Pre-production/production contribution - Script (Known - Group thriller opening)

First scene: During a phone call.

*While walking around the kitchen/living room.

Aaron: Hello

Aaron: Yeah

Aaron: Who is this?

Aaron: Yeah

Aaron: What?

Aaron: So you mean she’s been cheating on me, all this time?

*Closes the phone and walks out of the kitchen/living room.

Second scene: While Aaron is listening to a voicemail.

Voicemail (as Jane Stone): Hi you’ve reached Jane, sorry I can’t take your call, I’ll give you a ring back as soon as possible.

*Voicemail plays as Aaron is holding the photo and the house phone.

Pre-production contribution - Breakdown of editing (Known - Group thriller opening)

In our chosen thriller opening ‘Known’, editing will be used to compress time by removing unnecessary things/scenes that slow our plot down from progressing, in which editing will be used to put all the scenes together, and make our thriller flow with the use of continuity editing. In addition, editing will be used to increase the tempo of our thriller opening, as we want to have a fast tempo to our thriller.

Furthermore, editing will be used to cut the worthless scenes we film, in which we will keep our best scenes and put them together to create our thriller opening.

Moreover, editing will be used to add in jump cuts (for example when Aaron Cochrane is in the house in the first location, and our thriller jumps to the second location of the driveway), matched cuts (for example, when Aaron Cochrane picks up the picture of his wife and Loucas Nicolaides from the basket in the living room), and shot-reverse shots (for example, when Aaron Cochrane will be holding the house phone, and the picture of his wife and Loucas Nicolaides) in our thriller opening.

Editing will also be used to include our credit sequence (which will consist of our production company, our actors, our title of our thriller opening, our editor, our producer, our writer, and our director), and to include music (mysterious and tensed music) and natural sound (for example, the sound of closing a door, opening a door, and footsteps). 

Pre-production contribution - Target audience analysis (Questionnaire)

 1.     What are your expectations of thriller openings?

Springs into action ( ) Calm/slow ( ) A bit of both ( )

2.     Where do you think are the most appropriate places to film a thriller?

Domestic settings ( ) In an open environment ( ) Out in the open ( )

3.  Out of the following thriller genres, what genre is your favourite thriller?

Horror thrillers ( ) Crime thrillers ( ) Psychological thrillers ( ) Other ( )

4.     Do you expect there to be a lot of dialogue involved in an opening of a thriller?

A lot of dialogue ( ) A bit of dialogue ( ) A minimal amount of dialogue ( )

5.     Do you expect there to be a soundtrack playing over the acting in the opening of the thriller?

Most of the time ( ) Sometimes ( ) Not a lot ( )

6.     Do you expect credit sequences to be ...

Over the character acting ( ) Over a blank ( )

7.     Do you expect thriller openings to be ...

Complicated ( ) Simple ( ) A bit of both ( )

8.      Do you expect thriller openings to keep you guessing about the storyline of the thriller? If so, why do you think thrillers do this?

Yes ( ) No ( )

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9.     What do you expect thriller openings to have in them?

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10.   Do you expect thriller openings to be character driven/related?

Yes ( ) No ( )

11.   Do you expect thriller openings to have ... (tick more than one, if you want)

Complicated characters ( ) Characters having a hidden past ( ) A lot going on (character wise) ( )

12.   What do you think thriller openings are mostly focused on?

Characters ( ) Locations ( ) Dialogue/soundtrack ( )

Due to the feedback we have received from the questionnaire we carried out, we found out that people expect thriller openings to either spring into action, or have a slower tempo to them, in which in our thriller opening we will try to include both elements, as we will have a phone call at the beginning of our thriller opening (which will be a calm/slow tempo), and then we will jump to a faster tempo, as Aaron Cochrane (Dave Stone) goes into the house.

Furthermore, we found out that people think thrillers should be filmed in open environments, however, we believe thriller openings are most effective in domestic settings, in which our thriller opening is going to be predominantly based in a domestic setting. Moreover, we also found that people enjoy watching psychological and crime thrillers, as they keep the audience interested into what will happen next, in which we will attempt to have psychological and crime elements in our thriller opening.

Our questionnaire on thriller openings also helped us find out that people expect there to be a minimal amount of dialogue, in which our thriller opening will consist of a minimal amount of dialogue because we think this is most effective, as from our initial viewings of films, such as Narc, they have been extremely effective without giving away too much of the plot with the use of dialogue. In addition, we also found out that the sound element of thriller openings should consist of a soundtrack, in which our thriller opening will consist of natural sound, along with a soundtrack to create mystery, tension and suspense.

From our initial viewings of films and thriller questionnaire, we have found out that credit sequences are most effective when they are displayed over characters acting, in which we will display our credits over characters acting. However, we will have our production company and title of our thriller opening on a black screen, as we think it is eye catching and would be most effective.

Moreover, we have found that thrillers are character driven, in which characters are used to create tension, suspense and mystery, as they are the main focus in thriller films. Our thriller opening will be character driven as we will try to keep the audience questioning what our characters will do next. 

Target audience/potential age rating

The target audience of my thriller will be a British (national) audience, rather than an international audience because I think a national audience will possibly get my thriller more noticed/known, as a national audience is a smaller audience compared to an international audience (which has a wider market).

The potential age rating of my thriller will be an age rating of 15 years old, as I think my thriller will appeal to older teenagers, and young adults. I think the age rating of my thriller is suitable to 15+ year olds because of the adult theme of my thriller, and the language that will be used in my thriller. 

Production companies

A film production company is in charge of producing/filming, developing, and distributing a film (however, not every single production company distributes their films, as some production companies have to get other production companies to distribute their films).

Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a well known American based studio (one of the original six major Hollywood studios), owned by Comcast, in which Universal Pictures is a subsidiary of Comcast, and belongs to a media conglomerate (as Universal Pictures’ parent company is NBC Universal). Universal Pictures was founded over 100 years ago, in 1912, and it has a proven track record of producing/distributing genre films. Furthermore, Universal Pictures is responsible for producing/distributing well known films such as TED (2012), The Bourne Legacy (2012), Fast & Furious (2009), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Mr Beans Holiday (2007), and many more films.

Steel Productions (made up film production company)

‘Steel Productions’ are a well known British film production company who specialise in producing films in the UK on a low budget. Moreover, ‘Steel Productions’ have experience in producing and distributing films, as they produced their first product/film in 2002 (when they were founded), in which they have grown as a company, and made many more films. In addition, ‘Steel Productions’ products/films appeal to a British audience (national audience), rather than an international audience, as I believe they have many similarities to production companies such as Warp Film and Film4 productions. 

Film4 Productions

Film4 Productions is a British film production company, which is owned by the Channel 4 television corporation. Film4 Productions produced their first production in 1982, in which they have grown as a company, and have made a large number of films in the UK. Furthermore, Film4 Productions are becoming more known nationally, due to the fact that they have their own channel, called Film4. However, Film4 Productions was called Channel Four Films, before it was renamed to Film4 Productions in 1998. Film4 Productions is responsible for producing/distributing well known films such as The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), This Is England (2006), 127 hours (2010), and Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Moreover, Film4 Productions is also responsible for producing/distributing thrillers such as Dead Man’s Shoes (2004), Hush (2009), and The Crying Game (1992).

Potential production company – Film4 Productions

The potential production company I think will be a good production company to produce and distribute my thriller is Film4 Productions because they are a British production company that can produce and distribute films for a lower budget compared to the types of budgets that Universal Pictures (who are an enormous production company) produce and distribute their films. Furthermore, Film4 Productions have experience of producing/distributing some well known films, and they also have experience of producing/distributing thriller films in the past.

Moreover, Film4 Productions would benefit my thriller because my thriller will appeal to the British national audience, instead of an international audience, in which if a British production company produced/distributed my thriller, it would probably be more well known, rather than a production company such as Universal Pictures producing/distributing my thriller, as I think it wouldn’t get noticed because of the many films Universal Pictures produce. 

Thriller credits

In film, there are two types of credit sequences, opening and closing credit sequences, which are both shown for different purposes. Opening credit sequences are shown at the start of a film, as they consist of the key members, producers/distributors, and the production company associated with a film. On the other hand, closing credit sequences are shown at the end of a film, as they consist of the cast, producers, designers, directors, the writers, the editors, and the other departments of a film. 

In the thriller ‘Unknown’, opening and closing credit sequences are used in the film.

The opening credits of ‘Unknown’ are placed in different places of the screen (at the beginning of the thriller), in big/bold font to catch the audiences’/viewers’ eyes, as they are played over the characters acting. The opening credits of ‘Unknown’ include the production companies involved in the film (such as Warner Bros Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment, Studio Babelsberg, and Panda Production), the actors/actress’ in the film (such as Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Gaz, and Frank Langella), costume designer (Ruth Myers), co-producers (Richard Mirisch, Adam Kuhn, Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser, and Henning Molfenter), editor (Tim Alverson), production designer (Richard Bridgland), director of photography (Flavio Labiano), executive producers (Susan Downey, Steve Richards, Sarah Meyer, and Peter McAleese), producers (Joel Silver, Leonard Goldberg, and Andrew Rona), screenplay (Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell), director (Jaume Collet-Serra), casted by Lucinda Syson, and music played by John Ottman and Alexander.

The closing credits of ‘Unknown’ are placed generally in the middle of the screen (at the ending of the thriller), in small font because there are many different departments involved in a film, in which they are played over a black screen (as a long list). The closing credits of ‘Unknown’ include the actors, chorographers, stunt performers, assistant directors, directors, writers, editors, producers, co-producers, special effects, prop markers, lighting, make-up artists, and many more departments.

The opening credit sequence of ‘Unknown’ is effective because they are in a big and bold font (which catches the audiences’/viewers’ eyes), highlight the important people involved in the film (which vary from the production companies, actors, producers, directors, and many more), they help open the film, and give the film a flow to it.

Similarly, the closing credit sequence of ‘Unknown’ is effective because they highlight everyone single person involved in the film (which vary from the actors, production companies, producers, editors, directors, assistant directors, and many more), and they help end the film. 

Thriller music

In film, music is a vocal or instrumental sound that can create a melody, rhythm, or harmony. Moreover, music is a non-diegetic sound that is used to set the tone/mood of a scene (the characters acting in the scene cannot hear the music being played, as music is included in a scene once the editing process has been carried out), in which it can be used to highlight the feelings/emotions of a character.

Furthermore, music in a thriller film helps create tension, suspense, and a sense of panic, as music is played at a dramatic moment in a film to create an atmosphere. The effectiveness of music on the creation of tension/suspense/a sense of panic is enormous because music helps to create the tone of a scene, in which music adds to the tension/suspense/sense of panic of a scene.

Due to a scene in a thriller, the tempo of music can either be a fast tempo beat (if there’s action/excitement in a thriller, which is effective as it can keep the audience/viewers on the edge of their seats because they want to know what is going to happen next in the film), or a slow tempo beat (if there’s tension/suspense/a sense of panic in a thriller, which is effective as it can keep the audience/viewers questioning what is going to happen in the film, due to the tension/suspense in a scene).

In film, there are different types of music, such as scary, tensed, sad/unhappy, happy/joyful, and excited/action music. However in thrillers, the type of music likely to be used is scary/tensed music, as in thrillers there are many scary and tensed scenes/moments that occur. Furthermore, music that is used can be classified as a soundtrack, theme song, and incidental music (sound that is played over the characters acting in a film).

The effectiveness of music in thrillers is massive because it is a major/essential factor of a film, in which it displays the different types of emotions/feelings of a character, and sets the tone of a scene (most commonly, tension/suspense).