In our media lesson, we watched a variety of title sequence clips from thriller films. These clips included; seven, panic room, Arlington road, Dead calm and Déjà Vu. While watching these clips we had to focus on how suspense was created, in order to draw the audience into the film and keep them interested in continuing to watch the rest of the film. Suspense was created by the use of camera work, mise-en scene, sound, editing and the font of the titles that appear on screen.

In my opinion I think that the title sequence for 'Se7en' was the best and most interesting, it looked like a very good thriller and made me want to watch the rest of the film. In the title sequence of ‘Se7en’ it looks as if a serial killer is making a scrap book of all his victims. This helps to create suspense, as the audience do not know what the person is actually doing but feel a sense of uncertainty. In this clip we see lots of different fast cuts of someone cutting out pictures of humans – they look like experimental science pictures, someone writing notes, and binding together the paper & pictures using a needle and thread, they cross out words that have previously been written, we also see them cross out a young boy’s eyes then they cross him out completely this is disturbing yet the audience is wanting to watch as it is mysterious, and it’s quite an enjoyable tension.

The camerawork is extremely close up to the man’s hands and all the cutting, writing and sewing, this makes the audience eyes focus directly on what he is doing but we don’t see what he looks like, it’s as if he has no identity, this creates a contrast to the editing, as we see fast flashing cuts, so we don’t get to see everything he is doing.

The music create an unease atmosphere as it is very distorted and weird, it is very rhythmic and doesn’t seem “normal”. At the beginning of the clip you also hear a crank it the background before the music starts to play.

The titles are in child-like handwritten script and are very off focus, they also it appear shaky on screen, the titles include the names of producers, creators, the production company, writers and actors, and the title seven which is written as ‘Se7en’ this helps to empathise that the number ‘7’ is obviously important to this movie.

What is suspence ?

Suspense is a feeling of anxiety and uncertainty towards a situation which you have minimum control

over. The lack of control and not knowing the out come of a situation can cause suspense and tension in a film and every in day life . Suspense and tension work together to create an eerie and tense atmosphere. In a thriller film I think suspense is vital as it causes the audience to react in a certain way eg; grip on to there chairs when something bad is about to happen. Music/a soundtrack is usually used in a clip to build up suspense and tension.

The Art Of The Title Sequence

Seven

28.01.10

The title sequence of Se7en, in my opinion, was very eye-catching and appealing to an audience who like a good thriller film. The actual font style of each title were rough, untidy and scribble-like. The use of the white font over images of a person creating a scrapbook was effective as it looked asif the scribbles belonged to his scrapbook which was very untidy and included many disturbing images. Also the font looked asif it had been written by a child. This could be disturbing to the audience as they could link the child-like writing with the disturbing images in the scrap book and may think the film would have something to do with children - which already creates a tension and anxiety for the audience. The titles slightly vibrate which shows lack of steadiness and could also reflect the mind of the murderer.

The titles included the names of producers, creators, production company, writers and actors. The actual title 'Seven' was designed as 'Se7en' including the actual number '7'. This was effective as it emphasised the number 7 and left it ambiguous as to why it was so important to the film.

The images used behind the titles are of a person's hands creating a scrapbook involving images of human body parts. This gives the audience 'sneak-peaks' of what to expect in the film. It also creates an un-easy atmosphere as the images of human body parts hints that the film will follow a murderer' actions. However, some of the titles appear on a plain black background which continue to create suspense as the audience are unaware of the next disturbing image that they will see - it keeps them anticipated to see what happens next.

The camera shots used in this title sequence are extreme close-ups. This makes it unclear of what the person is actually doing and only reveals little pieces of information to the audience, so that they are anticipated to watch the rest of the film and see what it is all about.

This title sequence appeals to me as it keeps me interested and actually made me want to watch the rest of the film. It set off suspense from the start and even the tiny font style over the disturbing images was enough to send chills down my spine.

Thriller Sub-Genres

A thriller sub-genre is where other film types over lap with the characteristics of a thriller film. Thriller sub-genres include:

• Action Thrillers (James Bond films)
• Crime Thrillers (Seven)
• Drama Thrillers (The Prestige)
• Spy Thrillers (Mission Impossible)
• Religious Thrillers (The Da Vinci Code)

A thriller sub-genre which I particular enjoy are crime thrillers. This is because it involves a lot of mystery, as you are unaware of who is committing the crime, and allows you to follow the journey of the 'heroe' who is trying to solve the crime. I feel that it causes suspense as it keeps the audience guessing on who is the criminal until the end of the film - where he/she may get caught or, in some cases, manage to get away with the crime. I also find it interesting how the heroes find clues and add them all up together to lead to their criminal - which creates a sense of awe within the audience as they begin to work out, themselves, how the crime was committed.

Se7en
Kyle Cooper

28.01.10

The font presented in the film Se7en appealed to me very much because it created a great amount of suspense. The font used was child-like and almost a scribble. This appealed to me because it was a sinister way of opening the film as it linked pictures of a man making a scrap book with his victims and a child-like font used for the titles. This was effective as it kept the audience uneasy of what will appear within the film – the childlike font created a tense atmosphere as the audience will always feel uncomfortable with child murders. The font also created a sense of immaturity and unsteadiness which could represent the state of mind of the murderer. All together I feel that the font, along with the images presented, appealed to the type of film it was (a thriller) as it created suspense of the plot and anticipation of what was going to happen.

A short description of how suspension is created by the Cohen brothers ‘No country for old men’

The Cohen Brothers Wrote and directed the thriller ‘No Country for Old Men’. They use a variety of techniques in order to create suspense. Editing was used- Parallel editing was used, it was showing views of two locations at the same time both reaching the same point. This edit built up tension in the scene and it made me grip onto my seat with anticipation.

The mysterious and unexplained story line created suspense for the first half of the film and as the play unravelled the storyline was revealed to the audience. The Mis-en-scene in this film also contributed to the suspense. The constant changing of location put the audience at edge as they was unaware if the man and the murderer was near each other. The Murderers pale face and simple clothing added to his mystery and it created an airy atmosphere when he was on screen.
The build up to the murders of some characters was very effective different techniques were used in order to make the audiences blood cold and cause them to jump and grip onto their seats. The murders were gruesome but they were not like the murders you would find in horror films. The first murder in this film shocked me and it made ma gasp. The camera focused on the victim who was in the for ground, the murderer was in the background and the camera was out of focus on him so you could only see his outline, as the murderer crept up on the victim the camera focused on him more. He then strangled the victim with his had cuffs. The gradual change in focus caused tension to build up.

After the murders the murderer disappears. This creates suspense as the audience is unaware of when or where he might reappear. I think this was a good thriller because tension and suspense was created effectively and at the right time. The only bloody gory scenes was the murder scenes, I think this made it scary because the audience no something bad is going to happen or something just happened.

Thriller sub-Genres that inspire me at the moment

• Government thrillers


• psychological thrillers


• super natural thrillers


• Good vs. evil thrillers

Out of the many Thrillers sub genres the top three that inspire and interest me are; good vs. evil, psychological thrillers and innocents on the run. These thrillers interest me because they involve people in believable situations; I think that these factors make Thrillers more effective as the audience feel more involved in the events that are taking place.

As a Media student Phychological thrillers inspire me as I think there is a lot that can be done with them. I think they are affective as they can get into the audiences head and get them thinking about what is going to happen, this keeps they hooked to the film. Physiological thrillers such as ‘Silence of the lambs’ can create a cult audience and, it could lead to the success of sequels (‘Cannibal’). I think that Psychological thrillers has a broad audience compared to other genes, as it could interest a wider range of people. Because it does not contain a lot of gore and blood people that don’t enjoy horrors can enjoy physiological thrillers, as they create a sense of fear without making the audience feeling sick. Physiological thrillers also suite an educated and mature audience as they might be able to relate to some of the themes in the film. I think it would be interesting working on a physiological thriller because it would be a challenging task but rewarding at the same time as a lot of thought and would need to go into it to make it a successful and enjoyable for an audience.

I like ‘good vs. evil’ thrillers and ‘innocents on the run’ as they because the audience to react in certain ways and feel emotionally involved in what’s going on. With these types of Thrillers the audience automatically takes sides and they end up rooting for a particular character and in a way they feel emotions for the character. The story line is usually easy to follow and believable. These thrillers interest me and I enjoy watching them because the normally have a good story line that keeps an audience hooked from the beginning to the end.

A short description of how suspension is created by the Cohen brothers ‘No country for old men’

The Cohen Brothers Wrote and directed the thriller ‘No Country for Old Men’. They use a variety of techniques in order to create suspense. Editing was used- Parallel editing was used, it was showing views of two locations at the same time both reaching the same point. This edit built up tension in the scene and it

made me grip onto my seat with anticipation.
The mysterious and unexplained story line created suspense for the first half of the film and as the play unravelled the storyline was revealed to the audience. The Mis-en-scene in this film also contributed to the suspense. The constant changing of location put the audience at edge as they was unaware if the man and the murderer was near each other. The Murderers pale face and simple clothing added to his mystery and it created an airy atmosphere when he was on screen.

The build up to the murders of some characters was very effective different techniques were used in order to make the audiences blood cold and cause them to jump and grip onto their seats. The murders were gruesome but they were not like the murders you would find in horror films. The first murder in this film shocked me and it made ma gasp. The camera focused on the victim who was in the for ground, the murderer was in the background and the camera was out of focus on him so you could only see his outline, as the murderer crept up on the victim the camera focused on him more. He then strangled the victim with his had cuffs. The gradual change in focus caused tension to build up.

After the murders the murderer disappears. This creates suspense as the audience is unaware of when or where he might reappear. I think this was a good thriller because tension and suspense was created effectively and at the right time. The only bloody gory scenes was the murder scenes, I think this made it scary because the audience no something bad is going to happen or something just happened.

suspense

Suspense is a build up of tension, creating uncertainty and anxiety in the viewers mind, of what is happening or what is going to happen next.

→Suspense makes the viewer / audience feel anxious and perhaps on edge in regards to what they are watching