Name of Film

As a group, we have decided on the name of our film. We chose the title: 'Lost Signal', as our protagonists leaves her group of friends after losing signal on her mobile. When she returns, she finds that her friends are missing, and attempts to find them - leading her into the path of her stalker.

Sabotage, 1935

Sabotage was a another of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers. Made in the 1935, uses dramatic irony as a way of keeping the audience's attention and entertaining them. Dramatic irony is when some of the characters within the world of the film do not know specific details. However, we as the audience know everything. This is a way for us to both relate to the characters, and to sympathize with them.
With regards to this film, Stevie's sister's husband - Verlock - gives Stevie a package to deliver. Stevie must deliver the package, which contains a bomb, by half one. Stevie does not know of the bomb inside the package - this is an example of dramatic irony. Time passes, and Stevie becomes distracted, eventually leading to the bomb going off in Stevie's hands.

How Does Hitchcock Create Suspense and Tension?

There are several ways that Hitchcock creates suspense within the film. One of these ways is the use of the close-up shot. These shots allow the audience to witness the boy's facial expressions and emotions. Moreover, the shots of the package keep the audience thinking about it, and urge the viewer to feel sympathy for Stevie.
Additionally, Hitchcock uses contrapuntal music when the boy is in the market. To the boy, he is just wandering around the market, but as we know the package contains a bomb - thus the boy is wasting time.
Finally, as the scene nears its end, the music becomes more and more dramatic. This builds the tension, and places  the audience of the edge of their seat; the audience is expecting the bomb to go off.

Mobygratis - Approval

A few hours ago, I received an two emails from mobygratis confirming the licensing of two tracks.

Mobygratis

Today, I signed up to mobygratis.com. Straight away, I began browsing through the wide range of music, and came across two tracks that would fit the opening scenes of our thriller. I have requested the use of both tracks, and will be waiting for a reply.
I will also be visiting sites such as unsigned.com, to try and find other music.

As a group, we want to secure the licensing of about ten tracks, meaning that we have a wide variety of music to choose from.

Idents

This is the first ident created. We used Livetype and placed the images over the top of the moving background. Out of the two, this was my favourite. It reminds me of other idents, yet still has our twist on it.






This was the second ident we made. I don't feel as though this looks as professional as the first, which is why we are not choosing this ident.

Location Research

This is a picture I took at the beginning of November. I think this area would be good to use in our thriller, as it is a rather quiet place. It is local, and the length of the road would provide a very good shot. Moreover, if the weather conditions are similar to the photo, it would really add a scary edge to our work.

Ident and Logo Ideas.

Over the past few days, I have created four separate ident/logo designs. Each one is different to the next, as I wanted to make the decision process easier; if the ident/logos are extremely similar, it would be hard to choose a favourite. I have saved all the files in two file formats: .psd, the Photoshop file so that I can edit them later, and .png, so that the empty areas remain transparent.
We chose the name 'Panoptic Productions' as the word 'panoptic' means to view things from many directions. This links to our coursework, as each shot of our thriller will have to be viewed from different directions in order to make it a high-quality opening.

Design 1

This design is inspired by a drawing I made a long time ago. Cartoon clouds are often used in work by artist who specialise in forms that are less realistic. I think the shape of the cloud works well, as does the font. The font is elegant, and the blue corroborates with the cloud - blue is the colour of rain, and rain comes from clouds. I added a glow to both the cloud and the text, to make them seem more dainty and angelic. The image would not include the grey background; the grey would be transparent. However, I made an example with a grey background to show the shape of the cloud.

Design 2

This is the second design I made. The white area is actually transparent. I decided to use three different faces and different angles as it related to our company name. The text, as well as the drawings, are cartoon-esque and are rather funky. I chose to do it this way as we are only young, and we want to show that creating our thriller opening is fun. I like this design, although I think it is lacking something; I, unfortunately, do not know what this 'something' is.

Design 3

This design is inspired by splats of paint/liquid found in the environment. I chose bold purples and pinks as they stood out from the page, and then used a bold and eye-catching font. This design is simple, yet effective, and I think it would work well when placed into Livetype.

Design 4

This design is my favourite from the set. I think this is a satirical take on Columbia Pictures ident. They use a woman standing on a podium, holding a light. I chose to use a character I created, and place him on a podium. As we come from an industrialised area, I chose to add a skyline to the design. The white area is transparent; when placed into Livetype, I would use a background on moving clouds - this is another reference to Columbia Pictures. The text is rather wacky, and matches the design; the text is separate as I want to be able to  move it freely on the page - I do not know the resolution that Livetype works at, therefore I estimated when creating the design. By having the text separate, I can place it exactly where I want on the screen, without altering the design.

Thriller Ident and Logo

Last night, I began drawing ideas for our thriller ident. I soon realised that the major filming companies used a still image, with a moving background. For example, Warner Bros. use their logo, with flies into shot. The logo then remains still, whilst the background continues moving. This would be easy to do using Photoshop and Livetype. I would draw the design on Photoshop, and save the image as a .png file, so that areas of the image could stay transparent. Livetype supports .png files, so I would upload the image into the software, and use the various effects to make it come into screen.
I would then apply an animated background, so that the background is moving, and the logo is stationery.
I think it's a good idea to mimic the well-renowned companies, as they set the standards that everyone has to match. Moreover, we'd like to put our own stamp on our ident and logo; we're still young, and we don't want the ident and logo to be completely serious.

Misfits Montage

Earlier this week, I uploaded a post about the television show Misfits. I saw the show as relevant to our project, and decided to create a montage of clips from the first episode. The episode was the opening for the entire series; therefore, analysing it will help us in our project.


From the video, you can see that there is a lot of humour, as well as drama. I think it would be interesting to try and use humour in our thriller opening.

Shadow of a Doubt

Below is a video I made. The video is two images from Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt'.



Settings and Props

• There is money scattered on the bedroom floor, which suggests that the character of Charlie is rather rich, and doesn't value money as much as he should. Moreover, the use of a cigar highlights the character's indulgence in the finer things in life, and suggest that Charlie is not afraid to purchase items he may not need. A further notable prop used in a glass, which is thrown at the wall. This highlights a potentially short fuse, and possibly previous problems that have made Charlie stressed.

Colour and Lighting

• The room at first is dark, which indicates that Charlie doesn't like attention, and prefers to be left alone. A woman then enters and allows light to enter the room. Charlie then moves back into the shadows, reinforcing the idea. Shadows are also prominent throughout the opening scenes, which could suggest that the film draws conventions from the film noir genre.

Hair, Make-up and Costume

• The suit Charlie is wearing looks expensive and well maintained. This again suggests that Charlie is wealthy, and also hints that he cares for his appearance, whether it be to remain unnoticed and ordinary, or just for himself. This idea is shown again through Charlie's hair, which is slicked back. This is a trait of many antagonist in thrillers, and could imply that Charlie is the antagonist, or has villainous qualities.

Facial Expression and Body Language

• Charlie is shown on his bed, looking relaxed, yet tired. This could infer that he has had endured a lot of hard work over the previous few days, and could be why the two characters are after him.

Placement of Objects and Characters Within the Frame

• Charlie is shown as trapped after he leaves the house, as he is placed in the centre of the frame, and the two other characters are either side. Both Charlie and his niece are shown in similar positions when we are first introduced to them, indicating that they are similar, and that the niece sees Charlie as a role model.

Thrillers in Television.

As we are only producing the first few minutes of a thriller, I think that it would be useful to look at and analyse television shows in the thriller genre.
A particular show that I find interesting is Misfits. Misfits is a British comedy-drama series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service program, where they attain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm.
One of the main reasons I watch the show is that it is extremely entertaining; each episode provides a whole variety of different emotions. Moreover, topics such as sex, death, drugs, love, relationships and age are all discussed in a way which engages people.
The opening episode of the first series is the most appropriate for my blog; the scene is set and the story begins. I will be creating a video of the first episode, showing some of my favourite, and the most thrilling parts of it.

Survey

Using surveymonkey.com, I created a survey that asked the participant various questions about thriller movies. By doing this, I hope to gain a better understanding of the audience for my thriller project. Also, I hope to know the aspects of thrillers that most appeal to the viewer. I will be collecting my data at a later date.
Feel free to complete the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HXL7DJ9

Livetype Experimentation

Last Wednesday, I briefly experimented with Livetype. I created a small piece with the software, but wasn't able to upload it.
I hope to use Livetype and it's functions again in the future, but I feel more comfortable using software such as Photoshop. Therefore, if there are harsh time restrictions, I will not be using Livetype, as learning the basics of the software will be time consuming.

Interviews on the Thriller Genre

Last week, we recorded a series of interviews and were ready to put them onto the computer. However, we realised that the person using the camera was recording all the parts that didn't need recording, and not recording the parts we needed. Luckily, we managed to capture a few minutes of usable footage.
This week, we decided to interview more people, and hopefully use the camera correctly this time. We then uploaded our footage today, and used Final Cut Express to edit the footage. We decided to use the funny and serious footage, as we wanted to show how much fun we had recording the interviews.

Graphic Matches

Graphic matches are two similar shots that are placed next to each other. The graphic matches provide a smooth visual transfer from one frame to the next. They also increase the continuity of the film, and create a  flowing transition between scenes.

Examples of Graphic Matches.

Thriller Montage

This is my montage, showing some of the things I would like to include in my thriller. These include a scary, ominous character, and silhouette figures and dark and deserted locations.

Preliminary Exercise.

The above video was our preliminary exercise. We created a storyboard and then had roughly 40 minutes to film the shots we wanted.We decided to use a variety of shots, including a long shot, extreme close-up, and a pan shot. The also wanted to make the editing appear seamless, so we filmed everything several times.
I feel as though the piece turned out well; the film flowed well, and the shots we used worked well. However, there were a few errors.The first of which is the sound. Some of the dialogue is cut from the piece, and you can here the cameraman shouting go at one point. This was because we could not hear the sound when we were editing at the computer was being slightly temperamental. Moreover, one of the actors looks into the camera.We have realized our mistakes, and we take them into consideration when we next film.

Target Audience

The target audience of a thriller movie is not always the same; the target audience depends on the sub-genre of the film, and the topics it covers.
Films such as 'No Country For Old Men', which was rated R, have a target audience of young males. The action and violence contained within films like these appeals to the male viewers. Moreover, the viewers are generally young as they enjoy the fast-paced nature of the films.
Thrillers that can also be classified as horror films appeal to females more than males. This is because horror films target young women, therefore, thrillers that are also horrors would share some of the same conventions as the horror films.
Political thrillers, such as 'The Manchurian Candidate' and crime thrillers such as 'Se7en' are intended for the older generation - these films are slightly slower in pace, and require more logic to understand.

Our thriller would be quite psychological, and would therefore be aimed at young women. With this in mind, we would cast a female as our main character - this would make it easier for the audience to relate to the character.

Drag Me To Hell, 2009

'Drag Me To Hell' is an American horror that can also be classified as a thriller. The film was directed by Sam Raimi, and depicts the tale of Christine Brown as she fights to stop herself being dragged to hell. After rejected the desired extension of local gypsy Mrs Ganush's loan, the old lady begs for Christine to help her and grant the extension. Christine, who is seeking a promotion, decides to be strict and says no to Mrs Ganush's pleas. Ganush is humilated, and begins to get angry. She rips a button off of Christine's jacket, and hands it back to her after performing a curse.
Christine sees a psychic, who tells her she is cursed and has three day to live. At the end of the three days, the Lamia will drag her to hell. After a failed seance, Christine learns that she must pass the accused button onto someone else. She tries to find a suitable recipient, but fails. The psychic tells her that she can in fact give the button to Ganush, who had recently passed away.
Christine drives to the cemetery, and digs up Ganush's body. She formally gives the button to the body as a gift, and leaves feeling accomplished. The next day, Christine heads to the train station to meet her boyfriend, Clay, who was intending to propose to her. Clay reveals that he found an envelope in his car, containing a button. Christine realises that she gave Mrs Ganush the coin she had bought for Clay. Both items were in white envelopes, and were mixed up during a minor road accident the day before. Christine is horrified, and falls onto the train tracks. Before the oncoming train hits her, she is dragged to hell.

The film creates vast amounts of suspense, and leaves the audience guessing on numerous occasions. The conventions used in 'Drag Me To Hell' are very effective, and inspiration is gained by watching this film.

Our Thriller - Rough Plot

As a group, we have decided on rough plot for our thriller.
Characters:

• Stalker: The stalker will look menacing, and will come across as mentally unstable. They are highly obsessed with the Central Character although he hasn't contacted her yet. He keeps many images of her by monitoring her social networking sites. His obsession isn't sexual; he has no sexual desire. 

• Central Character: The central character will be a ordinary person. They will look normal and act in a normal way. They will be slightly smaller than most people, thus making them more vulnerable than others. They will know the identity of the Stalker, but will not know that they are stalking them. For example, the Stalker would go to the same school as the Central Character, but they would never talk.
• Friend 1: This character will be in the background for most shots, along with Friend 2. They are side characters and are not vital.
• Friend 2: This character is the same as Friend 1.

The plot will include the Central Character and the two friends going into the woods for a night of camping. After updating her status, the Stalker knows about the Central Characters trip to the woods, and sets out to follow them.

The Central Character will then take a phone call, and walks away from their campsite. When she returns, she finds that her friends are gone, and that she is left alone. She then decides to try and find them, and heads back the way she came. She discovers that she is being followed, and is almost caught by the stalker. Our filming will end here.

The rest of the movie, if we were to make it, would consist of the Central Character trying to find her friends, and trying to work out what happened on the night she was nearly attacked. 

Auteur

Auteur refers to the author or creator of the idea that some film directors impose a personal vision on their film. It is argued that Hitchcock stamped a number of creative features on his films, including:

• very high angled shots.
• exaggerated P.O.V.
• creative use of sound (non-diegetic music).
• exaggerated lighting effects.
• precise editing.
• characters who are trapped or imprisoned.
• misleading relationships.
• cameo appearances of Hitchcock himself.

Voyeur - watching something we're not meant to be watching. Also known as voyeuristic viewing.

Steven Speilberg is another auteur. His trademark techniques included ordinary people confronted by extraordinary situations. This was in films such as:

• Jaws.
• E.T.
• Schindler's List.
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Analysis of Past Student's Work

Today in class, we were shown three thriller openings from the previous years AS Level students. We were asked to critique them, and discuss what we liked, disliked, and what grade we would award the thriller with. Furthermore, we were also asked to give the thriller and mark out of ten for the following categories:

• Idea
• Cinematography
• Sound/Music
• Performance

This thriller was my favourite from the three shown. I enjoyed the build up of tension, and the various shots used. I thought that the storyline was not predictable, and was kept on the edge of my seat during the action scene.Idea: 8/10Cinematography: 9/10Sound/Music: 8/10Performance: 8/10

I thought this thriller was slightly lack-lustre in comparison with the first. I thought the storyline was slightly confusing, as I wasn't sure who the girl was in relation to the flashbacks.Idea: 7/10Cinematography: 7/10Sound/Music: 8/10Performance: 6/10


This was my least favourite of the three thriller shown. I disliked the use of only one piece of music, as it made the piece seem repetitive. Moreover, I didn't like the use of the old-fashioned black and white, as it looked rather cliché.Idea: 7/10Cinematography: 6/10Sound/Music: 5/10Performance: 7/10
Overall, I think each thriller isn't perfect, and I feel as though I can take inspiration from all three pieces, and hopefully produce a thriller of a high standard.

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller

Lighting

• Low level lighting
• Shadows/limited view of a character
• Often at night/dark/eerie
• Dim colours - red is also used

Setting

• Isolated/deserted/exotic - desert, ranch, old warehouse.
• Confined locations - lift, phone booth, cellar, train. (Generic feature of a thriller is entrapment, thus claustrophobic spaces are key.)

Editing

• Quick cuts/fast pace - enhances anxiety and confusion.
• Jump cuts - shows erratic tension.
• Match cuts - links two ideas.

Cinematography

• Camera angles low/high - plays with and highlights the roles of authority/power within the film.
• Point of view shot - demonstrates what the character sees.
• Establishing shot - setting the scene.
• Close ups - highlight sense of anxiety and tension. Emotions are clearly seen.
• Frantic camera movements - portrays tense environment.

Non-diegetic sound

• High pitched music - heightens suspense.
• Ambience music - helps to create the correct atmosphere.
• Fast pace music - essential for action scenes.

Diegetic sound

• Creaky doors/wind/tap running/footsteps - sounds that alert the audience that something is about to happen.
• Silence - thought provoking.
• Heavy breathing
• Whispering

Characters

• Criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims, dark pasts, psychotic people, terrorists, private eyes, drifters.
• Ambiguous roles - are they good/bad?

No Country For Old Men, 2007

No Country For Old Men is an American crime thriller, set in West Texas during the 1980s. Due to the setting, the film can also be classified under the sub-genre of 'Western'.
The film itself is based around the characters Llewelyn Moss and Anton Chigurh. After breaking off his end of the deal, and killing anyone else involved, Chigurh accidently misplaces the money he sought. Moss then finds the money after seeing the scene of Chigurh's crime.
Then begins the 'cat and mouse' style chase, resulting in a heavy load of violence and large amounts of blood.

The film is different to many other thrillers and the villain in the main character; the villain is central to the plot. Moreover, the villain prevails, rather than the 'good guy'. This makes the film unique and more interesting than other thrillers.
My favourite scene from the movie is the scene in which Chigurh visits Moss' wife. The scene is extremely tense and we are unsure whether Moss' wife dies or not; the director only hints at it.

Filming Certificates

Across the world, films are certified so that they are suitable for their audience. For example, a violent horror film is not appropriate for a small child, thus gaining a higher certificate, such as  certificate 18. The British Board of Film Classification regulate the certificates for films shown in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1912, the board aim to make the films age appropriate, whilst still allowing the target audience to span a wide range of people.
Some production companies have been known to alter or cut scenes so that their film can be awarded a lower certificate. One example of this is the film 'Mean Girls' in which a sex scene was scrapped, as it alone would have increased the certificate from 12A to 15.

The Strangers, 2008

'The Strangers' is a horror/thriller film that depicts the struggle Kristen McKay and James Hoyt go through to survive, after being stalked by three masked villains.
The film uses a wide range of thriller conventions, including hidden identities, chiaroscuro and the build up of tension. This creates a large sense of mystery throughtout the film, and leads us unsure of who the antagonists are, and why they are after the protagonists.The idea of masks would be interesting to implement into our thriller, as we are covering stalking too.
Also, as we do not find out who the antagonists are, there is a strong possibility of a sequel. The use of unanswered questions could be put into our thriller opening, as it would entice the viewer to watch the rest of the film.

Sound Within Film

There are two main types of sound within film, diegetic and non-diegetic.
Diegetic sound is sound from within the world of the text. For example, the dialogue between two characters would be classed as diegetic sound.
Diegetic sound can then be broken down into on-screen and off-screen sound; these are rather self-explanatory. On-screen sound is sound that we can see being made, such as the protagonist of a film walking; we can hear the footsteps, and also see the character making them. Off-screen sound is when the sound is being made from somewhere other than the place we can see. The sound, however, is still being made from the world of the text. An example of this is the sound of wildlife.
Non-diegetic sound is the sound that is not from the world of the text, for example narration or background music.
The terms diegetic and non-digetic are not limited to sound; they can be applied to many elements of filmography.

"The Manchurian Candidate", 2004

During lessons, we watched a portion of "Manchurian Candidate", 1962 and the entire 2004 version. We did this to gain greater knowledge of the thriller genre, and to witness the difference between an original film and it's remake.
We began by watching the 1962 version. The film was rather ambiguous, but I managed to grasp the plotline. After watching around 30 minutes of the original, we moved onto the remake.
Instantly, the film differed. The opening scenes were changed, and the 'brain-washing' section of the film wasn't disclosed until later on in the film. In addition, some elements of the original were modernized.
The battle was moved from China to Iraq, and the war was changed from the Korean War to the Gulf War. In addition, the effects provided changed, though mainly due to the difference in the order of events. The original film showed the events in a chronological order; we knew the problem from the beginning and we were following our protagonist who was trying to solve the mystery. In the remake, however, we followed the protagonist's journey of trying to establish want happened; we were kept in the unknown as much as the character. In a sense, this allowed us to become more attached with the central characters.
Although the film can generally be categorised as a thriller, it can also be placed into various sub-genres. These include: paranoid thriller, political thriller, and Greek tragedy. The Greek tragedy genres links back to the Oedipus complex within the film. The Oedipus complex is is a group of largely unconscious (dynamically repressed) ideas and feelings which concentrate on the desire to possess the parent of the opposite sex and eliminate the parent of the same sex. The psychoanalytic theory is named after the Greek myth of Oedipus who, unknowingly, kills his father and marries his mother.
One reason why the film is classed as a thriller is the dramatics. The director wanted to exaggerate the film, meaning that everything would be sadder, darker and stranger than real life.
Moreover, Tak Fujimoto, the remake's cinematographer, changed the death of Senator Jordan. Fujimoto, and the rest of the crew, had Senator Jordan drown instead of being shot. The crews reasoning for the change was to show the drowning of the main characters through the death of the Senator. In addition, the environment was also symbolic; the fog represented the lack of clarity with the characters.

Key Elements of a Thriller

After watching North By Northwest, I feel as though I am able to recite the main elements of a thriller.
The first of these is a MacGuffin. A MacGuffin is a device used to allow the story to progress. The MacGuffin, however, is normally an item that is irrelevant, with regards to the plot. Moreover, the MacGuffin is usually something that is sought after, especially during the opening few scenes of the film. The importance of the MacGuffin withers as the movie progresses, with the characters coming to the forefront.
In North By Northwest, the MacGuffin is the microfilm that is stashed away inside an antique. The microfilm, while ambiguous as to its definition, is Vandamm's reason for success and money. While the characters fight it out to gain hold of the microfilm, the story behind the scene becomes lost within the action and chaos.

A second element is the red herring; a red herring is a device which distracts the viewer, subsequently knocking them off of their train of thought. The red herring is practically a decoy, which fools us into believing what we have seen. The truth is then revealing later in the film. In North By Northwest, the Red Herring is the scene in which Eve Kendall shoots Roger Thornhill with a pistol. We believe that Miss Kendall has actually shot our protagonist, however, we soon find out our focal character was not shot. This device is useful, and helps maintain the viewers interest and attention.

A fundamental part of a thriller is suspense. Without it, thrillers would be highly ineffective. Suspense enables the viewer to experience a wide range of emotions and be involved in the film. Suspense runs hand in hand with tension, and Hitchcock was a master of creating both. Tense scenes within North By Northwest include the Auction scene, and the famous Crop Duster scene.

A further element is the villain. The villain plays a main role in creating the plot; the villainous character generally is attempting to gain some sort of power or money. They create a problem, and pose a threat to either society as a whole, or to a handful of people. A hero is then found, and they try to halt the plans of the villain. On the whole, without a villain, there would be no plot. The villain could be either a person, a corporation, or even some alien race. The villain can be pretty much anything. In North By Northwest, the devious character creating problems is Phillip Vandamm, who originally poses as Lester Townsend. The villain is generally mysterious and enigmatic; Vandamm's mistaken identity corroborates with my previous point.

North by Northwest - Crop Duster Scene

The above scene is extremely famous. It's highly regarded for its use of tension and suspense, and is viewed as the best sequence in the film.

The scene begins with a high angled, extreme wide shot. This sets the scene, and tells the viewer where the action is taking place; we are at a barren crossroads, miles away from civilization, where only buses and a few cars pass. Instantly, we can sense something is not correct. Why would our protagonist meet someone at such a strange and odd place? We, as the viewer, become suspicious.
We see who we believe to be Thornhill leave the bus. As the shot is from a large distance, the opening is ambiguous and polysemous.

A change in shot confirms our thoughts, and we see Thornhill standing anxiously, waiting for the arrival of George Kaplan. A movie can also be known as Film Photography, thus I find it relevant to comment on the photographical aspect of the sequence. The new camera shot, which has a slightly low vantage point, obeys the rule of thirds; Thornhill is situated roughly a third into the image. This means that the image provided is interesting - our attention is captured, and we are becoming fixated on the events.

The camera cuts away to a few very wide shots, almost Thornhill's point of view. These emphasize of Thornhill's loneliness, making the viewer slightly tense.

A car is then heard, and we begin to suspect that something will happen. Has Miss Kendall betrayed Thornhill? Is whoever is in this car dangerous, and do they pose a threat to our central character? The car whizzes past, making the audience breathe a sigh of relief. We then return to the wide angle shots, showing the deserted distance.

Our relief is short lived, as we see another car coming towards Thornhill. The questions run through our minds, and we once again become scared for our innocent hero. The car continues past Thornhill, and although our fears are alleviated, we become curious as to who the mysterious George Kaplan is, and if he is actually going to meet Thornhill.

After a large truck zooms past, Thornhill spots a car appear out from behind the tall crops. Instantly, we think that Townsend, who is later revealed as Vandamm, has set his minions the task of assassinating Thornhill. We urge Thornhill to move, run away, or do something. Instead, he remains stationary, which we believe is a mistake. A man then gets out from the car, and the car reverses off. The unknown man stops, and looks round, spotting Thornhill. Has the predator found his prey?

Thornhill then walks over to the man. To us viewers, it seems as though he is walking to his death. We're hoping that this man turns out to be a passer-by and not a murderer. We begin to doubt our original thoughts, and become suspicious and paranoid.
The man is revealed to be a normal guy, who is waiting for his bus. Before he departs, he states that the crop duster plane is flying over an area without any crops. We think nothing of this at the time, and we watch as the bus begins to travel away.

Immediately the plane heads towards Thornhill, flying very low. We think back to what the man said, and realise that this plane is out to kill the central character. The plane misses, and keeps returning, firing bullets near Thornhill, but thankfully missing. We're both shocked and anxious; we don't want to see our hero dead.

Thornhill runs into the crops, where he cannot be seen. Thinking he is safe, we relax. But Thornhill is forced out of the crops by the fertiliser dropped by the plane.

Spotting an oncoming truck, Thornhill runs and stops in it's path. The truck barely stops in time, knocking our hero to his feet. We then get a glimpse of the plane swerving through the air, out of control. We wonder if the plane will hit the front of the truck, where Thornhill is, or the back. It does the latter.

A large explosion fills the screen, and the drivers are seen leaving the vehicle. Thornhill follows, and we see a few small trucks arrive and come to a halt. With the new arrivals distracted, Thornhill jumps into a truck and speeds away.

The viewer feels pleased that Thornhill is safe, yet more confused as Kaplan becomes even more enigmatic.

North by Northwest - An Overview

North By Northwest is a film directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock. Produced in 1959, the motion picture starred man-of-the-moment Cary Grant, and the attractive Eva Marie Saint. Writer of the film, Ernest Lehman wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures".

The plot consists of Madison Avenue Advertising Executive, Roger Thornhill being taken to a large mansion by two minions of a powerful villain. Soon after Thornhill arrives at the large mansion, we find out that he has been mistaken for a Mr. George Kaplan. Confused, Thornhill decides against co-operating with the villain, who he identifies as Lester Townsend, and is consequently made dangerously drunk. He is then placed in a moving car by Townsend's minions; Thornhill suddenly comes around, and manages to drive the car to safety. However, this safety came at a price, and Thornhill was charged by the police for drink driving. Thornhill proclaims his innocence and tells the police, judge, and mother what happened. But no one believed him, especially after a woman at Townsend's mansion creates an elaborate story, in which Thornhill became drunk, and then left the residency.

Thornhill's confusion spurs him on to establish the truth. He and his mother head to Kaplan's hotel room, and discover that no one has seen the ambiguous Mr. Kaplan. Thornhill exits the hotel, after outwitting the minions that are lurking around, waiting to capture him. Thornhill heads to the United Nations building, to confront Mr. Townsend. On arrival, Thornhill notices that Mr. Townsend is not the same person as before. Whilst explaining the situation to Townsend, Thornhill spots a villainous henchman. The henchman then launches a knife into the back of Townsend, killing him, and leaving Thornhill as the prime suspect.

Thornhill flees and ends up hiding on a long-distance train journey. On the journey, he meets the lovely Miss Eve Kendall. She woos him, and helps him stay hidden. They share a night together, and are seemingly loved up. However, we see our uber villain receive a note from Eve Kendall, indicating that she is in on this scandalous affair. After safely negotiating his way out of trouble, Kendall provides Thornhill with specific instructions on meeting Kaplan. Following these instructions, Thornhill ends up at an empty crossroad.

Suddenly, a small plane flies close to our protagonist, firing bullets. Panicking, Thornhill hides in the tall crops. He remains there until pesticides are dropped, forcing him out. Thornhill acts desperately, and motions for a large truck to stop, which it barely does. The pilot of the small plane loses control and flies into one of the tanks of the truck, which explodes. Thornhill, who remains unhurt, then flees using a stopped passer-by's car.

Arriving at Kaplan's supposed hotel, Thornhill spots Kendall and follows her to her room. Whilst in there, Kendall receives a call and notes an address. She then sneaks out whilst Thornhill is pretending to shower. Thornhill then uses a pencil technique to find the address. Knowing the address, Thornhill sets off to find Miss Kendall.

He arrives at the address, which is an auction house, in which he finds Miss Kendall, our villain's minions, and the villain himself. It now becomes apparent that Kendall works for the villain. From the bidding, we, and Thornhill discover the villain's name - Mr Vandamm. Thornhill tries to leave, but is blocked out by Vandamm's men. He then draws attention to himself, being a nuisance in the auctions, and is taken away by police. Whilst travelling to the police station, the driver gets a call, and they travel to the airport instead.

At the airport, Thornhill meets a older man, known as the Professor. The Professor tells Thornhill that George Kaplan doesn't exist, and that he has been trailing Vandamm for a while now. He also tells Thornhill that Kendall is an undercover agent, who is now at risk.

The film skips to Mount Rushmore, where Kendall walks into the large cafeteria, accompanied by Vandamm and his most loyal slave. Thornhill asks to see Vandamm, and he tells him that he knows where he is heading, and will turn a blind-eye, providing he takes Miss Kendall. The conversation breaks down, and Thornill approaches Kendall, who shoots him and flees. Thornhill is then driven away.

We then see the car stop in the woods, and Thornhill gets out of the car. He walks over, and sees Miss Kendall. They both apologise for earlier actions. The bombshell is then dropped that Kendall is travelling with Vandamm later that evening, never seeing Thornhill again. The pair are then separated.

Thornhill is then placed in a hospital, and escapes. He uses a taxi to get to Vandamm's appartment, and listens in on Vandamm and his minion's conversation. The conversation consisted on the minion discovering the gun used to shoot Thornhill - the gun was full of blanks. Vandamm realises that Kendall is working against him, and says that he will dispose of her in the air. Hearing this, Thornhill sets about telling Kendall.

Kendall is told of Vandamm's plan, yet is dragged to the entrance of the plane. She escapes and runs away with Thornhill. The pair then travel as fast as they can, until they reach Mount Rushmore. They begin to scale down it, followed by two of Vandamm's men. One man falls off, and Kendall slips. Thornhill tries to reach her, and slips himself. They are both dangling hundreds of feet in the air, and only Thornhill's hand is keeping them alive. The second of Vandamm's henchmen reach the duo, and proceeds in stepping on Thornhill's hand. A gun shot is heard, and the henchman falls out of sight.

The duo are next seen together on a train, kissing passionately.

From the plot, we can see that North By Northwest is a highly exciting, fast-paced movie, with many twists and turns in the storyline. Hitchcock leaves us second-guessing and reassessing our beliefs as to who is who, and what is what. We are led down many paths, and then redirected into another rollercoaster ride of action and drama.

My next blog post will be detailing how Hitchcock provides the viewer with thrills during some of the most exciting scenes of the film.

What is a Thriller?

As my project is based around the genre of thriller, it seems logical to define it.
The term thriller is rather broad, and can feature in literature, film and television. Moreover, the thriller genre generally overlaps other genres, creating sub-genres. This is one of the appeals on thrillers - no two are the same, due to the endless possibilities with plots and storylines.
The common denominators in thrillers include the fast-paced action, and the resourceful heroes, who strive towards thwarting the uber powerful, superbly equipped villain.
Extensive use of suspense, red-herrings and cliffhangers add to the attraction of the genre. The plot usually contains a villain, who musters up obstacles which the hero must overcome. The flexible genre engages the audience through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions.
The great thriller director Alfred Hitchcock once said that thrillers allow the audience "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it is like."

Welcome To My Blog.

Hello, and welcome to my blog. As part of my Media Studies coursework, we have to create a blog, and regularly update it with information regarding our project. The project is to create a short trailer for a movie. The genre for the movie is thriller.
Over the next few weeks and months, I hope to document various media, and brainstorm many ideas that will help me create an amazing piece of work.