Difference Between Thrillers and Horrors

Saw (horror)

There are different types of thriller films but just one type of horrors. While thrillers built up to a climax, horrors tend to go straight to the main point. Thrillers consist mainly on playing mind games, creating mysteries for the audience to resolve and creating a tense atmosphere in order to 'thrill' the viewers. Whereas horrors aren't psychological but straight to the point, bloody and have the direct intentions of scaring people.



The Woman in Black (thriller)

      To some people, thrillers are actually scarier than horrors as the audience can relate to the victims in the films. Also, due to being so caught up in the moment they become more alert to any movements, such as someone quietly walking into a room. On the other hand, horrors may have moments where people or objects jump out of hidden places, yet they display all the weapons and blood which leaves hardly any mystery left at all to be unsolved. Therefore as the horrors are more visual, and thrillers more psychological, the intentions of each genre become clearer.



Typography

The typography always has to be eye catching to stand out against what is happening in the background, as well as to make it memorable. The best way to do this is by somehow incorporating the titling into the background (e.g Zombieland), create a contrast between the titles and background or using bold colours and fonts that link with the genre of the film.
      Zombieland is a great illustration that has all these qualities. The font remains the same throughout the film, however there are two different font colours for different purposes. The first one is the red titling, signifying the blood and danger the zombies bring in the film, used in the title sequence to give an insight on the films genre. Meanwhile the white titles indicate the innocent people running and fighting for their lives, hence the reason the rules on how to survive are white.




White titling (innocent people)

Red titling (zombies/danger/blood)

      Not only do the colour of the font change but the height and width of the line, including the spacing between letters and words, alter according to what suits the scene best.
     In order to make the titles interesting and eye catching, the editing of the typography has been made to be part of the scene (picture bottom left) or shatter or knock out of place as the characters interfere with the titles (picture bottom right). The effect of this is to not only to make us focus on what is written but to focus on how the characters (zombies) bring chaos to the film, signifying the change people drastically had to take on.

Analysis of Se7en Title Sequence

From the beginning, the title sequence captures the audience’s attention as it starts with a close up of an open book, forbidding them from seeing the surrounding area which excludes the protagonist and raises questions. This close up technic is used throughout the sequence to keep the viewers interested and make it exciting. As the book is a perfectly ordinary object, the distorted noises and flickering titles make us question it. The book gives the impression that the protagonist is a wise person; however this is contradicted by the flickering handwritten titles which imply a disturbance, or lack of control, as they flicker uncontrollably like a twitch.

It is clear the sequence is a thriller as the combination of the negative underlay, distorted noises and the flickering between shots tend to increase and become more rapid throughout as a way of demonstrating something isn’t quite normal; emphasising the chaos and disturbance of the protagonist. Also the flickering between shots makes the audience more likely to focus on what is being shown on the screen, the titles and insights on the characters personality, and then remember it later on.

 

To be continued...

Conventions of a Thriller

A thriller is a genre that uses three main factors (suspense, tension and excitement) in order to thrill the audience. There are four main thriller subgenres: psychological, dystopian, mystery and crime thrillers and they all tend to follow similar patterns. For example, they all build towards a climax using plot twists and many also use cliff-hangers. The conventions of a thriller film are usually used in all subgenres in order to fulfil its purpose by 'thrilling' the audience, however they may vary. The thriller conventions are:

• Suspense
• A problem - escape, mission, murder, mystery
•  Fight and chase scenes
• Wrong or misleading clues
• Puzzles in plot (unanswered questions)
• Location
• Dark background
• Abstract light
• Camera angles
• Camera movements
• Titling
• Music/Sound

 

Examples:

Narrative Codes

There are two narrative codes, the Hermeneutic Code and the Proairetic Code, these code terms were discovered by Roland Barthes. The Hermeneutic Code is the method of creating suspense by not fully explaining the situation or deliberately avoiding telling the truth which raises questions, it consists of five separate parts: enigma codes (unanswered questions), the snare (something that gives you the wrong idea), partial answers (some truth revealed), equivocation (truth and false evidence) and jamming (suggesting that the problem cannot be solved).

The other narrative code is the Proairetic Code, that introduces actions that suggest something will happen, leaving the viewer to guess at what is next to come. Both codes are put in place to keep the audience interested in finding out the answers to the questions they are asking themselves.

The Secret Window is a perfect example of how the Hermeneutic Code is used as it misleads the audience into believing that the main actor is the victim when in reality he is the perpetrator. This psychological thriller uses the snare so that the audience is completely thrown off of the path of what really is happening. Some truths are revealed but some are misinforming.

Another illustration is when Karkaroff, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, goes into the Dining Hall to, what it seems, put Harry’s name into the Goblet. This shot reveals partial answers as the viewers are permitted to know that he had been in the room but aren’t informed whether or not he was doing anything corrupt, in spite of this the audience is made to think he has by his suspicious facial expressions as well as his body language.

In Alien Autopsy, the Proairetic Code is used several times, such as when the film doesn’t work anymore it puts the life of one of the main characters at risk, therefore it makes the audience guess and question what will happen to the protagonist or how they will change the outcome of the events.

Analysis of Two Title Sequences

 

 Elementary Title Sequence

In this sequence the titles mainly appear after something has passed the screen or gotten in the way of where the titles are to appear. For instance, the gun’s revolving cylinder twists into view, leaving behind the name of one of the main actors in the series. This is an interesting way to get the audience to focus on the titles and makes them more likely to remember the names after they’ve read them.

The colours are all similar, except the white titling to represent the good the detectives do, and they nearly blend in together. However, thanks to the different lights we are able to differentiate between the background and the revolver, making it clear that the series involves crime but that it is a mystery to who commit it.  This is also emphasised through the extreme close up camera shot from the shooting end of the revolver, keeping the shooter hidden, even though no sign of the handler is visible it implies that there is someone watching. On the other hand it links to Sherlock Holmes and how he manages to see things from the murderer’s perspective in order to solve the mystery.

The Sixth Sense Title Sequence

In the sequence, The Sixth Sense, the titles fade in and out of the shot as if they were fading from a dream. The dreamlike effect is also used with the surroundings, portraying the centre of the long shot in black and white then fading out into black around the frame to suggest that beyond what the audience can see there is something evil, dangerous or unknown. These dark colours support the genre of the film as they set the tone and having the church in the shot being engulfed by these dark colours implies something unholy will happen.

The font of the titling is clear once it has fully faded in in the shot, proposing that the protagonist isn’t always clear minded and may even be unsteady at times. Then again, as the titling centred in the shot is highlighted by the light of the church, it denotes that the protagonist is tempted by the darkness (evil) but that he has light (good) in him.

Welcome!

Have you ever watched a film and wondered how it was made? Did you ever think 'I like the movement those titles made' or 'the music really sets the mood' and questioned how it was all made? If so you have come to the right place.

Hi there, my name is Emeline and this is my AS Media blog. On this blog I will be going through the process of creating a thriller opening from scratch. It will be at least two minutes long and will include music, effects, titles, a production logo and much more. I will take you through each step, from my planning to my finished piece, to help you understand the dedication and time that goes into creating an opening title sequence. Some things you may already know, however as my work advances you may find that there are lots of things that happen behind the scenes that just don't quite make it onto the screen...

I hope you enjoy what you see. Let's begin!