Media Products Inspired In My Planning

One Media product that has inspired my planning for my trainer is the TV show Stalker.

It is based on a team of detectives that investigate cases including stalkers.
The way it relates to my idea is my thriller trailer will be based on stalking.

Watching the first season of Stalker the show is great research to understand better how a stalker would think and what they would be looking for.

I need this knowledge because i'm planning on filming my clips from the perspective of my phone camera, which the stalker is watching me through.

I hope to also have clips of the stalker actually contacting me in different ways and there are many examples of how he could do this in Stalker the show, so i've gathered a few ideas just from watching it.

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Another media product that came to mind when planning this media project is a music video - Aquarius by Tinashe.

The reason this video has inspired me for an aspect of my trailer is that some of the music video is shot in quite a DIY style, handheld footage, sometimes filmed by Tinashe herself.

This applies to my trailer because some of my trailer will be filmed from the perspective of my phone camera in some shots- not all. This style of shot is necessary because i want it to come across as if I'm being watched through my mobile camera by a stalker.

Conventions Of Film Openings

These are the basic conventions of a film opening/opening credits:

1. The studio company logo that produced the film, e.g. Disney or Pixar.

2. Titles (names of cast and producers), usually lasting 5 or 6 seconds each.

3. Music establishing the genre, e.g. happy and upbeat for comedies or romance, suspensful and slow for horros or thrillers.

4. Introducing the characters one by one usually, showing the relationships between them and also introducing the actor's names in a title sequence as each character is shown.

5. The scenes and what happens in the opening scene determines the genre, e.g. an action scene for an action movie, or a creepy scene for a horror.

6. An enigma, so they're already starting to try and puzzle out the film. e.g. a quick scene of a weapon covered in blood, the audience will be wondering what happened.

7. An establishing shot, to set out the location of the film, e.g. the opening scene of Friends clearly shows it's set in New York.

8. The timings of each title range from 3-5 seconds, generally.

example of Friend's opening scene shown below. 

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The Thriller Film That Inspired My Trailer

A thriller film that has inspired me in planning my own thriller trailer is Ratter.

This film has inspired me because i think the camera work is very creative, as a lot of the film is shot through the perspective of Emma's laptop, tv and phone..
I want to use similar filming styles in my fim opening.

The main character is Emma, who is newly living in New York when someone hacks into her phone; laptop, tv...all electronic devices somehow. The person that hacked into everything is watching her whole life, then they start stealing photos of her and a guy she's dating and messaging Emma pretending to be her boyfriend. 

After some time he stalks her and enters her apartment while she's in there, and attacks her while she's video chatting her mother, while her mother helplessly watches through the camera.

He becomes obsessed with her just from watching her through her screens and the whole film is grippingly scary to me because it makes me really think about how much privacy i actually have, because this could happen to any of us. 

I find thrillers that could realistically happen to me much more horrifying rather than any sort of supernatural storylines.

I'm not a fan of the end of the movie though, because we never find out who the "Ratter" is.

The trailer for Ratter is below.

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My Favourite Thriller And Why

My personal favourite thriller movie is Mindscape (also known as Anna).

above is the trailer ^ 

It's basically about a man called John who has the power to enter people's memories and uses this power to solve crimes.

 He takes on the case of a teenage girl that is on a hunger strike and who has a difficult childhood, trying to work out if she is a sociopath or a victim of abuse/trauma using her memories.

I like the movie a lot because it's chilling, full of suspense and has an interesting storyline throughout. I also find entering the memories very interesting and it breaks the scenes up making it easy to stay focused.

 Then it has a big twist at the end because Anna ends up setting John up for her own murder, BUT he gets out of prison because another man who can read memories analyses John's mind and sees that he is innocent. 

I'm also a fan of romance and there is an underlying romantic storyline going on between John and Judith, a woman who works in Anna's house. 


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Voted Best Of All Time Thrillers

The first well known thriller that is considered one of the best is Inception.

What makes it one of the best is it relates to something we all experience-dreams, where unrealistic things feel realistic.

 Characters entering and stealing dreams is an original idea and that's what makes it interesting.

Also, we can relate to the main character- who takes outlandish risks just so he can see his children again.

 The concept of a dream within a dream is what makes people ponder while watching this film- in my opinion it's popular because it's strange and it makes people think about their subconscious.

below is the trailer.

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Lastly, another well knwon thriller is The Sixth Sense.

It's in the list of best thrillers because it's gripping and horrifying while having an excellent storyline.

The plot also revolves around an investigation, which is a common convention of a thriller.

It includes elements of the supernatural, suicide, and a character that we can relate to- a guilty psychologist who is trying to help a child to redeem himself for failing with a previous patient.

What engages the audience so much is the main characters are noble and easy to root for, while the creepy child character keeps us on the edge of our seat.

Below is the trailer.

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Popular/Well Known Thriller Directors

Some of the most well known directors for thriller movies include Christopher Nolan (shown above), Quentin Tarantino and M. Night Shyamalan.

Christopher Nolan is famous for directing Inception, The Dark Knight and the Dark Knight Rises. 

He is 46, English-American and is a film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor.

His films are generally rooted in philosophical, sociological or ethical concepts, e.g. human morality, time, memory and personal identity. 

Quentin Tarantino is known for the the memorable Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill 1 and 2.

He is 53 and American.

His movies generally revolve around satire, non linear storylines.

Lastly, M. Night Shyamalan is 46, an Indian-American film director, screenwriter, producer and occasional actor.

He is best known for directing The Sixth Sense.

He is known for including plot twists in his movies.

What Are The Genre Conventions Of A Thriller Film?

-The aim of a Thriller is to create suspense and thrill, scare, excite and make the audience anxious. 

-Thrillers typically use suburban or everyday settings like houses, schools, etc. and make perfectly normal places seem eerie.

-Crime and politics are common themes in thrillers.

-The lighting is almost always from an unnatural light source, often shot in low key lighting with lots of shadows or key lighting during especially thrilling scenes. This connotes the feeling of suspense or the unknown, creating an eerie atmosphere.

-The plot usually revolves around an investigation, sometimes includes violence/crime and there could be a major twist/unexpected finish in the end.

-Often many different sub-stories are going on, which all concatenate in the end.

-The villain is normally an outsider/outcast.

-Film music is often creepy and slow in minor key, with louder moments in action scenes. Music plays a big part in making thriller films.

-There are often jump cuts, high angle and close up shots.











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What Is A Thriller?

A thriller is a novel, play or film with an exciting plot,  involving crime.

They generally give the audience feelings of suspense, surprise, excitement, anticipation and anxiety.

This link sums up the 10 Basic Ingredients of a successful thriller;

1. A good, thrilling story full of suspense.

2. From the POV of the underdog/character with the most to lose.

3. Multiple points of view, which builds tension and irony.

4. Opening with an action scene-introduce 'hero' and 'villain' first.

5. Early on, make it clear what your main character fears.

6. Make your main characters miserable until the end.

7. High paced, something new in each scene.

8. Show, don't tell. Use action verbs.

9. Your main characters have to change throughout the storyline.

10. Teach the audience something.

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