Certificate Ratings

'U' films should be suitable for children aged four and above. They should be set within a positive framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror. There will be no references  to illegal drugs, scary scenes should be mild, there will be no dangerous or inappropriate behaviour. Infrequent use only of very mild bad language, occasional nudity, with no sexual context. Mild sexual behaviour (for example, kissing) and references only (for example, to ‘making love’). Mild violence only.

A 'PG' film should be for general viewing, however, some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. References to illegal drugs may be used but only with a suitable anti-drug message. Frightening scenes should not be intense, and mild bad language may be used. Sexual activity may be implied but discreetly and infrequent. Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed if justified by context.

A '12A/12' is only suitable for those aged 12 and over. Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent. Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted. Dangerous behaviour (hanging, suicide, self harming) should not be in detail. Moderate language is allowed and the use of strong language must be infrequent. Nudity is allowed but in sexual context it must be discreet. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Moderate violence is allowed but shouldn't be in too much detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by context.   

A '15' film is only suitable for those aged 15 and over. Drug taking may been shown but the film must not encourage drug misuse.  Strong threat and menace are permitted. Dangerous behaviour should not be in too much detail. Frequent strong language is permitted but the strongest terms are only accepted if justified by the context. Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail and there may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour but the strongest may not be accepted unless justified by context. Violence may be strong but shouldn't be in too much detail of pain or injury.

An '18' film is only suitable for adults. It generally can have whatever it likes in it although the content may not harm the viewers or be intended for use of sexual stimulation, this would only be accepted in an 'R18'. 

Thriller films are usually 15's although some may be 18's due to the content. This also gives the thriller films their target audience. 

Film Production Company Research

Hammer Film Production's are a British Production Company who specialize in gothic 'Hammer Horror' films but also produce sci-fi, thrillers, film noir and comedies but also some TV series. They were founded in 1934 and were financially beneficial in their most successful years when they dominated the horror film market between the mid 1950's until the 1970's. 

The logo is simple and just includes the name of the production company in a font which reflects their genre of film that they produce. The red is very bright and stands out on the background which shows the importance. Inbetween the two words, is just the first letter of the production companies name, the 'h'. 

20th Century Fox is a U.S. film production company which was found in 1935, their most successful productions are the Star Wars Saga, The Chronicles of Narnia and Avatar. They are claimed to be one of the 6 best production companies as of 2011. They have also produced TV Series such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. 

The logo says the production companies name in big bold writing which shows how important this is and the colouring this is in, the gold, may also show importance as gold is represented as a royalty colour. The fact the title is high up makes it look important and that a low angle shot of this is used also shows the importance. The lights on it, give it the effect that it is very important and popular. 

Fox Searchlight Pictures are a low budget production company who were established in 1998 and specialized in independent or indie and British films, one of their most famous films were Napoleon Dynamite which was a low budget film which cost around $400,000 to film and produce. 

This logo is again very similar to the 20th century Fox logo as it has the bold, big, gold writing showing the importance. The fact that it is up high and a low angle shot is used on it to again show the importance, and the lights shining up on it making it look important. Both logo's have the city buildings around the outside and the same sort of weather in the background. 

Iconic Sounds connected with the Thriller Genre

A lot of pieces of music or sounds that are used in Thriller films, start off with a loud distinct noise that the audience recognises, it is often a loud bang or a slam in a door. It then quite often goes into a piece of music that is quite fast and quite often the piece of music sounds like someone is running, maybe away from someone as this is a frequent convention from a thriller film. It gives the audience the idea that something bad is going to happen or has already happened and that character needs to get away. The music sometimes slows down but has sudden noises which makes it seem like the character could be trying to hide.
The music sometimes picks the beat back up and we can just hear certain sounds such as breathing, dripping water or footsteps.

However, some pieces of music that are used are quiet pieces which are soothing but they have a beat to them and the beat is consistent throughout that whole piece of music. This type of music can have the opposite effect and the audience may feel as everything is very calm and relaxed and then if something that makes the audience jumps suddenly happen, this music may pick up this freight as the audience weren't expecting it. Slow music is sometimes used when I character is hiding but wouldn't be used during a chase scene. Most of the time, in Thriller films, classical music is used.  

The type of music that is chosen can cause a lot of tension and create the whole atmosphere. 

Iconic Thriller Directors

Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director and producer. He directed many suspense and psychological thriller films. Hitchcock had a distinctive and recognisable style, the use of the camera in a way that mimics a person's gaze. Many of his films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring violence, murder and crime. Some examples of his films include: Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo, Strangers on a train and The 39 Steps.

Quentin Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He began his career as an independent film maker with films with non linear story lines and violence. Tarantino's style is recognised by taking violence to a new level, he ignores all the rules. Some examples of his films include: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.

Chris Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer. Nolan's style is recognised by beginning and introducing his main characters with a close up of their hands performing an action, he also usually starts films with a flashback or a scene from the end of the movie. His films usually revolve around characters that have some kind of psychological disorder and the storyline in his films usually involves a determined character seeking vengeance over the death of a loved one. Some examples of his films include: Memento, Inception, The Prestige, Insomnia, Batman Trilogy. 

Typical Synopsis

This mind-map shows the characteristics of the Thriller Genre, it also shows the sub-genre's of thriller and explains some of the typical thriller synopsis for the sub-genre's.

History of Thriller

After conducting research on the history of thriller films, I came to the conclusion that thrillers have changed a fair amount over the years, and the most recent films even more so do in fact stick to the typical thriller genre conventions.

One of the first thriller films was silent and the second famous was released in sound but also silent. In the 1950's Hitchcock added Technicolor to the films, the films now included glamourous stars. Later on, Thriller films became more violent, viscous and explicit, they became more tense and had deeper story lines. Thriller's from this decade are mainly psychological ones that deal with obsession, domestic violence, revenge and mentally ill characters.

The most iconic directors for thriller films include the one and only Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Chris Nolan, David Fincher and Quentin Tarantino.

For Typical Synopsis research visit another member of my group Beckie Gordon's blog, you will find it here. 

9 Frame Title Design - Casino Royale

I have decided to analyse the opening sequence of the film Casino Royale, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Daniel Craig and Judi Dench. To do this I have chosen 9 images from this scene which I believe represent the art of the titles and how it links in with the film itself.

1. Looking at this first image, you can straight away see a blood like sort of substance covering the whole screen, obviously representing the fact that the film includes blood and violence and that the audience should almost expect it.

2. The second shot I have used is of the title of the film itself, again using similar colours to the first shot, the blacks, whites and reds, possibly suggesting that this may be a running theme. There is an interesting design surrounding the words, and to create this kind of 'flower' effect, each suit within a pack of cards has been placed in a circular shape.

3. This next shot gives off the idea that there are weapons such as guns used by James Bond in the film, aswell as the decorative background which may also imply that the film is creative and interesting aswell as its opening sequence.

4. Number four I have chosen continues the whole 'pack of cards' idea, along with the attractive background, and the card suits, including hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs are this time floating around the screen on top of ribbon like lines. There is also the cartoon king or joker associated with cards, and again he is holding a gun, following the weapon idea.

5. This shot I have chosen definitely links in with the guns, and this is because there are over 5 of them on the screen, and what makes it interesting is the fact that they are shooting out the card suits, this again gives the impression that they are going to be shown throughout this title scene.

6. This sixth shot shows a fight being broken out between James Bond and an 'enemy'. Once again the black, red and white theme is coming back into play, and because they are only cartoon silhouettes this can create some tension as you cannot see their faces, or work out who the enemy is.

7. Looking at this image, you can see the face of a woman, in the body if a queen in a pack of cards, which is slightly confusing, but could quite possibly represent how James Bond always has a lady companion in every single film. the patterned background is also here again.

8. This next shot shows you the top of a card, to be precise, the seven of hearts, linking in with the '007' code and how James Bond is 'licensed to kill'. It looks as if two holes have been punched to create the '00' numbers, which looks really fascinating just because they have been punched into the seven of hearts card. This also follows the card suit theme.

9. The last shot I have chosen is an extreme close up of the actor Daniel Craig's face, it's as if you finally see a good shot of him, and the audience can definitely see who it is, and his complete facial expression. The fact that it is a close up shot also creates alot of tension.    

Se7en Opening Sequence Analysis

This film, Se7en, was directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker in the year of 1995. It follows the story of two detectives, a rookie and a veteran who hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins to justify his crimes. Immediately ths short summary gives away that the film is very comfortably within the thriller genre. This opening sequence is extremely interesting and could be considered creative and quite artistic. I have studied the scene closely and and also the kinds of things which make it thriller like, the kinds of colours, objects and fonts which make stand out amongst other opening scenes of  thriller films.

Firstly, you can notice the small jagged font used to present the names of the production company, 'New Line Cinema', the names of the directors and producers and also the names of the actors who star in the movie. There are then lots of short clips shown, extreme close ups of objects such as silver tools in the actors hands whilst the titles and names are flashing on and off, which of course creates a sort of tension, as the audience doesn't know who this person is or what they are doing. 

Meanwhile the music is loud and spooky, but not upbeat or lively, it is slow with an almost heartbeat type of rhythm. It also sounds as if there are doors or floorboards creaking, creating this eery stereotypical effect. Again there are more close ups of objects, but moving on to things such as books, newspapers and drawings, and still you cannot see the actors face, making it more intense than ever for the audience, and in ways it will make them want to keep watching to find out whether this mysterious person is revealed at the end of this opening scene. We then see the actors hand appear again, holding a pen and writing things out, giving you the kind of impression that it's something like a diary or some important notes, maybe even a scrapbook as there are pictures and scissors involved also. It makes you wonder what's going on and how it is related to the film.

A tad further than half way through this scene the music livens up a little and the beat becomes slightly faster, suggesting theres even more suspense being created. Every single short clip is a close up of something, whether is the papers and books, the tools or now even things such as needles, threads, wool and tweezers, just like there is an experiment going on; this is the general vibe given off.

Overall throughout this whole opening sequence the colours and shades used are dull and light, which creates this whole old fashioned effect. Every single one of these elements makes the genre of this film a thriller, just with more of a subtle approach. I believe the director made the viewing experience like this, as in it doesn't give alot of information about the plot or characters, so that it will make the audience want to continue watching, and metaphorically force them to 'sit on the edge of their seat' as they're in so much awe to find out what's happening, and what is going to happen. 

Taxi Driver Opening Sequence Analysis

Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese in 1970 is a fairly iconic thriller film. The creepy type of music right at the beginning puts you on edge, along with the dull, misty setting, creating slight tension as the audience waits for this mist to clear, and reveal a bright yellow taxi driving down the street. The mist then covers the street once again, whilst the titles are appearing. The music is still eery so it leaves you wondering what will happen next. This music then immediately switches to a type of jazz acoustic, a very surprising change, to almost lighten the mood. It's also as if there are a pair of eyes staring at you, due to an extreme close up shot of a man's face. This gives the audience the impression you will find out later on who this guy is. It is raining in the street which the taxi is driving down, a slight contribute of pathetic fallacy, conforming to the expected thriller conventions. We mist appears one more time, after the shot has been transferred back to the man's eyes.  

Thriller Moodboard

This is a collage I have created, which represents many different elements concerned in the thriller genre. Each one of these pictures I have collected shows you the different kinds of settings expected, and conventional objects which may be used and places in which a thriller film may possibly be set. It is also obvious that none of these particular images that I felt appropriate to represent the expected conventions conduct a very bright and cheerful atmosphere, which is a prime example of the mood normally created in a thriller film.   

Thriller Mind Map

To build this mind map I worked with one of the others in my group, Beckie Gordon. We used both of our thriller genre knowledge to come up with factors for each different important element, which is visible above.

Typical Thriller Genre Conventions

The genre of a film means the type of category that it fits into. There are many different genres; however my main focus is going to be on thrillers. This type of film uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements to entice the audience. There are many subgenres of thriller films, such as; psychological, crime, investigation, disaster, mystery and supernatural, and these individual elements contribute to the typical thriller convention. 

A genuine thriller film provides a kind of excitement, a factor which keeps the audience on the edge of their seats whilst the plot works its way towards a climax, or twist. Thrillers definitely stimulate the audience’s level of anticipation, and as the tension rises, anxiety will begin to affect viewers.

Thrillers often introduce an enigma in the beginning of the film, and use it to either confuse the audience to make them think, or create a heavy build up to dramatise the plot throughout the story until the end, where the climax is normally revealed.