the other hand horror makes it excitement through graphic violence and pain, it is more about being scared than creating excitement. Thriller films are more about pursuit and centre around a hero, whereas in a horror film, the idea about is it to create fear through a villain which is most likely a meaningless killer.
9. Using the internet, research the ‘top 50 thriller films’. Look at the top twenty – which ones have you watched? If it is not many, why do you think this is the case?
Rank Rating Title Votes
1. 9.2 The Godfather (1972) 379,879
2. 9.0 The Godfather: Part II (1974) 223,710
3. 8.9 Pulp Fiction (1994) 381,998
4. 8.8 The Dark Knight (2008) 417,583
5. 8.7 Rear Window (1954) 109,409
6. 8.7 Fight Club (1999) 347,693
7. 8.7 Psycho (1960) 131,790
8. 8.7 The Usual Suspects (1995) 247,918
9. 8.7 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)225,303
10. 8.6 The Matrix (1999) 351,374
11. 8.6 North by Northwest (1959) 86,220
12. 8.6 Memento (2000) 248,147
13. 8.6 Se7en (1995) 253,578
14. 8.6 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 146,267
15.8.6 Léon (1994) 180,831
16. 8.6 Taxi Driver (1976) 141,867
17. 8.6 Vertigo (1958) 84,390
18. 8.6 Double Indemnity (1944) 33,895
19. 8.5 M (1931) 36,415
20. 8.5 El secreto de sus ojos (2009) 2,409
Out of the top twenty thriller films listed I have seen seven of the films. The possible reason for why I haven’t seen more is probably because at least seven of them is what I would call an old film (1970 or younger). Another reason for why I may of not watch some of the films above may be because I haven’t encountered the film and know of it.
10. Using the internet, find three posters for thriller films. Complete a brief semiotic analysis of the posters. What colours are used, what kind of imagery, taglines, certificate, narrative?
The Bir
ds is a film that was made in 1963. It is about birds that attack humans this is shown in the movie poster with crows attacking a woman. The woman is coloured in as red this could because red represents danger. The woman is also cowering with fear and trying to protect herself from the birds which from the poster seem to be attacking her. In the background there is a picture of a man looking up. It is unclear what he is looking at but from the poster we can assume that he is looking at birds flying above him. Alfred Hitchcock is written above the film title. This is to show the name of the director.
The director name and the film title is also written in red this is to represent danger and be eye catching. The names of the actors are at the bottom of the poster.
Gone in s
ixty seconds is a thriller film about car theft. The main character has to steal a set number of cars to rescue his brother. There is a lot of exciting car driving with a few stunts. From the film poster we see the main character and his love interest we also see car driving towards us at high speed. We can tell that the car is going at high speed because the car and the scenery are blurred. The title is all written in red which creates a sense of danger except for “60” which is written in white. This stands out and clarifies the time. The 60 may also be significant as this may be the number of cars that must be stolen. The main characters actor is written at the top. The rest of the main actors are written across the bottom
From the
poster we can see the main character jumping through the air while aiming his guns this gives a sense of excitement and gives a little hint of what the film is going to be about. We can tell from the poster that this movie is going to be an intense action packed film. The poster is in black and white except for the film title and the explosion that follows it. This creates excitement. Underneath the film title is a slogan which says “rules are made to be broken” this gives us a snippet of what the film is about and a disregard for rules. The list of actors are above the film title.
The opening to a film sets scene for what is happening and what is going to happen. The opening also introduces characters that will play a vital role in the film. The opening to a film also tells the viewers what genre film it is. This will either attract viewers or turn them away.
2. What technique can a director use to create suspense in a film?
There are a variety of techniques that a director can use to make the viewer feel tense when watching the film through creating suspense. Music is vital component in creating suspense. Music can draw audiences in and helps the audience predict when something is going to take place. Sometimes a director will add dramatic music to add suspense to make the audience predict action and then bluff and show this almost stops the audience from predicting the action parts and keeps them in their seats (horror films).
Lighting is also used to create suspense. Generally darker scenes are used to create tension as the audience cannot see as clearly this keeps action parts a surprise.
Camera angles are used also to create tension. Close up scenes of characters, over shoulder shots, shots from someone’s point of view, moving shots.
All these techniques are used to tease the audience and reel them in.
3. How do you think a crime film is defined?
A crime film is simply a film that involves numerous aspects of crime. A crime film can be divided further into sub-genres such as crime comedies, mob films, film noir, true crime and detective films.
4. What films can you think of that would fit into the crime genre?
Because there are many sub genre of crime there is a large scale of choice. In that sense a majority of films can be classed as a crime film. Even toy story 2 could be counted as a crime film as there is kidnapping of the main character. Other examples of crime films include:
• Lock Stock and two Smoking Barrels
• Pulp Fiction
• The Italian Job
• The Godfather
• Scarface
• Air Force One
5. The thriller genre can be divided into sub-genres – what different types of thriller films do you think exist?
I think that thriller can be divided into:
• action-adventure thriller,
• disaster thriller,
• horror thriller,
• crime thriller
• psychological thriller
• etc.
6. What are the characteristics or conventions of a crime film? Narrative, characters, mise en scene, stars?
The characteristics of a crime film depend on the sub-genre of the film. If the film is gangster crime we can expect the film to be set in a big city, the characters will be dressed in a suit in most of the scenes. Props such as cars, guns and money will be highly used in this sub-genre of film. If the crime film is in the sub-genre detective crime films we could cannot to expect to stereotype where the film will be set as it can be in a variety of places such as in a city, in the countryside, in some woods etc. Characters will be dressed in police uniforms and the main police officers will most likely wear a long trench coat, or something that will set them apart from the other officers.
7. What do you think is the audience pleasure of a crime film?
The pleasure of the film depends on the viewer. The audience of the film might find joy from the film through numerous reasons such as having to try to work out the mystery in a film
8. What do you think are the differences between a horror film and a thriller film?
A thriller film is any kind of film that creates excitement. This can be through car chases, explosion, or even American football. On the other hand horror makes it excitement through graphic violence and pain, it is more about being scared than creating excitement. Thriller films are more about pursuit and centre around a hero, whereas in a horror film, the idea about is it to create fear through a villain which is most likely a meaningless killer.
9. Using the internet, research the ‘top 50 thriller films’. Look at the top twenty – which ones have you watched? If it is not many, why do you think this is the case?
Rank Rating Title Votes
1. 9.2 The Godfather (1972) 379,879
2. 9.0 The Godfather: Part II (1974) 223,710
3. 8.9 Pulp Fiction (1994) 381,998
4. 8.8 The Dark Knight (2008) 417,583
5. 8.7 Rear Window (1954) 109,409
6. 8.7 Fight Club (1999) 347,693
7. 8.7 Psycho (1960) 131,790
8. 8.7 The Usual Suspects (1995) 247,918
9. 8.7 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)225,303
10. 8.6 The Matrix (1999) 351,374
11. 8.6 North by Northwest (1959) 86,220
12. 8.6 Memento (2000) 248,147
13. 8.6 Se7en (1995) 253,578
14. 8.6 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 146,267
15.8.6 Léon (1994) 180,831
16. 8.6 Taxi Driver (1976) 141,867
17. 8.6 Vertigo (1958) 84,390
18. 8.6 Double Indemnity (1944) 33,895
19. 8.5 M (1931) 36,415
20. 8.5 El secreto de sus ojos (2009) 2,409
Out of the top twenty thriller films listed I have seen seven of the films. The possible reason for why I haven’t seen more is probably because at least seven of them is what I would call an old film (1970 or younger). Another reason for why I may of not watch some of the films above may be because I haven’t encountered the film and know of it.
10. Using the internet, find three posters for thriller films. Complete a brief semiotic analysis of the posters. What colours are used, what kind of imagery, taglines, certificate, narrative?
The Bir
ds is a film that was made in 1963. It is about birds that attack humans this is shown in the movie poster with crows attacking a woman. The woman is coloured in as red this could because red represents danger. The woman is also cowering with fear and trying to protect herself from the birds which from the poster seem to be attacking her. In the background there is a picture of a man looking up. It is unclear what he is looking at but from the poster we can assume that he is looking at birds flying above him. Alfred Hitchcock is written above the film title. This is to show the name of the director.The director name and the film title is also written in red this is to represent danger and be eye catching. The names of the actors are at the bottom of the poster.
Gone in s
ixty seconds is a thriller film about car theft. The main character has to steal a set number of cars to rescue his brother. There is a lot of exciting car driving with a few stunts. From the film poster we see the main character and his love interest we also see car driving towards us at high speed. We can tell that the car is going at high speed because the car and the scenery are blurred. The title is all written in red which creates a sense of danger except for “60” which is written in white. This stands out and clarifies the time. The 60 may also be significant as this may be the number of cars that must be stolen. The main characters actor is written at the top. The rest of the main actors are written across the bottomFrom the
poster we can see the main character jumping through the air while aiming his guns this gives a sense of excitement and gives a little hint of what the film is going to be about. We can tell from the poster that this movie is going to be an intense action packed film. The poster is in black and white except for the film title and the explosion that follows it. This creates excitement. Underneath the film title is a slogan which says “rules are made to be broken” this gives us a snippet of what the film is about and a disregard for rules. The list of actors are above the film title. 
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