Analyzing an opening to a thriller

For my homework i had to watch the first 5 or so minutes of a thriller and analyse what elements make this particular film a thriller. I chose to watch final destenation 2 which is a supernatural thriller. It appeared in cinemas in 2003 and was directed by David R Ellis.

Notes:The plot revolves around death. At first we see the first device which is normaly used in thriller and various genres of films and that is egnimas, A man is trying to solve the reason for the cause of so many deaths. We then see Kimberley and her friends travelling on the road However something horrific takes place.

What makes this a Thriller?: The signs of egnimas and red herrings. For example a woman bangs on Kimberley's car door and makes us audiance jump. It is unexpected and tells us something will take place later.There is also a little boy in a car colliding a toy car and truck togetheras if he is trying to signifying something. Then suspense is built and it leads to a massive car crash and explosion where many people die.

What makes us audiance want to keep watching?: The thing that makes the audiance want to keep watching is that we see Kimberley and she looks alive. We want to carry on watching to see what happens to her. Are her friends alive? what else will happen? are there any more deaths? Is death himself the cause of all this? Will Kimberley survive?

This is the car crash/ explosion scene. (Kimberley and her friends are in the big red car)

Thriller notes

Today in the lesson we looked at the types of narrative-structure , formulas and devices which were:

• 'Cause and effect' This is when the plotting establishes a characters motivations , It helps tell an intreasting story which proceeds logically and steadily.

We also looked at Enigmas this is used in all types of genres aswell as sometimes used in thrillers. Enigmas refers to puzzle. In thriller films this is commonly something which the protagonist has to try to find out or solve before the narrative is resloved and the film finishes. For example:

• 'SAW'


• 'TAKEN'

Then we looked at 'Red herrings' which is a name given to a divice which intends to divert the audiance from the truth or item of significance. This can work with other devices for example enigmas to create suspence an example of a film that has used a combonation of both is 'SAW'.

We watched an extract from 'North by North West' (1958) and then we spoke about the use of cliff hangers. They are sometimes altough not always used in films. They often feature a main character in a dilema or confronted with a shocking revelation. This can entice the audice to keep watching in order to see how the situation resolves itself.

Examples of films that use cliff hangers are :

• 'ITALIAN JOB' (1969)

&

• 'NEW MOON' (2009)

Thriller Research

For this post i am going to research information about the Thriller genre. Just like many films we stereotype thriller films and expect certain characters or plots to be involved for example , In thriller films there is normaly a hereo who is pitted by a villan/s , who is determined to gain power for whatever reason. There are a few types of thrillers such as Psycological , Mystery romance , legal thriller, western and science fiction type thrillers. Here is some information saying what International Thriller Writers think makes a thriller film work. "According to International Thriller Writers, a thriller is characterized by "the sudden rush of emotions, the excitement, sense of suspense, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace." In short, a thriller thrills. How? Mostly through skillful plotting".
Thriller films also include :
"High stakes, non-stop action, plot twists that both surprise and excite, settings that are both vibrant and exotic, and an intense pace that never lets up until the adrenalin packed climax."
However:
"Not all thrillers are suspense novels; but many suspense novels are thrillers. The average thriller is longer than the average mystery, which makes a brisk pace crucial to success."
This information was from: http://www.findmeanauthor.com/thriller_fiction_genre.htm

An example of a well known British film maker is Alfred Hitchcock.
He directed more than fifty feature films!!
Some examples of his films are: Rope (1948),
Psycho(1960), The man who knew too much (1958) and To catch a thief (1955).




Here is a trailer of Hitchcocks thriller film Psycho: This is known as a 'Psycological thriller' The plot is about "A young woman who steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother."http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/

Thriller Blog

Brief: This blog is used for me to update any information as We are going to be making a two minute opening of a thriller in a group with four people the most. for our As level coursework. I will then evaluate our two minute thriller and also continue to update it with any new plans etc.