Certificate Ratings

The British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

Cinema

The British Board of Film Censors was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally.
Statutory powers on film remain with the local councils, which may overrule any of the BBFC’s decisions, passing films we reject, banning films we have passed, and even waiving cuts, instituting new ones, or altering categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction.

Video

In 1984 Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act. This act stated that, subject to certain exemptions, video recordings offered for sale or hire commercially in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. The President and Vice Presidents of the BBFC were so designated, and charged with applying the new test of ‘suitability for viewing in the home’. At this point the Board’s title was changed to the British Board of Film Classification to reflect the fact that classification plays a far larger part in the BBFC’s work than censorship.

Finances

The BBFC is a not for profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only as required to cover its costs. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC has never received subsidies from either the film industry or the government. Its income is derived solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification. The tariff must be approved by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Taken From: http://zarahhameed.blogspot.com/

Existing Film Production Companies

Productions Companies

Working Title Films (UK)



Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevanand Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions. Eric Fellner and Bevan are now the co-owners of the company.


Working title includes films like:

• Nanny McPhee
• Mr Beans holiday
• Paul

Propaganda Films (US)



Propaganda Films was a prolific and successful music video and film production company founded in 1983 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Grey Gold and Dominic Sena. By 1990, the company was producing almost a third of all music videos made in the U.S.

Interscope Communications (US)




Interscope Communications (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1982 by Ted Field. Its divisions included Interscope Records(which was founded in 1990 as a joint venture with Atlantic Records).

A&M Films




A&M Films was the movie production division of A&M Records and was established in 1970 by musician Herbert Alpert and recording executive Jerry Moss. By 1983, A&M Films co-produced successful films with various Hollywood studios. In 1989, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment purchased A&M Records and continued until it was closed in 1996. In 1998, PolyGram was acquired by Seagram and Sons and A&M Records was merged with the Universal Music Group and now operates under the Interscope-Geffen-A&M label.


Paramount Pictures Corporation

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios.


Taken from: http://sara2asmedia.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html  

Iconic Sounds: Thrillers

Documentaries: Thrillers

I have also looked into a documentary of a horror/ thriller film called "The Amytiville Horror" which was released in 2005 however it was based on a true story. This documentary explains the origins of the film and the way in which it was shown when scripted. I personally found it very engaging.

Thriller/Horror Conventions

Conventions of the Thriller Genre

As part of  our allocated roles, one of my tasks was to research into the conventions of the thriller genre. A Thriller is a type of film genre that consists of many sub-genres such as crime-thriller, mystery thriller and action thriller. The genre itself uses a wide array of devices in order to build and create certain effects upon the audience, such as creating/heightening tension and suspense as a way of building up exhilaration. The Thriller genre has a lot in common with the Horror genre, with it's two main sub-genres being horror-thrillers and psychological thrillers. A conventional thriller usually takes place within an eerie, isolated location. However, today many thrillers challenge this by incorporating a more modern approach. There are several characteristics which help to define a thriller. Below are the findings that I found through my research:

- They usually involve binary opposites as represented through the protagonist and antagonist. The antagonist sometimes breaks the conventions of thriller by trying to outmanoeuvre the protagonist.

- Complex narratives are also used where misleading clues and pieces of evidence are given. This is a prime example of how suspense is built up for the audience.

- They typically involve sudden plot twists as a way of keeping the audience engaged.

- They also keep the audience in suspense as they are unsure as to what is going to happen next.

- There is often a lot of action which is often chaotic and fast paced.

- A dark, isolated location is often used to create the impression that the protagonist is alone and vulnerable and thus will suffer horrific encounters in order to break free.

- Some are also supernatural where they focus on mystical antagonists.

- Others can be scientific or medial where they force the protagonist to adhere to biological agents or mysterious scientific happenings.

- Some are simply straight mysteries with clever, horrific, or intriguing antagonists, while others be focused on the inner workings of the legal system, environmental threats, technology, or natural disasters.

- One long-established thriller genre is the spy thriller, featuring an often heroic and dashing spy who must confront whichever enemy happens to be popular at the moment.

- The majority of thrillers often incorporate a psychological aspect, where it forces the audience to examine the actions/motives of characters in order to distinguish their back story as a way of  figuring out the plot.

Editing:

Editing is also a significant component of the thriller genre because editing things such as the sound has a profound effect for the audience. If there is dramatic music playing with a particular scene, it adds to the tension and suspense.

Taken from:
http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/03/conventions-of-thriller-genre.html

Iconography Collage

Iconography Associated with the Thriller Genre

As part of our allocated roles within our group, another of my tasks was to research into iconography associated with the thriller genre. Iconography simply means symbolic representations, which often has a conventional meaning attached to an image or object. Thrillers are easy to analyse because they often have various pieces of iconography associated with them. Iconography is very important as it is part of the mise-en-scene and therefore helps to construct certain messages for the audience.

Knives:

  

Knives are a typical symbol associated with a thriller as they have connotations of blood, death, pain and brutality. A typical representation of this would be in the famous knife scene from Hitchcock's film 'Psycho'. Knives are often used to show that somebody is going to get killed and thus it acts a common device to keep the audience engaged.

Shadows:

Silhouettes and shadows are what give a thriller the enigma and mystery for the audience. Shadows are a common piece of iconography associated with the thriller genre because they build up fear in the audience, by instigating that the protagonist is being watch by a human being or some kind of animal/monster. The protagonist is often oblivious to this but can often sense that something isn't right, which leads them on their journey. They often induce thoughts of fear and darkness for the audience as well as giving them clues and they ask questions out of suspense. A character with a silhouette is most likely to be the antagonist, which usually isn't revealed until the end of the film.

Confined spaces:

The use of confined spaces in a thriller also makes the audience feels as though they are too trapped. Being in a confined space often leads the protagonist to start breathing heavily and panting to inform how they are trapped and cannot escape, or it often leads to the start of their struggle as they try to break free.

Woods:

Woods are locations often used for thrillers. This is because they create a sense of being lost as the characters find themselves tyring to figure out how to escape. Woods are often isolated too, which creates a sense of vulnerability and it seems inevitable that the characters will ever find any help. There may be one house in the woods which often turns out to be the antagonist.

Running water:

Running water is often a symbol of death  as it suggests the draining of life or it is often associated with blood  dripping and suggests that the characters are in danger.

Street lamps:

Street lights at night are often used in thrillers to keep the emphasis and focus on the protagonist and the fact that there is almost complete darkness surrounding them, apart from the spotlight from the lamp. This further accentuates the fact that the protagonist is alone in the dark and creates fear for the audience as they do not know what might be underlying in the darkness and therefore a tense atmosphere is created.

Bars on windows and fences:

Bars on windows are used to show imprisonment and isolation, which links to the conventional thriller.  Fences consisting of razor barbed wire also suggest that the characters are imprisoned and have no way of getting out which shows how they are detached from the outside world and therefore conforms to the convention of isolation in thrillers.

Cities:

Psychological thrillers often take place in a city which brings all of the drama closer to home. This often gives a sense of reality for the audience.

After conducting all of this research, I made a collage to present my findings:

(you can click on the image to enlarge it)

Taken from: http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/03/iconography-associated-with-thriller.html

Font Analysis - Opening Sequence

Font Analysis

I decided to analyse some existing thriller opening sequences as part of my research in order to observe the type of fonts they use and how they may/may not conform to the thriller genre. I also looked at thriller DVD cover to see whether they kept to a house-style and used the same or similar fonts.

Opening Sequences:

'Se7en' Opening Credits:

The font featured in this opening sequence is quite child like. It is almost as if it has been hand written and is relatively small. I believe this has been done to keep the emphasis on the fast paced cut between shots which are informing what the film will be like. The font is also in white and is small to stand out against the clips. This is a sequence I've seen with one of the smallest fonts. The font is also quite jumpy and looks quite old which creates an eerie effect for the audience, especially as it accompanied by gory images in the background. This is therefore typical of the thriller genre as it creates suspense for the audience and already contains clues/messages in the sequence of what is to come in the film. It also suggests that a child may be involved through the child-like font. The non-diagetic music playing is also quite scary in the sense that has an eerie sound to it, which accompanies the credits and thus creates an effective opening sequence.

'Panic Room' Opening Sequence:

The font featured in this opening sequence for the thriller 'Panic Room' is very bold. The fact that it is all in capitals reinforces this and shows how the credits are of importance. Although all of the credits are generally big in size, some of them are smaller to give emphasis on the names e.g. 'MUSIC BY' is smaller compared to the name 'HOWARD SHORE' at 1.17.  The credits are also displayed against a natural backdrop of a city. The music is also very intense and heightens tension which coincides with the credits to create an effect on the audience such as suspense.

'Vacancy' Opening Sequence:

This is the opening sequence for the film 'Vacancy'. I chose this film to analyse as the opening sequence predominately consists of text, so therefore I thought it would be good to look at its font. The font mainly consists of the colours yellow, red and black. The font itself is very big and bold and takes up the whole of the  screen through the fancy links between each name i.e. the names follow a path which display each name in a creative and unique way. The font firstly appears as flawless, but then the name 'Vacancy' has some lines drawn into it making it appear broken and therefore indicates danger and conforms to the thriller genre. The rest of the names are also in this format too. An interesting and unique feature I picked out in this sequence is also the fact that when each name appears, some letters continue drawing a straight line as if it is portraying blood dripping as demonstrated from 0.51-0.54. At this precise moment 'Kate Beckinsale's name has the letters K and B expanding as if it were blood. This foreshadows what is later to happen in the film and the audience get a feel that the characters are going to experience something horrific.

DVD Covers:

'Phonebooth':

This is the DVD cover for the thriller 'Phonebooth'. The font is very bold and stands out as an attractive feature, but isn't the main feature of the cover. The word 'PHONE' is written in captials compared to the word 'booth' which is written in lowercase. This suggests that the word 'PHONE' is of more importance and asserts the storyline and matches the image on the front of a man trapped within a phonebooth. The font is also in white with a slight touch of blue which matches the images on the cover, as they mainly consist of tones of blue and natural daylight as they are stills taken from the actual film.

'Not Forgotten':

I've decided to analyse the font for this DVD cover because I found it very appealing. Instantly, it caught my attention because the name of the film is written as though it is a knife with sharp points. The letters are portrayed as sharp knives through the letters F and T, which suggests that the film will have elements of murder and death. As I've already mentioned in my research, knives are a typical piece of iconography associated with the thriller, so therefore this DVD cover conforms to the genre.

'Orphan':

This is the DVD cover for the thriller 'Orphan'. Instantly by looking at the font style you can see that it looks like it has been written by a child and therefore you can presume that the film will be based around a protagonist who is an orphan. The name is also written in red which suggests that this orphan is associated with blood somehow and could possibly represent danger, as reinforced by the statement located underneath which says: "There's something wrong with Esther," which shows how she isn't normal.

Overall, I can conclude that the majority of fonts within the thriller genre are often bold, big and childlike with connotations of knives and blood as a way of representing the iconography of the genre. This shows how the iconography impacts upon the fonts because they need to enforce the genre and make sure that they conform to it so that the audience do not get confused and so that there is no distortion. It is necessary to match the genre in order to appeal to a mass audience and ensure that they perceive the genre correctly.

Taken From:
http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/05/font-analysis.html

Audience Expecations: Thrillers

When watching a specifically a horror movie, the audience expect something more then what you see in everyday horro movies like saw which is basically gore and grotesque they want a  unique and new experience which modern horro movies hardly provide anymore.

The image below is basically one of the questionnaires a person has taken to show what he expects personally from a horror movie. As can be seen suspense is one of the main themes in a horror movie for him and most people expect to be shocked and experience scary feelings, otherwise they havent experienced the whole horror movie concept. Human threats interests this specific person in also watching a horror movie. So a horror movie has to be all rounded to suit most people expectations of a horror movie in todays world.

These are a few of the responses people gave when asked what their expectations were of a horror movie:

1.) Well killings of course. But i like twists. I like to think one thing is going to happen for sure, but then be tottaly wrong at the end.

2.) Well, special effects are important but, for me – I like those that are visually scary and have a good story line to them. The ones that are just a bunch of blood and guts bore me to death.

3.)I *hope* that the movie would have a scary looking dude/monster, blood, a good story line, a sad scene, and.. that’s basically it!

Something like “Pumpkin Head”, or “Haunted in Connecticut”, or “The Messengers”! They were scary!!

Ooo! Good horror movies have to have zombie type of things in them. Or Paranormal things, like weird dead looking ghosts, or dead looking kids… now thats scary!!

Taken From:
http://zarahhameed.blogspot.com/2011/05/audience-expectations-of-horror-movie.html

Nine Frame Structure Analysis

This is a 9 frame grid analysis of another horror opening sequence, our treatment for the opening sequence is pretty similar to this.

The 9 frames show how he is lost and illusionised throughout the first 2:23 of the movie.

 

Taken From: http://zarahhameed.blogspot.com/

Still Frame Analysis

5 still framed pictures, analyse the mise-en-scene within them. from the same genre.

Psychomania Opening Credits

This is a scene from the opening credits of Psychomnia, a horror movie. An extreme eye-level shot displays this grave-yard scene, the scene is very smoky which can connote a suspicous atmosphere as they might not want some things to be seen. A dark cloud is seen above the grave-yard, dark colours like black and grey have am evil, negative connotation along with spiritual symbolisation. The image has a very dark contrast which is a stereotypical convention of a horror movie scene.

Friday The 13 Part III Opening Credits
This horror opening sequence from the movie 'Friday The 13 Part III' displays the more sinister representation of a horror movie, most of the screen consists of pitch black, the centre of the image shows a male head, giving off a grotesque bizzare sense of whats going on, the shot zooms into the head which created suspicion to what the head symbolises. This shot is made to show that is does not use any digital technology to use light within the image, the light used is from the candles and a beam of light coming from the back.
  

Freddy vs Jason Opening Credits
This horror movie is abit different to the ones analysed above, it consists of way more movement unlike the two above which are very still and not much activity is present, this shots mise-en-scene challenges sterortypes of horror movies. (As most horror movies are slow but have grotesque content and the sound and atmosphere makes the story) however looking at the shot above it may seem to look like an action/thrillr movie however the only aspect holding us back from thinking that is the dark contrast and the gloomy colours used within the image above.

Day Of The Dead (1985) George A Romero Opening Credits.
This image again differs from the rest of the images previously analysed, th mise-en-scene consists of more light. The scene is very stereotypical of a horror scene in some ways in the sensethat the scene does not consist of much activity, it is slow in order to awake suspicion. This sense of isolation and closed environment around the individual allows us to acknowledge the person is suffering and they are trying to get away from something (this something could be the horror element of the movies opening sequence) or something unusual is taking place. The pure white mise-en-scene is used to connote strength and bluntness.  


Jason X 1 Opening Credits
This opening sequence from the movie Jason X 1 features a very revoluntionary opening scene. What we seem to see is probably an explosion or some sort of an invasion or landing. It is not clear from the image above what exactly it is. The image is not very clear, there is alot going on, however the colours used within the scene are very connotive of negativity. The black would represent evil, bad and darkness whilst the mouldy colour represents dullness and something prevading the scene. This scene in itself consists of alot of elements.

 

 

Taken from:

http://zarahhameed.blogspot.com/2011/04/still-frame-analysis.html 

Typical Synopsis

Thriller Presentation

Now that I have collected all of the information needed, I made a powerpoint presentation to show my group and intorduce them into thrillers as this is our chosen genre.  I used slideshare to upload this powerpoint as Scribd is not very good at dealing with large files like a powerpoint therefore I had to find another programme to successfully publish my powerpoint so the rest of my group can upload it onto their blogs.

Thrillers

View more presentations from megi93.

General Camera Angles

Media Research

Iconic Thriller Directors

I am urrently gathering information about our chosen genre in order to eventually get enough information for a powerpoint presentation which I can present to the rest of the group. The link provided below is where I got this information from.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

History of Thriller

Information for the powerpoint and sources:

A Thriller contains certain characteristics. The pace must be quick, there has to be a lot of action, and there should be suspense and plot twists aplenty. Thrillers should have the reader on the edge of their seat, wondering if the good guy can get one over the bad guy and save the world (even though it's extremely rare for the bad guy to win, in your classic Thriller).
Thrillers are often set in exotic locations, although this isn't mandatory and certain sub-genres, like Crime thrillers, don't have this characteristic. The main characters are also traditionally men, with a career that leads them into the plot; spies, armed forces, elite government forces, and of course, chiseled good looks. Sometimes the protagonist is an ordinary citizen who is drawn into the plot, but he (and it's almost always a he) is usually square jawed and cut out for danger anyway. Women are being introduced as protagonists in contemporary thrillers to a limited extent, usually as law enforcement officers, but it's still a fairly male dominated genre. It has also been suggested that Thrillers require the protagonist to solve a current and pressing problem and prevent its occurrence, rather than chase down a criminal who has already committed a crime. The crimes, or evil forces, or bad guys, have to be grand scale as well. The Bill certainly wouldn't count as a Thriller, but Red Dragon certainly would.
http://www.illiterarty.com/genre-thriller


http://allmoviesearch.com/category/genres/thriller

Research: Role Allocation

As the research is a large bulk of the pre-production work we need to do we decided to work together on gathering as much information as possible on these different areas. Below, is how we have split the research between us to ensure we are focused on each aspect.

Megi:
History of thriller
Research into iconic thriller directors
DVD/Poster Analysis
Understanding camera shots/angles/movement

Sonya:
Font Analysis
Conventions of Thriller
Iconography Collage
Documentaries

Zarah:
Research into typical synopsis
Still Frame Analysis
Nine frame structure analysis
Audience Expectations


Sarah:
Iconic Sounds
Exisiting Production Companies
Certificate Ratings


We plan to share this with the rest of the group once it has all been collected, in order for us all to get the best insight into our chosen poject.

Brainstorming Ideas

I have drawn up a brainstorm of the different film genres that apppeal to me and that we may potentially decide to base our opening sequence on. However these are simply ideas and nothing has yet been finalised.

lol

Opening Sequence Analysis -Saw III

Film Name: SAW 3
Genre: Horror

The last film I will analyse is SAW 3 which is again different to the previous two I have analysed, in order to identify as many features as possible in different genres.


saw 3 - part 1/6


This opening sequence is quite different to the previous two that I have analysed as it includes a lot more action. This is because it starts by showing dark lighting and the first victim being tortured whereas most other horrors dont reveal any of the torture within the opening sequence as it may give the plot away. Howeever as the film is all about torturing different people, it is logical for the first victim to show here in order to set the scene.

The logo and different company titles are done very well and personally I think the "Twisted Pictures" credits are very well done as they help set the genre of the film by the sound and the cisuals it shows almost like blades cutting across the titles. They have also used sound in the other credits to make them stand out even more and in the title of the film this is made even higher for emphasis and to set the mood for the audience as many will have watched the previous two and will be familiar with the plots of the sequels.

Opening Sequence Analysis - This is England

Film Name: This is England
Genre: British Drama/ Social Realist

I will now conduct an opening analysis from the film "This is England", in order to see how each genre varies when producing opening sequences.



This is very different from the previous opening sequence we saw as it doesnt include any similar footage. This is because this is made up of many different video clips showing different events occuring within the time period of the film, which was in the 1980's at the political time when Margaret Thatcher was in power. The different film clips show all of the different aspects of British life and culture hinting to the audience what the film will be about and prefectly fitting in with the film title, as they are visually showing what England was all about within that time frame.

The different clips show good and bad times during the period of Thatcherism in all different sectors of the country such as the army troops all the way across to the miners and skin heads at political events. The clips are in black and white but also some in colour showing they have not been re-coloured for the purpose of making them seem as valid as possible in exploring the time period.

The music used within the opening sequence is called "54-46 Was My Number" by Toots & The Maytals. This is a reggae/ Jamaican song by a Jamaican group which almost challenges what the film is about because it is about England not Jamaica. However it does emphasise the culture in the music variety of that time, when the British listened to reggae tracks again emphasising the time period and setting the scene.

The rolling credits are shown on top of the different clips in a bold and white text so that they stand out. The opening logo is the first thing shown along with the director who is Shaun Meadows, emphasising these are the most important to point out.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Se7en

Film Name: Se7en
Genre: American Thriller

I will now be conducting an analysis on this sequence in order for me to get a better idea of the conventions of opening sequences. The video clip I have chosen to analysis is from the film "Se7en" and I have included the sequence below:




This trailer is made up of very fast paced shots showing the different materials the killer uses to kill his victims and maintain his cover. An example is when they show someone using some sort of scalpel to remove their top layer of skin from his finger in order to get rid of his DNA. This is quite a good technique as it gives the audience a hint straight away that there is something not quite right about this plot and the character here. It also shows different magazine articles and other objects the killer has collected about his victims showing different articles of their deaths, again indicating to the audience that this is a thriller/horror.

The font sequence that shows is also very effective as they have used sound effects when the different credits come on with a lighting effect on the names again to add emphasis to it. The sounds throughout the film sound very eerie and again add to the suspense before the plot starts unfolding. I think this is very effective as it grips the audience straight away by revealing different parts of the plot which will unfold in random parts of the film.

Also, they have used a sepia wash over the whole sequence along with black and white shots again adding to the time period of the film indicating it is taking the audience back to a certain time period. It also adds to the effects on the sequence as it is unique from many other opening sequences again making the audience even more intrigued to see what it is.

Overall, I really like this opening sequence as it keeps the audience wanting more which is necessary in ensuring they progress to watching the film.