The Phoenix (Gunnersbury) affair

 

The Head Teacher of the Phoenix (Gunnersbury) Catholic High School is addicted to gambling and he has run up some debts. Jimmy Fox gets his hacker friends, offers them large amounts of money and gets them to break into the school finance network and make large amounts of money disappear, while trying to put the blame on the Head teacher who has a motive for stealing the money as he is in debt.  He is to become the scapegoat for the school finances fraud that is being organised by a Jimmy Fox who tries to blackmail him to agree to the sale of the school park grounds to the White Star Corporation. They are very good grounds in central London and are meant to become grounds for a new shopping centre.  Jimmy Fox is a relatively popular student in the school. (School life plays a minor part in the movie.) He and his dad Michael Fox have been bribed/blackmailed into doing this. Michael Fox is a lowly manager in the White Star company and he has been threatened with being sacked unless he manages to somehow make the head teacher agree to the sale. He is relatively old at the age of 48; he brought up his son on his own when his wife died a week after the birth of Jimmy in a car accident. (No other mention of that in the movie.) He is worried about providing a good life for his son and as such he agrees to the blackmail made by White Star. He believes that he does everything for the good of his son. White Star proposes a promotion to a high level position for Michael as well as a managerial job for Jimmy (with good prospects). They provide money for the payment to Jimmy’s hackers. Before the movie started, the corporation has offered money officially for the grounds to be bought were refused and they already managed to bribe the board members but the head teacher is the last remaining opposing force. Over the course of the movie he emerges as a good person as he gives up gambling and gets a loan and tries to pay of his debts, as such he emerges as a good person at the end of the movie. He is also the main force behind the keeping of the Park grounds as he does it for the students who get a lot of use out of them. He is killed at the end of the movie by Michael as the hacking scheme failed and his personal attempt at bribing the head teacher fails. (Details to be worked out – insignificant in the actual coursework movie.)

Possible endings

1. A shot of the machines driving onto the park fields, and as such signifying the success of the company. Michael is sitting in a new office that is clearly for someone of importance. Cut to him coming home and being happy but he notices a certain amount of his son’s stuff missing and he finds a letter that says he is disgusted with his father and he is leaving him. Michael will probably never hear from Jimmy again. Irony as he originally did everything including the murder thinking it would be for his son. There is a huge sense of hopelessness as there is no chance of ever getting evidence against White Star, the grounds being destroyed, and Michael’s involvement not suspected b anyone, he gets away with it. But there is some sense of a balance as Michael loses his son – probably forever.

2. Michael Fox is caught by a detective character that reappears throughout the movie. (Character to be developed and included in the movie, slowly getting the whole picture of the affair but finding very little evidence besides getting the father to be put in prison.) The son organises a demonstration and the final scene of the movie is a huge protest of students in front of the building machines, stopping them from getting through. Board members being initially with the workers move to the students after they’re told that White Star probably caused the Head teachers death. Considering that they were previously bribed they decide to go over to the students side. However there is still a sense of hopelessness as there is no evidence that would allow for White Star to be prosecuted.

Audience and Thriller

In General:

Media institutions categorize audiences to help them create relevant media products that would be suitable for a specific age.
However some categories may have problems when targeting audiences. An example for this is ‘Social Profiling’. This mainly focuses on the person’s income and education rather than looking at individual habits as this would not change a person’s ‘taste’. ‘Demographic Profiling’ is more of a contemporary method to categorize the audience because its looks at the persons age, gender, race, location and also considers their family life cycles such as if they are single, married or divorced. ‘Psychographic Profiling’ is also an appropriate way to categorize audience because it also looks at their habits and personalities.

Thriller
Thriller genre films would appeal mostly to men between the ages of 18-35. The reason for this is that the main characters are normally men in thriller films, this helps the audience to 'relate' to the characters. However different types of thrillers (the subgenres) would appeal to different audiences and different films would be intended for different ages and gender. A film could be rated 12A according to the BBCF because of the content in contains however it may not attract an audience of that age. For social profiling, every social class would watch a thriller because this would depend upon their likes/dislikes; this is because an upper middle class judge may like to watch a thriller and a lower level student may also enjoy watching thriller films although they are categorized into different profiles. However, overall the audience for a thriller film depends on the subgenre of the film and the content within it.

When a thriller film is made, they first decide who the audience for the film is and the budget. When the audience is decided, then the subgenre is chosen. Then relevant and convincing characters are chosen for the cast and crew. The content for the relevant audience is also taken into consideration.

Subgenres

Mystery Thriller
A mystery thriller would mostly be for mainstreamers/ conformists. The reason for this is because normally a thriller has mystery as a convention and therefore most of the audience who would watch a thriller would see a mystery thriller. Also because the content would be suitable for younger people and everyone would be able to watch with their families. An example for a mystery thriller is Chinatown (1974) which was produced by Robert Evans and directed by Roman Polanski. This film was rated R (Restricted- in USA) therefore under 17 would need an adult present. According to www.imdb.com it has an average rating of 8.5/10.



Romantic Thriller
It would most like to be for women because stereotypically women like to watch Romantic movies. This is because many romantic films normally have female characters and they are normally emotional films. As women as generally more emotional it would appeal to them and they can relate to and understand the characters more easily. A romantic thriller film is The Illusionist (2006) which according to IMBD has an average rating of 7.7/10. Motion Pictures rating is of is PG-13 for the United States therefore would be a 12A for the United Kingdom.

Erotic Thriller
An erotic thriller would mostly be for adults so would most likely be rated 18 as the content in this subgenre would be inappropriate for young children. For a psychographic profile, it would most likely be for an Individualist because it is not a film everyone would watch and do the individualists who do not like ‘following the crowd’ would probably watch as would not be a ‘big brand’. This would therefore not appeal to younger people because the characters would be of an older age so they would not be able to relate to the characters.

Analysis of opening sequence - 28 Days Later

The opening sequence to 28 days later is a very good opening sequence as it provides the viewer with a good sense of curiosity and anticipation of what is going to happen. This is important as it means that the viewer is likely to want to continue watching the movie.

The only titles that appear in the movie is “28 days later…” in the bottom right corner and this clearly sets up a time after an important event that happened 28 days before it. The opening sequence that follows is completely uninterrupted by titles which creates a setting that Is considerably more unnerving than if titles that were clearly out of place, where appearing all over the screen and thus stopping the viewer from fully immersing himself with the thriller movie that was unravelling before his eyes.

In the majority of thriller movies the opening sequences purpose is to create a large amount of enigmas that are meant to entice the audience and encourage it to continue watching the movie. By those standards, the opening sequence to 28 Days Later fulfils those requirements fully as the long opening sequence provides an enormous amount of enigmas that became more and more scary as the character discovers the details of what exactly happened during the 28 days since the beginning of the event.

The following enigmas appear right away; Who is the man in the hospital bed?, Why is he naked?, Why is he in the hospital bed?, Where is all the hospital staff and why is it so quiet? We then move on to enigmas about why certain things happened suchas; Why is the whole hospital empty, Why is there nobody on the streets?, If something that made all the people dissapear happened why is there no damage to the city?, Why is Picaddily circus full of messages left for other people? and finally Why did the city have to evacuate?

Throughout this opening sequence there is no dialogue but neverthless large numbers of wide ranging enigmas appear. The enigmas also don't have to be solved as an opening sequence does not need narrative closure. This opening sequence provides a fully restricted narrative a the audience only finds out information at the same time as the protagonist.

Opening Sequences - Analysis of Key Texts (Saw)

Saw is considered to be a horror but it does contain elements of a thriller (in the opening sequence). There are two types of horror, wet horror and dry horror. Wet horror is more grotesque and gory showing lots of bloods and guts while dry horror infers fear rather than showing it to the audience. This opening sequence can be considered as a thriller because of creating many enigma's, gore and blood isn't seen until later in the film. The key opening sequence we studied was Saw which is influenced by dry horror. Titles in blue over a black screen turn up with production titles ‘Twisted Productions’ showing instantly what kind of film it will be, the production titles is repeated again over silence. The production team then comes up in the titles with the film title with no score but asynchronous sounds of water dripping. The actual opening sequence starts with tracking instantly a key prop which is a key creating the first enigma, which is what will that key be used for?, a shot of a man who wakes up rushing through water and gasping for air, he screams out and someone answers him but the audience is not sure. This instantly creates an enigma, who is the other man who has spoke? What are they both doing there? The medium shot of the camera shows the lost and worried faces on each actor’s face. A long shot is used to display the situation that both characters are in, showing them chained up creating another enigma for the audience which creates more suspense. Why are they chained up? There is then a shot of a person who the audience sees is dead covered in blood showing two key props, a cassette and a gun again creating another enigma, why is that body lying there? What is the importance of cassette and the gun?

What is the purpose of an opening sequence?

The purpose of an opening sequence is to establish the mood or genre of the film, set the subject of what the movie will surround. The opening sequence does not have to be in linear order for instance in ‘London to Brighton’ the opening sequence starts in the middle of the plot. By doing this it will create several enigmas because the plot has already moved along creating confusion and questions for the audience which creates suspense and tension. Opening sequences are used to introduce main characters or to set up disequilibrium’s in terms of narrative. In opening sequences the plot, style and theme of the film is set up for the audience.

What are the common techniques and conventions?

There are many different techniques of an opening sequence, which introduce the key aspect of the film and build a narrative structure. Titles are used which will introduce the main cast and production team, titles are normally over black with the title of the film at the start of the sequence giving the audience an idea of what they are about to see and may cause tension and suspense. Use of non-linear order will create more enigmas as the characters are not introduced but just placed in front of the audience raising many questions about them. Red-herrings or dramatic irony may be used and introduced in the opening sequence to set up enigmas and create suspense which link with later events in the film keeping the audience interested. The colours of the titles used are also important to show to the audience the style of the film, for instance the use of dark colours will show the intensity of the film. Sound is a key aspect within opening sequence and it is normal for thrillers to have no dialogue at all in the opening sequences to create suspense. Scores can instantly set the atmosphere, or the mood for a particular character having an impact on how the audience feels to a situation or a certain character.

Analysis of relevant opening sequences- 'London to Brighton' (2006)

Opening sequences are vitally important, as they establish the tone of the film from the very beginning. Within the first couple of minutes the audience will have made a brief judgement on whether or not they enjoy the film based on the opening sequence, therefore it is crucial that the audience are actively engaged from the start.

Most opening sequences contain similar conventions including production titles, scores and mentions of any key actors/actresses. However, most films t

ake a different approach to titles, putting them in at different times of the opening sequence creating a different effect in each example. Furthermore we often

 see many enigmas in a number of opeining sequences. The purpose of these enigmas is to engage the audience's interest, make them ask questions and want to find out the answers.

'London to Brighton' is an award winning British urban

 social realist thriller which challenges the controversial to

pic of child prostitution. It was made in 2006, directed by Paul Andrew Williams.

The opening sequence of 'London to Brighton' begins similarly to most films with the Production titles appearing first. However after this, the sequence takes a different approach as the titles appear over black to the sound of silence. This creates tension in the audience's minds as the silence appears eery, also the anticipation of the audien

ce is fuelled by the uncommon opening.   Furthermore the film title appears at the end of the opening sequence, allowing for uninterupted viewing, which adds to the thriller effect combined with the pace of the sequence.  This engages the audience from the beginning as they will be interested by the unusual structure of the opening sequence.  We see an example of a tableau as the time and location of the following events are given: 'London 3:07 am', before we see the first of the actual film. The film forms a non- linear narrative as the events seem out of chronological order, as the audience are thrown right into the middle of the story. We see a woman and young girl burst into a grubby toilet, panting and with looks of anguish on their faces. Furthermore it is clear that they are running from somebody. This creates a number of enigmas and the audience are left asking many questions about what has just happened to the characters.

The pace of the sequence is very fast, which further creates suspense and tension as the audience are left disjointed and out of place by the speedy pace. The sound remains diegetic throughout the sequence as all the sound exists within the world of the film, this adds to the realism which in turn makes the audience feel more engaged as they feel as if they are in the film.

In 'London to Brighton' the opening sequence is uninterrupted and sandwiched between the titles. At the beginning we see titles with no sound appear over black, although we do not the see the title of the film. By the end of the sequence we see 'London to Brighton' appear over black however this time with the non diegetic/ asynchronous sound of a train and a child screaming. This further creates tension as the audience are left wondering what are the significance of these startling sounds.

However the main purpose of this opening sequence to create a collection of mysteries. The audience are left with a number of enigmas such as...

• Who are they?
• Who are they running from?
• Why are they hiding in a toilet?
• Who is the young girl with the woman?
• Why has the woman got a black eye?
• Who is 'Derek'?

Overall it is these set of enigmas which engages the audience's attention and leaves them wanting to find out all the answers. Furthermore the tension created by the silent opening titles plus the fast pace action show evidence of the thriller genre.

Analysis- From Russia With Love

The purpose of an opening sequence is to engage the audience right from the beginning of the movie. Some opening sequences give an introduction to the film showing what the film is about. However other films create a set of enigmas which makes the audience want to carry on watching the rest of the film.

The common techniques and conventions of opening sequences is firstly the productions titles are shown at the beginning with the studio name, then production company, star cast followed by some other important people and finally ending with Director or Directed by. All opening sequences create enigmas in the audiences mind. This keep the audience focused on the film and continues to keep them watching throughout to answer the questions they think about.
Different approaches to opening sequences have different effects as sometime titles are given at the beginning then straight into the film and sometimes after the production titles then there is a short film clip followed by more titles. Depending on production company or studio some titles many appear as the opening seqeunce has already begun.

From Russia With Love

From Russia with Love is about James bonds played by Sean Connery. It is produced by Albert Romolo. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and is directed by Terence Young. The character of James Bond is a fictional MI6 agent. This film was released in 1963

Firstly the Production titles appear at the beginning as on all/most films would have. The production is Metro Goldwyn Mayer with their logo, trade mark and website. At this moment during this title there is a synchronous sound effect of a lion roaring. Then there is a small  introduction sequence with James Bond which is at the beginning of every James Bond movie it is also known as the ‘Gun Barrel Signature’. The reason why this is featured is because it shows links between films and as James Bind is part of a series of films, it links them together and the audience also knows what is expected in the film. There is a score that plays over this sequence which is like a spy, action, thriller type of music.

Then there is an opening sequence which is uninterrupted by titles. The sequence begins with a character following. During this sequence there is not much dialogue, only until the end we hear someone speaking. Until then there are only synchronous sound effects of a gun being shot and footsteps of the two characters. However in between we can also hear a non diegectic, score being played in the background. It is slow and low which makes it thirlling for the audience because hardly any sounds can be heard so the audience would tend to listen very carefully. Therefore this makes the audience focused right fom the beginning until the end. Gradually the score becomes faster which creates tension and anticipation until the character is killed. Suddenly there are floodlights and the person who is dead turns out to be someone else and all of this was just practice.

There are many Enigmas which the scene creates for the audiences. Some examples are:

• Why is a character following James Bond?
• Who is the other character following James Bond (who is the protagonist)?
• Who are those people who were watching him?
• Why were they practicing to kill James Bond (with timing)?

There is a red herring placed at the end when the audience sees that the person who was just killed was not actually James Bond and it was another person wearing a mask. This is used a lot in mystery and thriller stories, it is a way to distract the audience or confuse them which surprises them at the end when they find out the truth. This helps the story to become more interesting for the audience and makes the film beyond expectation.



Finally, then there is the rest of the titles (full credits) which is shown. A score played is over the titles. The score and titles if of the 60s style. There is a female who is dancing whilst the title come over her making it creative. As women must be beautiful to appear on television, the female is good looking and she is shown in an 'attractive' way as we can see her body moving along with the titles.

The opening sequence is a 'stand alone' sequence which is traditional in James Bond films. This sequence does not directly link to the film but creates a mood of tension suspense because is it quite slow. It makes the audience concentrate on the film of the theme, the sort of characters in this movie and the style. In other opening sequences they are normally link to the rest of the film and are normally important however for this film the opening sequence is not as important and the audience would still understand what is happening in the rest of the film without watching this sequence whereas in other films they may not understand the film without the watching the opening sequence such as London to Brighton. 

Analysis of Relevant Texts

Alfred Hitchcock is associated with the Thriller genre well, known as the “Master of Suspense”  and to show the conventions of a thriller that he used well to create tension and suspense I am going to analyse a scene from one of his most famous films; Psycho.

Famous Psycho Scene (1960)

Throughout the sequence there is no dialogue which instantly creates tension; Hitchcock thought you should resort to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do otherwise; this is a key convention of thriller films.  The sequence instantly starts with a long shot to introduce the actor Janet Leigh playing Marion Crane in the film. In doing this the audience see the portrayal of woman through Hitchcock’s eyes, another key convention of the thriller genre which is the view of woman as attractive and vulnerable. She is wearing a silk dressing gown which denotes she is weak; this is an intimate moment for the audience as it is showing the archetype of a victim setting up the portrayal of women, that they are sweet and defenceless creating tension as the audience anticipate what could happen to this poor protagonist. Another convention of thriller themes is used; setting up an enigma, this is set up only seconds after the sequence has started. The enigma set up is used by having a close up of the female flushing paper down the toilet alerting that it is a key prop and important in the plot, what has she flushed down the toilet?  The location used is normal and realistic meaning when something drastic does happen the audience will be shocked. 

Another convention included in this sequence is dramatic irony, in the area over the female’s shoulder a shadowy figure appears but only the audience knows its there, not the character, which creates dramatic irony. The low-key lighting causes a silhouette of the antagonist which is also a common convention used to cause suspense and creates an enigma, who is the dark figured person? Another common convention used in the thriller genre which is seen in this sequence is a re-herring, as a medium shot of the killer getting away it appears to be a woman but later in the film the audience learn that it was in fact a boy dressed up as his mother. Hitchcock makes the audience believe something about the character or event, diverting them away from the truth, so when they do find out the truth more tension and suspense is created.

The murder of Marion Crane is shown through a fast cut montage which adds disorientation and confusion to the audience. Though the impression of violence is done with quick editing, and the killing takes place inside the viewer's head rather than the screen. The use of low angles for the antagonist and high angles for the victim shows the murderer’s power and superiority over her and the vulnerability and weakness of the victim. Pleonastic sound is used to mimic the action of the knife adding resonance to the action taking place creating confusion. 

The actual death of Marion Crane is slow, with the non-diegetic sound of a low cello mimicking her slow death. As her life comes to an end all is hear is the diegetic sound of the shower again reminding the audience of the ordinary location which creates suspense and shock that such an event can take place in such an ordinary location.  A close up of the shower plug hole is used and is edited with a graphic match of the eye showing the life has been taken out of her. The camera then zooms out at a canted angle to a close up of the female’s final reaction before she died which was fear and panic. The camera then tilts up diagonally to track the female’s bedroom which shows the ordinary location with flower wallpapers feeling a sense of security emphasising the intensity of the event that has just happened.

In summary I can identify that the key conventions used in Physco which will help in my own opening sequence of a thriller are:

• Little Dialouge
• Frequent Close ups/Extreme Close ups
• Fast Cuts
• Fast Montage
• Prolonged Shots
• Ordinary Locations
• Pleonastic Sounds
• Dramatic Irony
• Enigma's

All these conventions and many more are able to create tension and suspense for the audience keeping them interested and creating anticipation which will help us in creating a sutiable thriller opening sequence.

Conventions of the Thriller Genre

There are many noticeable techniques used in the thriller genre, which are constantly used within most thriller films despite what kind of subgenre or genre hybrid they are.  They include similar characters, plots,themes and camera techniques. By definition the main aim of the Thriller film to create ‘thrills’ if this is not done, no matter what subgenre it is, then the job has not been done.

Thrillers often include...

Ø  Suspense

Ø  Tension

Ø  Anticipation

Ø  Plot twists

Ø  Enigma

Ø  Intense excitement

Ø  Uncertainty

Ø  Anxiety

Ø  Realism

Ø  Red herrings

Ø  Cliff hangers

Almost all of these factors are taken into consideration when making every thriller film. 

These are extremely important as the aim of the thriller film to create a ‘thrilling’ sensation for the audience. Therefore by include factors such as suspense and enigmas create this kind of feeling, which overall would produce a successful thriller film.  Thriller also progress with danger and excitement. One of the most important factor to consider is realism, this is because a lot of the factor can also be used in other film genres.

Characters

Main characters in thrillers are usually placed in menacing situations from which escape seems impossible. The protagonist is often an unsuspectingly placed in a dangerous situation. The menace is often abstract, uncertain or shadowy.

Therefore common character types include:

Ø  Criminals/ fugitives

Ø  Stalkers

Ø  Assassins

Ø  ‘innocent’ victims caught up in events

Ø  Police

Ø  ‘femme fatal’

Most protagonists tend to be ‘hard men’ accustomed to danger such as these spies and soldiers shown in the list. However they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident. 

Common Themes include

   Terrorism

Ø  Political conspiracy

Ø  Espionage

Ø  Pursuits

Ø  Dangeros romantic liaisons

Ø  Psychological crime

Ø  Oppressive but unseen supernatural occurrences

These themes create a plot that exerts more tension in them for an overall tense film, as all of these themes already carry a lot of enigma with them, therefore expanding on these can become very useful in creating a thriller film. This would be a good consideration to uphold when making our thriller opening sequence.

Common camera and editing techniques...

The camera techniques used need again, need to create tensions and suspense, therefore techniques such as:

Ø  Extreme Zoom shots (forward or reverse)

Ø  Prolonged cross cutting : the longing wait would create more tension

Ø  Quick cut Montage: this would create confusion and therefore a tenser situation if the audience does not know what is happening, it would create a ‘grip’ feeling.

      

Ø  Quick cutting: again this is similar to the quick cut montage, it would create confusing situation that build tension.

Ø  Use of ‘enigma code’ in the narrative: This is good techniques to use as the mystery would create anticipation which would leave the audience wanting answers. This need of ‘wanting answers’ is very good to build tension as the audience will long for the answer.

    Sound and lighting

The sound used plays a major role for creating suspense, or the absence of sound can also be effective. Both used in the correct way is perfect for building tension and anticipation of the scene. Such as when sounds is synchronised with an important action movements and when key changes occur. For example in psycho pleonastic sound was used for the shower scene to enhance the action, this would build more tension for the audience. Therefore dramatic, tense or foreboding scores are often used.

Lighting is also essential, especially with the use of shadows and silhouettes. This is used to give a ‘creepy’ feeling for the audience as they cannot uncover what is under the shadow for instance in 'Psycho' shower scene, the killers face remains hidden behind a silhouette.

History of Thriller Films

Thriller movies were part of the cinema right from the beginning and as audiences started to get bored, directors thought of new and innovative techniques that could thrill the audience. That’s how the Thriller genre first came into existence. In the beginning a very common type of thriller movies were weekly instalments of shows, each ending with a cliff hanger scene at the end. A very iconic image still left from those movies is an evil looking man standing over a woman tied to the train tracks. It comes from a silent TV film called ‘Perils of Pauline.

When the sound came into the cinema, the thriller genre suddenly became very much a detective genre with gentlemen solving extremely complicated riddles without ever breaking their calm and never, ever forgetting about their manners. Those movies were very much the predecessor’s of the James bond type of movies that were still to come in the 50s and 60s.

During the 1940s came a reverse for the thriller genre as it was very much scaled down in order to reflect the attitudes of the people during and after WW2. The movies had an urban setting and consisted of trench-coat wearing, characters that stalked the cities at night and solved incredibly complex mysteries with ease. This movies were later dubbed as “film noir.”

The 70s was the time when the film noir genre truly prospered and some of the best examples of movies from that time are probably ‘Chinatown’ and ‘The long Goodbye.’

The newest and currently the most popular type of thriller are the action ones of which a perfect example is ‘The Bourne’ series. Those don’t concentrate so much on great character development and an unbelievably great story but rather action sequences that are often done on a huge scale, fight scenes that often incorporate elements of acrobatics in order to enhance them and finally lavish locations that are spread all around the world.