Thriller Director(Hartt)

Martin Scorsese

Birth Name: Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese

 

Date of Birth: 17th November 1942, Queens, New York City, USA

Nickname: Marty

Biography

Martin Scorsese was raised in a neighborhood of Little Italy which eventually provided inspiration for several of his films. He earned a B.S degree in film communications in 1964, which was then followed by an M.A in the same field in 1966 at New York University's School of Film. Throughout this time he made various short films which were prize winning. This included The Big Shave (1968) and Martin directed his first feature film, Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967)




Directing Career
Martin then served as assistant director and editor for the documentary Woodstock (1970) this lead to pairing with Robert De Niro who was actor and frequent collabortor. In 1976 his Taxi Driver (1976) which also starred De Niro was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which he then followed that film with New Youk, New York (1977) and The Last Waltz (1978) Scorsese then directed De Niro to an Oscar-winning performance as boxer jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980) which recieved eight Academy Award nominations which included Best Picture and Best Director and is hailed as one of the masterpieces of modern cinema. After he then went onto directing The Color of Money (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995) and Kundun (1997) among other films. He then went on to his long-cherished project Gangs of New York (2002) which earnt numerous critical honours, this included a Golden Globe award for Best Director. Afetr this he went on to winning his first Acadmey Award for for Best Director for The Departed (2006) which was also privileged with the Directors Guild of America, Golden Globe, New York Film Critics, National Board of Review and Critics Choice Award for Best Dirctor. Subsequently, he then went onto directing the documentary of The Rolling Stones in Concert, Shine a Light (2008) followed by the successful thriller Shutter Island (2010) two years after. Once again Scorsese recieved another Academy Award Nomination which made it his seventh for Best Director, as well as a Golden Globe win for Hugo (2011) which went on to win five Academy Awards.

Trademark of Directing Style
Matin Scorsese tends to begin his films with segments taken from the middle or end of the plot (Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995))
He uses slow motion techniques (Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980))
You often see his use of long tracking shots. His most famous tracking shot is from Goodfellas which he followed Henry Hill and his future wife Karen through the basement of the Copacabana nightclub and ending up at a newly prepared table. Which is an infamously difficult shot to perfect. He has been titled by some as 'King of the Tracking Shot'
He often uses freeze frames (Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed)
Some music he uses frquently is The Rolling Stones especially the song 'Gimme Shelter' (Goodfellas, Casino and The departed)
His films are often set in New York City.
He uses cameo appearances by himself and his family members such as his parents, Charles Scorsese and Catherine Scorsese. (Catherine played Joe Pesci's mother in Goodfellas)








 

Target Audience Research(Hartt)

Questionnaire

1) What gender are you?
a) Male  b) Female

2) What is your age group?
a) 1-12    b)13-15     c)16-17    d)18-25    e)26-35    f)36-45    g)Over 45

3) What genre do you prefer?
a) Comedy  b) Thriller  c) Horror  d) Romance   e) Fantasy  f) Musical  g) Action  h) Other (If so please state below)

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4) How often do you watch films?
a) Never  b) 1-2 times a week  c) 3-5 times a week   d) Everyday   e) Few times a month  f) Other (If so please state below)

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5) How do you find out about new films?
a) Television  b) Internet  c) Magezines  d) Trailors  e) Posters  f)Radio

6) Why do you watch a certain film?
a) Favourite actors/director  b) Good trailor  c) Storyline  d) Genre  e) Other (Is so please state below)

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Our Opening Credits Plan(Hartt)

Our Opening Credits

Colour Used: The colours we'll be using for our opening credits are going to be black and white. The use of these colours will make the atmosphere eerie. This is conventional as black is seen as mysterious and death and white is seen as purity and innocence which represents the victim and villain.

Font Used: The font of the credits we are going to use are type writer style (Clarity Gothic SF) as the victim will be typing these out. We will be using this font as it relates to the narrative. She wont be seen doing this but will be alternating between her and the screen and will hear her typing.

Size and Positioning: The size of the credits are going to alternate between different sizes and scattered around the screen. The screen will be black which will be seen as the laptop screen and the credits will be typed out in white. We have decided to scatter them around as it is symbolic of the villains mental instability. For the title 'Obsessed' we are going to use a different font. It will be seen as bold and in capitals which will symbolise power and strength.

Order of Appearence: We are going to show the credits in a specific order. We've decided; Hidden Entertainment Presents, Actors, Camera Operator, Narrative Organiser, Directed By and Title.

Mise-en-scenes in our Thriller(AG)

Mise-en-Scene in our Thriller


Setting:

The first setting that will be seen in our thriller is going to be the victims bedroom. This can be related to the viewer because everyone has a bedroom which will make it seem more realistic.

The second setting we will be showing is a bathroom. Bathrooms are used as conventions of a thriller through the use of mirrors. Also as bathrooms are in quite small spaces it could show the victim feels isolated.

Iconography:

We will have the use of mirrors in our thriller as these are conventional and can be seen as 'evil' This can be shown by someone having two side to them as is portrayed through the use of a mirror. In thrillers you often see the victim gazing in the mirror, looking away for a slight second and seeing something behind them which is usually the villain.

Costumes:

In our thriller we will show the victim wearing white as white is typically viewed as 'good' within a thriller. There are many connotations of white which is why we have decided to use this, as we are also sticking to the conventions of a thriller. White symbolises pure, clean, innocence and vulnerabilty which our character is going to get across to the audience.

We will be showing the antagonist wearing black as it is seen as mostly negative. Black is a dark colour which can also symbolise death,evil and mystery. Our character will not be showing his face which will be seen as a mystery because the audience wont know who it is. It also represents strength and authority, which in the thriller will be seen through the antagonist.

Lighting and colour:

Throughout our thriller we will have low key lighting to build the tention. The colour of the lighting will change when the victim is in the bathroom as its more of a natural light.

The colour of the font for the credits will be white against a black background which will associate with good and evil. While the victim is in her bedroom there will be low key lighting with only the laptop screen light projecting off of her.

Facial Expression:

The facial expressions that will be shown on the victim will be mainly petrified as she's alone and strange events are happening which makes her think she's not alone. We will show this by having the victim twitch which can be seen as nervousness as well as scared. Her eyes will start to water and appear as if she is about to start crying, they will widen as she is being more aware of what is going on.

Positioning:

One of the positions that the victim will be in is standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom getting ready for bed. The lighting will be high key as its natural lighting in bathrooms. We will film from different angles behind, front, and close ups to catch her facial expressions. We will then see her reflection in the mirror with the villain appearing behind her then disappearing.

Opening Credits(Hartt)

Opening Credits

What is the purpose of opening credits?
Opening credits are a list of important members of the production in either televison or film. They are shown as text in the screen, either on a blank background, static pictures or sometimes ontop of the action showing. While these credits are showing there may or may not be music playing in the background. They include the major actors and crew while the closing credits include the entire production crew. The whole purpose of the opening credits is to inform the audience who played each role when making of the film.

Se7en Opening Credits

Colour Used: The colours used in the opening credits are mainly white, red and black. These all have different connotations. Red and black can link together and form death. The only colour that really stands out is red. Red is assoiciated with blood and black is assoiciated with grieving. Whereas white symbolises purity and innocence. In this case some of the credits are against a black background with white writting which could show 'good' vs 'evil'

Style of Credits: The style they have used for this film has been made to look scratchy, I think this effect has been used to show that the antagonist is irritated. They flash on and off screen in a blurry motion. It also looks handwritten like a child which gives the effect of how the antagonst thinks so mild.

Order of Appearence: The order of the opening credits are usually the major people in the making of the film first followed by the rest. In se7en they've put production name, director, main actors, title, more actors, casted by, music producer, editor, co-producers, writer etc, and at the end they added the director again.

Conventions: They have all the crucial conventions of a thriller which makes this film appealing and grabs the audience. They've used weapons such as blades and needles. They've also used the colours black and white which creates a dark atosphere and shows 'good' against 'evil'

Sound Used: The music in the background is in time with the action on screen. It starts of with quite a slow pace and starts to build itself up towards the end. This builds the viewers anticipation. The music is very gritty and tense which relates to the whole disturbing actions within the opening.

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller(AG)

Codes and Conventions

The codes and Conventions of a thriller are what the audience imagine to find to create the horror in the film. Lighting, Sound, Props; Mirrors, weapons, stairs are all used to create the feeling of tention in the film. The whole point of a thriller is to frighten and panic the audience, play on your vulnerability and make your fears realistic.

Using sounds and different music themes produce different moods and feelings for the audience. High pitched sounds such as screeches/screams usually used in death scenes create suspense and horror. In the film 'Scream' during the death scene, Cassy, one of the characters sets out a loud scream which makes us feel the tention.

Thriller films tend to use different camera shots to create an atmosphere for that particular scene. When a close up or an extreme close up is used it usually means to build up the tention before a key point in that film. High angle shot is to create the impression of being powerless or small, the victim is usually used in these shots as they are being victimised and shows they are much weaker. Long shots can help show what the character is surrounded by, isolation can be shown by this, or it could show the danger around the character. Handheld is used to create the impression of believability and makes it more realistic as if you are the characters position. Tracking shot is when the camera follows something that is moving within the scene or shows the setting.

Characters that are used in thrillers mostly include criminals, stalkers, innocent victims, characters with dark past, terrorists, police and more. The protagonist faces death whether its his own or somebody elses. The main plot is based on something that must be solved.

Props used in thriller films include guns, knives, mirrors, showers, dripping taps etc. Using these creates a sense of tention especially in certain scenes. Weapons that are used can also get across to the audience who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist.

Lighting is important in a thriller it creates the mood of the scene. There are many ways you can use light for different effects such as forming shadows or building tension. Light is a way that can grab the audiences attention to a certain area or gensture. High key lighting is a type of lighting that is used in films or television to redice lighting ratio in certain scenes. High key lighting tends to stay free from any shadows and creates an 'up-beat' mood for that scene. Low key lighting is basically the opersite of high key lighting. It uses a key light, a fill light and a black light to create this effect of dark shadows casting. This type of light is mostly seen in thrillers because of dark scenes.

Mise-En-Scene(AG)

Mise-En-Scene

Mise-En-Scene is a french term which  is the arrangement of everything in the frame. Actors, lighting, props, costume is all mise-en-scene.

Costumes and Make-up: Using make-up and costumes makes the character feel like an ordinary day to day person and more realistic.Make up is used in films to be applied to an actors face to achieve a certain look. It is designed to make them look their best although the makeup is very subtle. Sometimes they use makeup to make specific features stand out. Makeup can also be used to show wounds or transform people into things. Costumes are what is seen on the characters, clothing, accersories and hairstyles. They usually come across as conveying a sense of what the character may be like. In relation to thriller films makeup could be used to show the character is scared and in tears by smudging the eye makeup. Costumes can portray good and evil characters aswell. Mostly in thriller films the 'good' character would be dressed in white to show innocence whereas the 'bad' character would be seen in black symbolising death and mysterious.

Setting and Props: Settings are places where the scene is set. These are locations which can be set inside or outside. With a thriller a typical convention would be an abandoned house, forests or other dark places. Props are used by actors in the film, some props can explain about the character, narrative or genre depending on what it is. Thriller films tend to use mirrors, knives etc to build tension. 

Lighting and colour: Lighting and colour have a big effect on films. You could guess which genre the film is by the lighting. With a romantic film the lighting would be high key to show the romance and love, whereas with a thriller it would be low key lighting to show the mysteriousness of it. With colour we can relate it with emotions and thoughts, red would associate with love in romance films but in thrillers it would represent blood. Black would associate with death and darkness which would also relate back to conventions of a thriller.

Facial Expressions: Facial expressions are a motion or position someone may do to show off their emotion. They are known as nonverbal communication which the audience can tell which emotion the character is feeling without being physically told. This can shown and made clear through physical, mental and emotional actions which will show the actors characteristics. If a character is scared they will have wide watery eyes, with there teeth maybe chattering a bit and there hands shaking closely together. 

Positions: Positioning is where the characters are placed within the frame which is important in most scenes and can make you tell a lot about a character. In some points you can tell who is more powerful in the film by the way they have been positioned. For example in a murder seen the antagonist will usually be more dominant in the frame than the victim is. 

What is a Thriller Film?

What is a Thriller Film?

Thriller is a type of genre in literature, film and television. This genre creates suspense, tension and excitement as the main element throughout for the audience. Thrillers build up the viewers mood making them filled with terror, anxiety, and surprise. Whereas the genre horror is more graphic and shows blood and gore, thriller is more about building up the tension and making the audience nervous. They are seen as an adrenaline and fast paste film which does create excitement while watching. A common scene in thrillers is characters dealing with phychos.

Some regular sub genres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers. Psychological thrillers focuses on unstable emotional states of characters more than the plot or action. This will overlap with the crime and mystery genre also. An example of a pschological thriller is se7en about a deranged serial killer, this involves him choosing seven victims who represent examples of each of the seven deadly sins handing out punishment to them.
Crime thrillers focuses on crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives.
Mystery thrillers are about solving the mysterious circumstances by clues and investigations. This is detectives trying to figure out a situation by piecing together clues, seeking evidence, interragating whitnesses and tracking down a criminal.

There are a few things that help to define a thriller, which are plot twists, this keeps the audience unsure on what is going to happen which builds the tension especially if its a last minute twist. They also include a lot of action, exotic settings and heroes which add up to a typical thriller film. The plots can vary from focusing around a mystical antagonist to simply having the a clever, horrific antagonist. They could include a phycological aspect to it which would get the viewer to have to look into the back stories of the characters to figure out the plot.

Group Individual Narrative(AG)

Group Individual Narrative

To make our thriller opening the best it can be we have all written our own personal ideas on what we think a thriller should include. This should consider advantages and disadvantages of each idea. This will then lead to creating an opening that we have all agreed on relating back to our ideas.

Harriet Gold

Characters:

Stalker/Young Man - My idea for a thriller opening will consist of a young man who will be a stalker and also the boyfriend of the victim. He will be stalking her constantly which will be sticking to the conventions of a thriller.

Young woman - I have decided to use a young vulnerable female as the victim that will also be sticking to the conventions of a thriller.


Themes: 
The themes that will be presented in my thriller will be stalking/obsession. This will be shown by the boyfriend also known as the stalker constantly watching the victims every move. This can also be shown in the theme of phychological as of the mental instability of him stalking the victim.


Narrative:
In my idea there will be a young couple that have been together for 5 years and have lived with eachother for only a year. The woman thinks everything is normal and that they are going to be a happy family with there own children. What she doesnt know is her boyfriend infact has two identities and stalks her every move while shes out the house. Before they met he'd been stalking her for 3 years, taking photographs, taking pieces of her belongings whilst she was out the house, which was all part of the plan to get into her life. The woman starts to suspect things while shes at work or out for a cofee but doesnt think to mention anything. This then starts to panic her when she finds strange things happening in the house. The last thing she'd imagine it to be is a stalker when infact she's living with one right under the same roof.

Jagoda Jasionowska

Characters:
A fragile young girl dressed in a white gown (the colour white having a connotation of innocence)

The antagonist - a dark blurred shadow moving in sharp motions (hidden identity creating susoense as to what its intentions are)

Conventions:
-Low key lighting creating a tense atmostphere with the moon used as an alter
-Non-diagetic music increasing in volume used to build up the tension
-Exaggerated diagetic sounds such as the door slam to emphasize the aspect of fear.
-Long shot of the room to familiarise the audience with the current setting
-Close up shots capturing facial expression (conveying emotion)

Themes:
-Psychological trauma: Emphasized by rished heartbeat and heavy breathing
-Tention: A tense atomsphere is created by the intensifying background music
-Fear: Portrayed by the main characters shivering self

Narrative:
A young girl being awoken by a gentle voice repeatedlly whispering the same phrase which imitates a nightmare increasing in pace. The girls eyes open and a tear runs down her cheek. Shivering, she reaches over to the bedside table where an alarm clock showing the time is seen. The sound of wind rushes through the room as a dark blurred shadow moves across it. The door slamming shut disturbs the stillness of the night. The girl gets up and grabs her phone in which she dials the number 999 whilst struggling to open the door. Her breathing is rushed and uneven. The lighting is dim yet the moon light seeps through the window, creating suspense. As she forcefully opens the door she sees nothing but a photo laying on the floor. She picks it up, her hands shaking. The photograph is revealed to be of her sleeping peacefully; dressed in the same white gown. The words 'RIP' written across it in big bold letters.

Positive Feedback:
She has included a bedroom for the setting. This is conventional to a thriller as most people can relate to this which makes it seem more realistic and builds the tension of the viewer.

There has been an enigma created as to what is going to happen as she has engaged the viewers attention to this point without knowing too much of the story line.

Negative Feedback:
Using different settings to show more about the film by also still relating back to the conventions of a thriller.

Ella Sutherland

Characters:

Young Woman:

Within our thriller opening, a young woman will be portrayed as the victim. By using a character such a younger female to play the victim, this will stick to the conventions of the thriller genre as the famale will suggest innocence through her gender alone. 

Male Stalker/Murderer:

A male stalker will be used as the antagonist in our thriller opening. He will be shown as having an obsession with the victim and consequently stalks her every movement. Obsession is a conventional factor between antagonist and victim within the thriller genre. 

Narrative:

The narrative will consist of a young woman being stalked by an older male as he is shown to have an obsession with her. She is entirely oblivious of the stalker however begins to have dreams of the same nature suggesting she has become a victim. She later becomes suspicious and sub-consciously aware that she is not alone when thought to be. It is later revealed that the stalker is someone very close to her. 

Themes:

A main theme within the opening will be obsession. Obsession will be shown with the younger woman by the antagonist. This is conventional to a thriller to make the audience feel uncomfortable and plays on the vulnerability of the female/victim. 

Positive Feedback:

She has shown the theme of obsession by the antagonist and the victim which relates back to the conventions of the thriller genre. 

There has also been a sense of enigma regarding to who the stalker may be. There hasn't been too much given away but leaves the audience engaged as she has mentioned the stalker is very close to her. 

Negative Feedback:

The narrative lacks depth and detail of what is going to happen at each point of the opening. There has also been no settings included in the description.