Influences

Psychological

The film Sixth Sense explores how a psychological theme can have influence on the audience and create fear, anticipation or horror.

We will try to reflect this skill in our piece by also using a venerable character (such as the young boy in the movie)that the audience can feel sympathy towards.

Colours:

Most thriller films rely on dark colours to reflect not only the genre but also the characters emotions and personalities. Colours can also be used to help build tension. For example the colour black could suggest evil or crime. Also the colour red could have connotations of blood, violence or even murder.

One influence that we could use for colour is the film ‘ se7en.’ This movie often uses dull grey colours to express the emotions of the characters or to reflect the lives they live.

Costume: A thriller film opening must include clear characters

whom can be established as good or bad almost immediately. We want our opening to be as realistic as possible and believable for the audience, however we will use costume effectively to suggest danger.

One film that also used realistic costumes to create threatening/innocent/powerful characters in ‘inception.’ This films main character is seen wearing smart suits and dark shirts. This suggests sophistication and intelligence s well as the wealth of the character.

Our protagonist is going to be wearing army clothes, similar to the character in “I am legend” as it immediately informs the audience of the protagonists past so the character is developed quickly an a relationship is formed between the protagonist and the audience.

Cinematography

Thriller films are often associated with having a wide variety of shots used to create action scenes of reflect the mental state of the characters. Also sometimes a focus pull can be used to expose or hide the characters.

One example of a film that is known particularly well for its diverse use in shot types is ‘inception.’ We will use inspiration from this movie by creating a variation of shots and fitting the tense moments with shots that fit the situation but also add variety whilst still looking realistic.

We are taking influence from this by suggesting the confused mental state of the protagonist. We are doing this by having some of our shots tilted creating the image of disconnection.

Editing

Editing is used by the director purposely to enhance the scenes in the thriller films. They can use manipulation to make the audience prefer certain characters to another or to show a ‘stalker character.

The film ‘ silence of the lambs’ effectively uses skills such as cross cutting and dissolves to create a eerie and suspense full thriller.

Sound Sound is one of the most important elements of a

thriller movies. It is pivotal that the correct sound is used to create a sting in the movie or to effectively enhance the building of tension. Also diegetic sound is necessary to maintain a realistic film for the audience.

Some example of film that effectively uses sound it ‘reservoir dogs.’ This popular film has a memorable soundtrack that leaves it cast

with sound motifs. Our thriller will involve a number of musical stings to highlight particular moments that are important for the audience.

Story

When considering the storyline of our thriller it was important that we chose a style in which its characters could be established quickly and which its storyline could be left undiscovered.

Our main inspiration for our post apocalypse style thriller is ‘I am legend’ as the character in that movie also has to experience the loneliness and resourcefulness of living alone in a ended world