Shot List

1.      Establishing long shot of Holly walking up the road

2.      Medium shot of her getting her phone out

3.      Long shot of her walking through the garden gate

4.      Shaky POV long shot from intruder inside the shed, watching Holly walk to the house

5.      Medium shot of Holly walking  up to the front door

6.      Close up her unlocking the door

7.      Cut back to a medium shot of Holly opening the door

8.      Match on action medium long shot of Holly going through the door

9.      Close up her hanging the keys by the door

10.   Medium long shot of her putting down her bag and walking down the hallway

11.   Match on action of her walking into the kitchen

12.   Medium close up as she goes to grab a knife

13.   Extreme close up of her picking up a bread knife

14.   Medium shot of Holly cutting some cake, the intruder walks past the window in the background

15.   Ellipsis edit from the kitchen to the living room

16.   Medium long shot of her sitting down on the sofa

17.   Medium close up and pan as she stands up and goes to the window

18.   Holly’s POV out the window, she sees the gate swinging shut

19.   Medium shot of Holly closing the curtains

20.   Intruder’s POV looking through the gap in the curtains

21.   Close up of Holly eating her cake

22.   Extreme close up of the kitchen door handle moving, someone is trying to get in

23.   Medium tracking shot as she runs out of the room

24.   Match on action into the kitchen

25.   Medium shot of Holly checking the door and turning to look for the knife she left on the kitchen surface

26.   Extreme close up of the knife stand, no knives in it anymore

27.   Cut back to a medium shot of Holly searching the kitchen for a knife

28.   Close up inside the drawer, no knives in the drawer

29.   Cut back to a medium shot of Holly running out of the kitchen

30.   Match on action as she runs into the hall way

31.   Close up of Holly reaching for the keys to lock the door, no keys on hook

32.   Cut back to long shot of Holly at the door

33.   Close up trying to open door, it’s already been locked

34.   Cut back to long shot, intruder appears from under the stairs

35.   Close up of Holly’s feet as she runs up the stairs

36.   Match on action medium shot of her reaching the top of the stairs and running into the bedroom

37.   Match on action medium shot of her entering the room and closing the door

38.   Medium close up of her panicking and looking round the room for a place to hide

39.   Shaky, POV long shot of her scanning the room

40.   Medium shot of her running to the bed and climbing underneath

41.   Close up of her under the bed, hear a phone rig and Holly panics to find her phone

42.   Close up on phone screen to show it isn’t ringing, it must be the intruder’s phone ringing

43.   Close up of her being dragged out from under the bed

Synopsis

Holly, a school girl, arrives home from school to an empty house as per usual and heads straight to the kitchen for a bite to eat. But she realises this isn’t going to be a usual evening when some strange happenings begin to occur. She sits down to enjoy her cake and hears the sound of the garden gate closing outside. Finding it strange, but not getting too worried, she shuts the curtains and sits back down. She is suddenly disturbed again by the sound of the back door handle, as if somebody is trying to get into the house. She runs to the kitchen to check the door, and after recent threats from her psychopathic uncle she fears the worst and goes to grab the knife for protection. However, she finds that it is gone. She checks the kitchen for other knives to find they have all gone. In a panic she runs to the front door to lock it, but finds the keys missing. She decides to try and make a run for it to a neighbour’s house instead, but discovers somebody has locked it. Now terrified, she runs upstairs to hide, climbing under her bed and trying to keep quiet. But suddenly she hears a mobile phone ringing. Knowing this would give her position away, she panics and tries to grab her phone to turn it off. But she discovers it is not her phone ringing, and she knows the intruder must now be in the room. Praying he won’t find her, she lies there in silence; suddenly and unexpectedly being dragged out from under the bed by her ankles. 

Research into Thriller Conventions

Proppian Character Types:

The villain struggles against the hero.

The donor prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

The (magical) helper helps the hero in the quest.

The dispatcher sends the hero off to do something.

The hero or victim/seeker hero reacts to the donor, weds the princess.

False hero takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Proppian Characters in The Hunger Games

Hero- Katniss

Katniss is shown, in the opening section of the film, looking after her sister which immediately suggests that she is strong and people are dependent on her. When it comes to the ‘reaping’ and her sister is chosen she bravely and selflessly volunteers. As she is the main character and appears to be a strong, we can tell, even at the start of the film, that she is the Hero.

Villain- President Snow and the gamekeeper.

I think there is a couple of villains in this particular film. In the opening scene we see the Game keeper who is in charge of the hunger games talking about it on a chat show. As he is the reason for the Hunger Games in which people die each year, he plays a part of the force of evil in the film. There is also President Snow who seems to be against Katniss throughout the film and makes it hard for her.

The helper- Peeta

Peeta is chosen to take part in the Hunger Games alongside Katniss. The pair work in a team to help each other survive.

The dispatcher- I don’t think this film has a particular dispatcher who invites Katniss to fight against evil. Katniss and Peeta make the decision to eat poisonous berries to stand up against the people running the games. Although they were stopped, they made a fool out of the villains by not going along with their rules.

The donor- Haymitch

Haymitch is Katniss and Peeta’s mentor; he sends them packages to help them survive, such as medicine to heal their wounds.

Binary Oppositions

Claude Levi Strauss‘s idea of structure in terms of binary oppositions is that there are a number of pairs of opposing themes that are commonly used in thrillers.

Good & Evil                                     Life & Death

Hero & Villain                                  Love & Hate

Punishment & Crime                       Moral and Immoral

Light & Dark                                    Sane & Psychopath

In Face Off there are binary oppositions of love and hate and good and evil; we see John Travolta’s character looking at his son lovingly and laughing with him and then we see the killer looking hateful holding a gun. These oppositions are used often thrillers because they make the film exciting as the audience want to see who wins in the end. The opening of this film also shows life and death because the little boy dies whilst the dad and killer live. Also punishment and crime is seen when there is a murder and the father character wants to get revenge and punish the man who committed the crime.

In se7en Morgan Freeman’s character is similar to the killer because they are both obsessive, organised middle aged men. However, there is a binary opposition because the killer is a psychopath and the detective is sane.

In Ils (Them) there is a binary opposition of light and dark; the scene when the mother and daughter are attacked is at night and then, in the next scene, there is an equilibrium of a happy ending to a school day when it is light. Darkness is used in a lot in thrillers because it is mysterious and makes the viewer scared and on edge. When the film looks light, it is usually used to show create a happy mood and too show equilibrium.

Narrative Structure

Todorov’s theory of narrative structure states that the thriller suggests that there are 5 common conventions that every thriller follows. These are:

·       An equilibrium

·       A problem disrupts the equilibrium

·       The characters realise there is a disruption of the equilibrium

·       They attempt to fix the problem

·       There is a new equilibrium/ a resolution

In the thriller openings we have seen, there is an equilibrium and a disruption. For example, in ‘Face off’ a man is laughing on a carousel with his son (equilibrium) but then they are shot (disruption). The original problem in “Face off” cannot be directly resolved because his son can’t come back to life, therefore it will be a new equilibrium.

In most thrillers there is a theme of life and death; the thought that something is about to happen to a character that causes their life to be in danger, makes the film thrilling for the audience. For example, in ‘Them’, the darkness and how the camerawork creates the feeling of someone else being present makes the atmosphere creepy. This is then followed by both the mother and the daughter being killed. The killers are not shown at the start which leaves the audience expecting more deaths in the rest of the film and hoping someone will survive.

Titles

The opening titles of thrillers typically set an ominous and dark atmosphere, for example, “Face Off” shows classic white sans serif font on a black background; this is a binary opposition. The non-diegetic music is scary and makes the viewer feel tense and on edge. Usually the film company logo comes first on a full screen, followed by the producers, director, actors and co-stars.  The title of the film is shown and the music typically becomes more ominous.

The titles in the opening of se7en come on after the first scene so that the audience get an idea about what the film is going to be about. They are shown as overlay titles in a montage of unsettling clips of bodies, scissors, needles and other sharp objects; these imply pain and death. The clips suggest that the thriller is going to be about an investigation into a murder because it shows someone writing notes and doing forensics. The writing on the titles telling us who created the film, e.g. the writers, editor, producer, director, director of photography and actors, is scratchy and jerks slightly. The writing fits with the images of the sharp objects because it looks like it has been scratched into the screen. The music, ‘Closer’ by ‘Nine Inch Nails’, sounds scratchy and unnerving. The final lyric before the titles finish is ‘you bring me closer to God’ which implies death.

Ils (Them)

Before the film begins there are full screen titles displaying the production company, the director and the title. The font is serif which suggests that the film is a serious one for adults. The text is white on a black background which is a binary opposition and is a typical thriller convention. The titles fade in and out and blur which gives connotations that the film is going to be enigmatic. There are no titles during the first scene once it has started so they won’t distract viewers from the action.

 There is the non-diegetic sound of thunder and rain throughout, then there is a sound bridge as the picture comes in and the sound becomes diegetic; this is a pathetic fallacy creating tension & audience expectation of sinister events.

An establishing long shot sets the scene on a quiet road in a rural area making it seem isolated. The road is next to a wood; anything could be in the trees and the shadows which creates a mystery and puts the viewer on edge. A car drives past which suggests that it may play a significant part in the film. The camera cuts to the interior of the car and shot reverse shot is used as a mother and daughter talk. The lighting in the car is low key which creates a dark atmosphere.

The daughter comes across as vain and arrogant because she is constantly looking in the mirror. She has a lot of attitude towards the mum and acts like a stereotypical ‘stroppy teen’. Her clothes are tight and her skirt is short which connotes that she is promiscuous and disobedient, it also creates ‘dislike’ towards the character.

There is a quick close up on the brake pedal then a P.O.V shot of the road displaying a figure stood in the middle of the road. As the woman brakes the camera is shaky and seems disorientated. There is the diegetic sound of screeching tires and the radio turns on as they crash, playing loud rock music which could signify violence. The camera cuts away to a long shot of the exterior of the car; this seems like a 3rd person P.O.V shot because the camera is still shaky like someone is moving. The camera then pans to follow the mother exiting the car.

An extreme close up denotes the girl starting the car and shouting to the woman who is hidden by the bonnet of the car. There is a diegetic sound of the engine which confirms that the car has broken down; it could also signify death because the car had stopped and wouldn’t start again. When her mother doesn’t reply the girl gets out of the car and starts looking for her in the trees. There is a 3rd person long shot from behind the girl suggesting someone might be watching her. There is a diegetic sound which resembles a ratchet noise. The girl keeps shouting for her mother and a diegetic voice coming from in the bushes mimics what she says causing the girl to run back to the car.

The pace of editing increases representing the girl’s panic and emphasizes the chaos. The girl gets in the car and there are close ups of the girl winding the window up, locking the car and picking her phone up off the floor. This suggests that there is a chance the ‘damsel in distress’ could be saved. There is a diegetic sound of something scratching the metal bonnet suggesting that the girl isn’t alone. Then there is the sudden sound of thunder again, adding to the scary atmosphere and it starts to rain causing the view out of the car window to be blurred; this is a pathetic fallacy which fits with the confusion and the enigma of the scene. A close up of the window from the interior of the car shows mud hitting the window. The thud has been enhanced to make viewers jump, possibly by using Foley sound.

There is an extreme close up of her eye which has connotations of fear. The girl is now being seen as vulnerable and scared which makes the viewer’s feel sorry for her. The girl seemed like a strong character at the very start of the film but she now seems very scared; this causes even more tension for viewers.

Two hands come from the back seat behind the girl and we get a glimpse of her being strangled before it cuts to a medium long shot from across the road of the girl in the car, struggling. A car drives by past the car which connotes that there was help nearby but came too late. The camera zooms into a close up of the girl’s hand hitting the window before sliding down, lifeless; this is signifying death. There is non-diegetic sinister classical music playing throughout the killing.

Whilst there is a sound bridge carrying the music over to the next clip, the screen fades to black and there is an ellipsis edit to a long shot of a school corridor. There is a contrast between the happy ending of a school day and the sinister classical music. The music continues playing as titles overlay.

 A diegetic bell rings as the camera tracks down the corridor making the viewer’s feel like they are walking down the corridor themselves. The camera cuts to a close up of a female teacher in a classroom suggesting that she is going to be a main character in the film. There is a title telling the viewers the date and time so that they know how long it is after the previous scene’s event. The camera cuts back to the corridor and tracks as the woman and another teacher walk down it. She is a friendly young woman which fits the ‘Proppian victim’ role.

Another Ellipsis edit takes us to outside of the school and shows the teacher getting into her car. On the woman’s car journey there is a series of ellipses jump cuts from her P.O.V, from above and long shots of the car on the road showing the passage of time. The bird’s eye view shots of the woman’s car reveal red roof tops and cars; these have connotations of blood and danger. The woman then arrives at the murder scene and the music becomes quieter which makes the atmosphere very eerie. As she drives past there is a diegetic sound of a ratchet which resembles the one the teenage girl heard before she was killed. This suggests there is a link between the new character and the killing and the teacher will be the next victim.

The woman carries on driving and an ellipsis edit takes us to a long shot of an old grand house with an unattended garden. The house seems neglected and the fact that it is big makes it seem mysterious and creepy because there are more places for the killers to hide. The house is isolated which makes the woman seem more vulnerable. It also looks like a typical ‘haunted house’ which suggests something bad is going to happen to her in there. There is a diegetic eerie sound of the gate opening whilst the non-diegetic music is still playing.