Thriller Opening - Score UPDATED

For the opening of our thriller we wanted a very atmospheric and dramatic score that would build the tension in the sequence and create an unsettling atmosphere.



This piece, titled 'Ready for Battle', has a very fast tempo which could suggest the onset of panic as the protagonist realises he's been kidnapped and is in an unknown location. Alternatively, this could be too fast paced and build anticipation rather than suspense, though this is effective it's not the atmosphere we want to create. Also, as the name suggests, it carries connotations of war and violence, again this could be very effective but our thriller contains subtler conflicts and dilemmas. This means that this piece of music would construct the wrong connotations for our opening which could misdirect the audience and change the atmosphere of the film. The score of our thriller is meant to unsettle the audience and make them uneasy, although the opening of the piece could appear to do this, the pitch of the rest of the piece is too high to do this effectively. This,again, means that the wrong atmosphere would be created and the score would be manipulating the audience's emotions in a way we did not want. The pace is also too fast for the pace of our edit, this means that the score would be building excitement within the audience while the edit would subtlety be revealing information. The lack of connection between the score and the edit would confuse the audience and stop the build of suspense.



This piece, named 'Alone in the Cellar' is very eerie and unsettling, this would be very effective for the sequence when our protagonist awakes after he's been kidnapped because it would reflect the confusion and fear running through he mind as he questions his situation. The gradual increase in pace at the beginning of the piece could be used to reinforce this idea because it suggests a sudden rush of thoughts and the trepidation these thoughts would create. This piece could also be used to enhance the sense of mystery that is present throughout our opening because it builds suspense. It features strings which is a very conventional way for depicting fear through music, they are effective in this piece because they would unnerve our audience which would help them to empathise with our protagonist and connect with him. Overall, this piece would be incredibly effective because it would manipulate our audience's emotions whilst simultaneously building the tension within the scene.
However, the unusual combination of instruments may be better suited to a psychological thriller because it creates an idea of a decent into madness. This may not be suited to our thriller because although our protagonist in unsettle and confused he is not losing his mind as that isn't the focus of our thriller.



This third piece has a fast tempo, this could be used to mimic our protagonist's heartbeat as he begins to panic once he discovers the situation he's in. This would reinforce the distress felt by our protagonist which in turn would inform the audience of his emotions. This would separate him from other thriller protagonists because typically the male lead of a thriller wouldn't be concerned by this situation because they've experienced it before. However, similarly to the first piece, the tempo could be too fast paced which would build audience anticipation instead of trepidation. This is because it has a similar pace to that of pieces of music that accompany chase sequences. This could work if our protagonist escaped and ran away but seeing as this doesn't happen this would decrease the score's value. The drum beat is also very reminiscent of war drums which would imply action and violence, this may make this score more suitable to an action thriller, rather than our slower paced, crime thriller, This would, therefore, make the score less effective. Alternatively, whilst being fast paced it is also unsettling so it may be able to create the atmosphere we desire.

Title Sequence - Fonts UPDATED

The distorted style of this font would help to symbolise the drastic effect on the protagonist's life that the events of our film have had. It is also very bold and would dominate the screen, this could construct connotations of power and authority which could be connected to our femme fatale. The fractured elements of this font could be used to reflect how fragile the protagonist is in comparison to the femme fatale, enhancing the contrast in power between them.

However this font connects to themes of technology which aren't present in our film, this could mislead the audience and lead to misconceptions about the plot of the film. Therefore, it would be better suited for a Sci-fi film rather than a thriller. It also appears too modern for a film that is meant to reminiscent of film noirs.  

 

This font is very simple whilst also appearing stylised, the ripple through the middle of the letters could be interpreted as the effect of the train that goes past just before the titles are shown in our opening. This would emphasise the importance as well as the impact of the train. Much like the previous font it could also reinforce the changes that the events of the films have brought on the protagonists life, as things have forever been altered. The simplicity of the font could represent their life before the events of the film, further emphasising the impact of the plot. The boldness of the font would emphasise its impact when it appears on screen, making it more dramatic and building the suspense. The decorative missing pieces in the font could be used to symbolise the protagonist's lack of awareness as he stumbles into a world consumed by crime and immoral people. These missing pieces could also be used to emphasise the fact that someone has been kidnapped whilst another has disappeared. Alternatively, the ripple through the font could appear to decorative and not menacing enough. This would decrease the font's impact on the audience because it wouldn't create any fear or sense of foreboding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This font features a city skyline along the bottom, this could be reminiscent of the fact the many film noirs took place in big cities because they were the areas that had the worst crime and poverty rates which emphasised the gritty nature of the genre. In our thriller it could be used to establish that cities are still not safe and remain the largest areas for crime. The eroded nature of the font symbolise how destructive this crime is and the damage its causing to the city. It could also be used to reflect the way the protagonist's life is falling apart, which is only exasperated by the events of our film.

However, this font may appear clique because it over emphasises the problems discussed within the film. The style of the font is similar to stereotypical military fonts, this could be misleading and constructs the wrong connotations for our film because it has nothing to do with the army or war. The eroded nature of the font is also reminiscent of fonts used during the titles of Sci-fi films about zombies, this, again, would be very misleading and construct the wrong connotations for our thriller.

Inter-textual References

In film noir the colour red is often used as part of the femme fatale's costume, this is because the colour connotes power and dominance as well as passion and love. These are key aspects of the femme fatale because they are incredibly influential women that use their sexuality and femininity to achieve their goals. As part of our thriller we included a modern twist on the use of red. This is because traditionally the femme fatale has red lipstick, nail varnish or a red dress. Instead of this,our actress Caitlin had red hair. This involves the same connotations whilst introducing an edgy and current element as in today's society red hair is associated with confident people who aren't afraid of standing out. This works when connected with a femme fatale because they are very bold women who aren't scared of drawing attention to themselves. In Germany, red hair is connected with the devil and women who have it are meant to be evil, this could imply that our female character is immoral and has bad intentions for the protagonist despite appearing to help him during the opening. 



 

During the final part of our opening shadows are used for effect. This was a common aspect of film noirs, when shadows fall across a character's face it can suggest that they have evil intentions and that they have given into their immoral ways, this is used in 'The Third Man' when shadows cover the antagonist, Harry Lime's face. They were also used to connote hidden aspects of a character and to suggest that a character is 'in the dark' and unaware of a situation. We took inspiration from this in our opening and used shadows to suggest that our protagonist is unaware of the severity of the situation he has found himself in. By having a silhouette of our character with his head down it creates a sense of mystery because the audience don't know how serious his condition is or what's happened to him. This in turn increases the suspense in our opening and spikes our audience's interest. The silhouette also makes our protagonist appear larger than he actually is, this is similar to a shot to Holly Martins in The Third Man, this suggests that our character is powerful and intimidating. It could also imply that we don't know a lot about this man and there may be darker aspects to his personality because his dominating size could appear menacing.