Short Analysis of Existing Media Thrillers

Captive - AS Media Film

The opening of this film begins with an establishing shot which immediately refers to the title of the film, "Captive", as the shot shows the male character ( which is the protagonist) tied up.

The digetic sounds, such as, breathing and water drops are used to present realism however, there is non-digetic sound, such as, intense and high pitched stringed instruments. This is a typical convention of a thriller film.

The fast paced editing is used is parallel to the intensity of the sound which is used, creating an opening which flows and feels like a thriller. The montage of shots used are also quick and match the action on the screen.

The title of the film flickers when it is shown, this technique continues for the titles throughout the rest of the opening of the film.

It is evident from watching this film opening that there has been a substantial amount of money spent on costumes and make-up. This makes the film look realistic as the character is covered in blood and bruises which have been made using high quality make up, this adds to the realism of the film.



Excemption - AS Media Film







This film is an action thriller which consists of many features which are typical of a film from the thriller genre.

The sound at the beginning consists of digetic breathing which makes the film feel realistic, this also makes the audience know that the boys who are breathing are possibly in danger.

There are a montage of shots at the beginning which include, E.C.U, P.O.V and C.U shots. These shots make the audience feel what the boys are feeling, it makes us more involved with their emotions and thoughts.

The titles are simple and effective, they are shown between camera shots with a black background which fades in and out. This means that the titles do not distract any of the action on screen.

Quick, fast paced editing is used to create and build tension, however, this doesn't happen until one of the characters stabs the pen into another characters leg. This is when the boys start to run, therefore, the perfect moment for the editing to speed up.

There are times during the opening where the continuity needs to be looked at in more detail, for example, when they are running across the grass, the camera cuts away and then shows them running again, when the camera returns to them running the positioning might be slightly off.

Audience Survey - Thriller Films

In order to see what people want to see in a thriller film I created a survey online using Survey Monkey. I then asked ten people to answer my survey so I could collected a range of answers.

Shown below are the results to my survey and analysis of each question:

The first question I asked on my survey was 'What is your age?', this was so I could see what age range of people were answering my questions. From my results I can see that 40% of the people who answered my survey were aged 16 to 19. This was followed by 30% of people who were aged 12 to 15. 20% of people who answered my survey were aged 20 to 23 and 10% of people were aged 24 to 27. This information is very important to consider whilst thinking about the target audience for my thriller film as I need to make sure that my film appeals to the age range which wants to watch thriller films.

My second question asked participants what gender they were. Similar to question 1, this information is important to look at when considering my target audience. In the results there was an equal split for each gender, 50% were males and 50% were females. 

My third question asked about sub genres of thriller films, and what were peoples favourite. From my results I can conduct that the least liked thriller sub genres was religious thriller, and the most popular sub genre was crime and psychological both with 30% each. This is important as the thriller film that myself and Caitlin are planning on making is going to be a hybrid of a psychological and crime thriller.

In this question I asked, "What are the most effective features in a Thriller Film?". There were a range of answers to choose from which were, Music, Actors/Acting, Mise En Scene/Setting, Editing, Titles and Camera Angles/Shots. When I collected my results I could see that the most popular answer was music and acting both with 30%. The least popular feature was Titles which had 0%. Therefore, from looking at my results I now know it is vital to carefully consider what music we use to ensure that the film fits the theme of a thriller also, it is important to choose good actors who can portray realism throughout the film. The next most popular answer was editing. We will have to carefully edit our film to make sure it all runs smoothly. All this will appeal to the audience and make it a much better film to watch.

In the previous question titles had an answer percentage of 0%, however, I am going to need to include titles on my film to inform the watcher of the director, producer and actors ect. Therefore, I then asked about the colour of the titles. Once again there were many options to choose from but the most popular was white with 40% of people choosing this answer. Red and black both had 20% and then grey and blue had 10%. Therefore, from these results I think that the typography colour for our titles will be white and this was the most popular answer but also, I think it really stands out, especially if there is a dark background behind it. 

Question 6 asked "What narrative is most effective in Thriller Films?", The most popular answers were supernatural, Kidnapping and Murder all with 20% each. This is quite relevant as our film is going to based on a murder, therefore, it is good to know that a murder narrative would be popular. Having a really good narrative is vital to ensuring that the film is popular and works well with an audience. Stalker and chase only had 10% each, I think this is becasue they are quite typical and struggle to be multi stranded narratives. 

My last question on my survey asked about intense openings to thriller films. 90% of people said that they think that it is importamt for a thriller film to have a quick and intense opening whereas only 10% of people said that this aspect was not relevant. In my opinion, I think it is very important for a thriller film to have a quick and intesne opening as it draws the audience in and makes then want to watch the film. Enigma codes are also a massive part of an opening of a thriller film and this can easilly be acheived throughout a quick and intense opening. Thriller films make the audience think and the opening is the vital part to grap attention of the audience. This will make me want to have a quick and intense in the opening to the thriller film that we are making. 

All of my results from my survey are very helpful and will assist me in making my film successful and will help me to back up my reasons for my target audience and the decisons I have and will made.