The first intertextual reference is to 'Fargo', due to the snow shown throughout, this could link to the plot of 'Fargo' where a man hires somebody to kidnap his wife, only to have the situation spiral out of control. This links well with our thriller because the main character of Peter captures Tiffany for unknown reasons only to start regretting his actions. Another link between these two films is the hired men that kidnap the wife in Fargo, and the Man in our thriller who is scene later to be dragging Tiffany's body through the snow.
Another intertextual reference is between 'The Third Man' and our own thriller 'The Red Snow'. I utilised the same font in both to strengthen the idea that the death at the centre of both films may not be all that it seems. This will be an effective link because it will make the audience think twice about Tiffany's death. Another link between the two is the large black coat worn by Harry Lime and Peter from our thriller. This was in order to strengthen the enigma around our character because we rarely see Harry Lime's face or Peter's.
Another film that we can link our Thriller to is 'Animal Kingdom' this is because both main male characters sit in a bathroom thinking about a close female friend they have lost. This link could show that it is not directly Peter's fault that Tiffany is 'dead' but the death could still be linked back to him and that Tiffany's murderer could also be after Peter. Another intertextual reference is to 'Fight Club', this is because our character could be fighting personal demons which cause him to create a second persona. This is intertextually linked through the flashing between two characters, one pulling a body through the snow and the other trying to remember what happened to Tiffany. This could link in a way back to Fargo because the main character is not in control of the two men he hired but it was his own greed that caused them to become part of his life.
Intertextuality is when something alludes to or references something else of the similar ilk, this is in order for the thriller genre to be developed. Quentin Tarantino uses intertextuality in many of his films in order to strengthen the genre and in order to create and build suspense much more effectively. 3 films which all link together quite well are 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', 'Kill Bill vol. 2' and 'Buried'. Each of these films use the scene of being buried alive in a coffin as a way of creating suspense and vulnerability. In 'Kill Bill' we have several intertextual references that link it with 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly', whereas in 'Buried' there are very few intertextual references apart from the idea that somebody is trapped underground in a coffin with nothing but a torch and a few other handy items.
The first intertextual reference is the soundtrack. When the bride in 'Kill Bill' is shot in the chest, the soundtrack from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' plays, this gives the audience the idea that Budd (the character that shot the bride) is about to do something that will link to the graveyard scene in 'The good the Bad and the Ugly.' The next scene shows Budd burying the bride alive in a coffin, this links to the graveyard scene in 'The good, the Bad and the Ugly' again because the locations have been linked. The charters in both these films are also have intertextual links towards each other. Blondie (the Good) Sentenza (the Bad) and Tuco (the Ugly) all link to the characters in 'Kill Bill' this is because the Bride, who is called blondie by Bill is the good character. Bill is the bad because he causes other peoples misfortunes and Budd is the Ugly because he is doing the manual labour and work for the more dominant characters. This links well with the Bride's intensions, in 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' the Good kills the Bad, which could link to the end of the film where the Bride kills Bill.
The Buried alive scene in Kill Bill links to the buried scene in the film Buried because they both start off in complete darkness but then manage to use a torch to start to find their way out. This is an effective intertextual reference because it makes you believe that the character in 'Buried' is going to escape in the same way that the Bride manages to escape. The claustrophobic space utilised in both films creates the idea that there is no hope for escape, but with the Bride we know that she needs to get out in order to 'have her stand off with the bad'. Their is no real reference to whether the character Paul Conroy in 'Buried' will escape or not apart from the fact that the Bride escaped the same situation.
Whilst researching for our thriller we were shown shots from once upon a time in america, these shots have become very useful because they show the characters brute like exterior and create links behind the characters true personality and there intentions. One shot that we decided to use in our own thriller was the amazing worm's eye view shot. A worm's eye view allows the audience to see from a characters vulnerable perception and allows the audience to become placed within the situation. Within this shot we notice a lot about the character standing above. He is obviously very dominant due to his large influence among the shot and the fixed look of anger upon his face. We do however see that he is helping the character that we are seeing the shot from the point of, we know this because the character has extended his arm across the shot, almost creating a shield across the worm eyes body. We also know this because the characters trilby hat, (which is a generic convention to most thrillers because it shows social status whilst creating danger and reassuring the idea of power and potential enigmas) is tilted away from the character showing his face plainly, in many ways this is his non verbal way of telling the man on the floor that he has arrived and that he will be okay.
The final reason that this worms eye view is such an effective shot is because the shot is reversed, this could create the idea that the man is feeling faint and is not truly with the scene, or the alternative view that this character is on the opposite side to the other men and therefore he is a stronger character.
Throughout the film close ups and tilts are used in order to reinforce enigmas and to add mystery into the scene. In this shot a close up is used in order for the horrible situation to feel realistic and for the violence to become truly represented. This style of close up would be efficient in our own thriller opening because it would allow the audience to truly understand the murder. For example, when our character is lying dead in the snow, a close up shot of her blood covered face would allow the audience to pity her at the same time as understanding how she died. This could allow her death to be linked to an item later on in the thriller, for example, if she had bullet wounds then a close up of a gun or an empty box of ammunition would link the item with the murder to show the audience who committed the crime.
Jackie Brown is the first thriller to be directed by Quentin Tarantino after his first independent Thriller 'Reservoir Dogs' gained large publicity. The film centres around a middle aged black air hostess, who helps the police to take down an arms dealer, Tarantino does this in order to develop the thriller genre. Throughout the film racial and sexist stereotypes are portrayed in several different lights depending on the character. In many ways the character of Jackie Brown confirms racial stereotypes whilst contradicting typical thriller conventions. Race and Gender are linked throughout 'Jackie Brown' because the main character is a female african american therefore is an easily discriminated character.
The opening shot is a tracking shot which shows Jackie Brown from waste up as she walks through an airport, this is longest tracking shot in film history and it lasts a full 3 minutes. We instantly notice that she is agitated, this shows us that she is worried about being late somewhere, this tense body language shows instantly that she is used to being a victim of discrimination. The soundtrack is called "Across 110th Street" and the lyrics reference to life on the streets in america, it mentions pimps and drug dealers which links back to the fact that Jackie Brown gets herself into trouble with an Arms Dealer. She gets caught smuggling drugs through the airport which confirms the deviant stereotypes already held against african american women. When watching the character of Jackie Brown we notice that she is walking much faster than everybody else, this links to the idea that she has to follow different rules than everybody else due to her ethnicity and gender. The shot then changes to a low angle tracking shot, this makes her seem more dominant within the shot, which could be because she has been toughened by a harsh life or because she is more visible to the public as a threat. In the shot above we also see that she is the only character within the shot to be in focus, this could link to her significants or the earlier idea that she is being watched because the public believe her to be a threat.
the above clip shows the shooting of 'Beaumont Livingston', within Jackie Brown. It begins with an establishing shot in which both the characters are having a conversation they then enter Ordell's car. Ordell is the lethal arms dealer that Jackie Brown later gets involved with. We see instantly that Ordell is used to being in control of situations and getting his own way, we see from the body language of both men that Ordell is very demanding whereas Beaumont is very limp like a puppet, this links to his willingness to do what Ordell tells him. During their conversation the two charters use very racist language, this is done so that they both fit into their racial stereotype that people would put them into.
The next important shot we see is Tarantino's classic boot shot. This shot is used in all of Tarantino's films and creates vulnerability of the character whilst also confirming the dominance of the person standing above the camera. Within this scene Ordell Trick's Beaumont into climbing inside the boot of his car. He then slowly walks back to his car and starts to put his gloves on. This is very sadistic behaviour and links Ordell to Bill in Tarantino's later film Kill Bill, this is because both characters put a lot of detail into their actions in order to perfect the deviant actions that they commit. Another Link between the two characters is the flashy jewellery that they both wear, this is too symbolise the characters arrogance and create the idea that they come from working backgrounds and are badly attempting to look rich. The close up shots of the gloves being put on connotes crime and automatically makes the audience think that Ordell is about to do something where he doesn't want his hands to get dirty, for example, the murder of Beaumont.
The next scene shows Ordell taking Beaumont out into a large desolate field. Tarantino uses a long shot in order for the audience to see the whole location and to understand how alone Beaumont is in his situation. The shot is extremely dark creating an enigma of not truly knowing what is happening, this helps to create suspense within the scene. This scene introduces us to Ordell's sadistic personality, his actions show that he is quite psychopathic, this once again links too the character of Bill. This is because both characters have very long calm conversations with their victims before suddenly shooting them without any real signs of remorse.
The final clip takes place in a mall car park and contrasts completely with the murder of Beaumont. Louis, who is Ordell's long time friend, takes Melanie, a female character who lives with Ordell, to a mall in order to collect a lot of money from Jackie Brown, Louis is very agitated and has obviously taken some form of drug before the trade off. Melanie is very careless about being desecrate with the trade, which leads louis to become extremely angry and shoot her in the middle of a car park. These actions contrast well with the Ordell's discrete murder because where Ordell murders at night in an empty location, Louis just shoots without preparation and in the open with witnesses much more likely. The tension however was build more with louis' murder than Ordell's because there was much less warning before the murder, the actions are so erratic that louis seems to be the single most dangerous character in the film, that is until Ordell shoots him in a later scene.
TITLES: After much consideration I decided that my title would need to involve the word snow, for example DEEP SNOW, THE SNOW. I finally decided that RED SNOW not only sounded the best but linked the must to the deviant actions which take place in the snow. The word red symbolising the blood, and contrasting with the white snow to create the imagery of blood splattered across the snow. This is effective because it links to the idea that the murder of Tiffany Wise was hard to cover up, much like trying to remove blood from the pure white snow. The Titles [directed by, starring and produced by] then needed too be placed throughout the Thriller opening. I decided in the end too place all of the titles on top of the snow shots. This is in order for the detailed shots in the bathroom to be uninterrupted and also so that the black writing can contrast with the snow, making the titles easier to see.
FONTS: The font was surprisingly the most time consuming part of my entire edit, this mainly down to the limited selection of fonts. At first I decided that I would utilise the Quentin Tarantino style for titles, where a large font covers the majority of the screen in his classic yellow.
after getting as close to this font as possible I decided to make the font Red to link back to the title and the idea that somebody has been murdered. When I had finished I was left with a Title which looked like this: This title sadly
did not work for me because it seemed too flashy, it lacked subtlety and even when shrunk the font would still make the title curt across the shot in a way which just seemed too tacky. I would have too rethink my font if I wanted an effective title sequence. For inspiration I decided to research even more thriller titles.
After looking into Animal Kingdom, once upon a Time in america and Memento I finally realised that the best titles are the originals. The Third Man stood out instantly as a strong yet discrete title, the title was stacked word by word on top of each other creating a compact and effective image. It was almost as if the title was dependant on each layer to hold it up, this gave the idea that everything was in the balance and about too collapse. I then decided that my title needed to have a reasonable order too it, as well as my font needing to be more precise. I added the following font to all of my titles.
This new font was simple but not too formal like times new roman, it worked due to its simplicity, I needed the title too be spread out in one line because I would place it along the bottom of a shot where preserving detail is important. I kept the size small and made sure that the black would always contrast with the whitest parts of snow. Now that I had my font prepared I wanted to create the ordered tower effect shown in the third man. In the end I managed to fit the following title in effectively, the resized titles did not take as much space as the previous clumsy red titles, so I managed to fit them into places which previously a title would not have worked. I stuck this final layered title in a shot where a hand is scene to be picking up a bracelet. This shot later links to the idea of perfecting a crime, which is why the many layers help to show the preparation that goes into carrying out a murder.
Shameless presents a range of working class stereotypes, it portrays them as being morally corrupt and deviant, whilst also contrasting this image with middle class values such as caring for children. Frank is the character who creates the most stereotypes, in one shot we see him drinking and smoking in a pub whilst looking after his two babies, This scene adds levels of comedy to the scene because, whilst talking about his views on parenting there is the diegetic sound of his babies crying in the background. This shows that Frank is an awful parent and that he lacks the skills needed to look after children, it also confirms the stereotype that the people of the working class are bad parents.
The clip shows sequences, which are unrelated, this portrays the characters lives as being very problematic, for example it cuts from crime to parenting to crime, almost as if stating that there is no real difference. This also enables the audience to witness all the different characters storylines and see how their lives link whilst at the same time showing the classic stereotypes of working class behavior. The first shot in this clip is of a couple sitting down on their sofa, they are both lying very far down on the sofa and you instantly think that they are worn out from working. This is a mid shot which slightly zooms as the scene goes on enabling the audience to get to know the characters, this zoom takes so long that it is almost like we are slowly focusing on the characters true problems.
There is then a point of view shot, this shot comes straight out of the television and shows once again the lower pleasures, which are enjoyed by the working class. It also give the impression that the working class have big families, the family is spread out over the floor and the edges of sofas etc. This shows that the people in the working class don’t have enough money to tend to the needs of all. There is then an over shoulder shot of two women having a conversation if a different room, the shot is mainly focusing on their expressions throughout as they talking about the difficulty of parenting, there is then a close up shot of vodka, this continues to show the stereotype that the working class need alcohol in their lives, and the idea that they are all alcoholics.
The final scene within the clip shows a police man who is on speaking terms with one of the families asking whether or not the husband/father has stolen a car. This shows us instantly that this character is a thief because the policeman has obviously caught him committing a crime or knows that he has been deviant in the past. The idea that the policeman is helping the man out gives us the idea that he was once working class and that he is still a member of their community in many ways. When the man is asked whether or not he did steal the car, all he does is shrug and drink a beer, this instantly shows us that he did commit the crime but knows that he should not say anything which may effect him in court. The next shot is a close up shot of the man and his wife standing in a dark garage looking in towards the camera, the characters look worried and after the husband/father swears the camera then shows a large empty warehouse, this tells the audience that the characters have lost the car which they had previously stolen.
Several types of lighting are used in this clip, for example chiascuro lighting is shown to connote mystery, as there is a character on the wrong side of the law. There is not much true representation in Shameless because it zooms in on the small amount of people within society who actually fit the majority of stereotypes for the working class.
The Third Man is by far the most influential thriller of all time. The entire film has influenced generations of directors, the conventions used throughout really set 'The Third Man' out from the crowd. Within the opening credits of the third man the title sequence is played over "The Harry Lime Theme, the music is tune is very jumpy and played on a string instrument, this instantly links to the idea that the character is pulling strings in order to get what he wants and also the idea that he strings people along so that they believe what he wants them to believe. The shot never moves from the strings of the instrument, this instantly creates the enigma of who is playing the instrument, presumably, Harry Lime is pulling the strings. The film is set in post war Vienna, this is an interesting aspect to the thriller because it links the deviance of the war with the people who now lived in a ruined world. In the photo on the right you can see that the ice has cracked, showing the splintered society that remained. Another signifier to the war is the boat and corpse that float in the water. The idea that they are both left floating among the metaphorical broken city is very effective on the audience because it shows that the director was trying to show that society had been hardened by the war and consequently the city had lost some of its humanity.
The final generic convention used is the smoke and fog covering the background. The idea that the city is becoming more industrialised links to the idea that Vienna was a place where the war could be put in the past and people could easily slip through the radar due to everybody escaping their pasts.
The iconic costumes do not change with "The Third Man", we see generic conventions such as trilby hats and overcoats. The trilby hat is also utilised in 'Once upon a time in America' as well as many other thrillers, this is due to the fact that it effectively shadows the face and gives off the impression of power and wealth. In 'Essex Boys' we see the deviant character dressed in flashy clothes which clearly state his arrogance. But in 'The Third Man' we see the characters as being sly and sophisticated whilst still upholding the deviant atmosphere they deserve. Harry Lime, who is the enigma for the majority of the film is seen donned in a trilby hat at his first appearance. we instantly link this to his deviant intensions. In this shot we see that harry is hiding in shadows, this gives the idea that Harry either doesn't want to be seen or that he shouldn't be seen. He also casts a heavy shadow up against the wall, this hints at the possibility of him having a second personality.
The shot shows Harry looking up slightly and from his wrinkled forehead we see that he is very cautious about being seen in public, it also has a hint of sorrow as if his appearance from the shadows was merely a cry for help aimed at an old friend. The Tilted Trilby hat adds effect to this shot because it creates the idea that Harry is different from most criminals within the city. The shot is also on a slight tilt, this makes the audience feel uneasy about Harrys appearance because until that moment he was supposedly dead.
The tilt could also represent the idea that he is on the edge and that his actions have caused him to become a social outcast. We see later that Harry has been using the sewers in order to travel across the city.
This shot is particularly effective because it shows Holly Martins first visit to Harry's apartment, as he walks down the street he walks under a lander, which is commonly known to be an omen of bad luck. This could mean that Holly is going to have some bad luck with what the man he is pursuing. The shot is low angle and it shows Holly to be looking up at the building beside him, this shows that he is taken in by the large city and that it has an over powering effect on him. This also shows that he is to preoccupied with the city to notice any danger, for instance the ladder, this links to later on in the film where his actions have led him to situations beyond his control.
Psycho was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and is one of the most famous thrillers of all time, its build up of suspense and powerful psychological style put it apart from other thrillers of its time. one scene which really set it apart from other thrillers was the scene in which Marion Crane is murdered in the shower. The idea that the murderer within the scene is a constant enigma is just one factor to why this scene has influenced generations of thrillers. The idea that Marion is nude within the scene not only shows that she is in her natural form but also that she is unprotected from the danger that lurks behind the shower curtain. The sudden entry of the enigma adds suspense to the scene because you suddenly know that something is afoot. The location clashes well with the sudden arrival of this character, The shower is a confined space with very little visibility too outside events. When the curtain is pulled across by the murderer we believe that we are about to see who the deviant man/woman is, but instead the tension builds as a shadow still falls across his face.
Diegetic sound plays throughout, so that the murderers footsteps are drowned out. The moment the murderer appears however non-diegetic sound suddenly jumps in, this adds terror to the scene because the man is very clearly about to murder the woman.
When Marion turns around to see the man we see the expression on her face, this look of pure fear leads to a buildup of tension and suspense within the audience. The character of Marion Crane was intentionally a charter that the audience could relate too so that when she is murdered the audience feel her fear. The close up shot of Marion screaming brings the audience into the scene and allows them to be part of the murder itself. The camera shoots the murderer from every angle, as if building the idea that the audience should be trying to get between the murder to stop the events. In the murder we see the knife slash up against her skin and the murderer repetitively stabs in the same motion, this links to the non diegetic-sound because they are both repetitive and that Marion's pain is never ending. Every shot from the moment the the murder begins is a close up, this fits well with all generic conventions because it allows the audience to see the buildup of suspense and to feel as if they are part of the murder.
One difference between the murder in Psycho and other modern thriller murders is when the villain chose to exit. In modern thrillers the murderer will usually leave once the victim is dead, but in Psycho he leaves before the death, as if he intends to punish her by leaving her to die alone. This is very powerful because it differs the motives of the murderer from an actual Psycho to the motives of someone who purely seems to want revenge.
A final factor of this murder is the final tracking shot of the water and blood. After Marion finally dies we see both water from the shower and her blood slowly draining away together. This symbolises her life slowly washing away as well as linking to the idea that the murderer had washed his hands with her.
Our thriller takes place in two different places, one being a bathroom, and the other being a snowy woodland. The edit will skip between the two locations every few seconds so that two stories which link together will be told and the same time, one of a murder victim being dragged through the snow, the other being the friend of the victim in his bathroom trying to locate the friend. This bathroom scene links to both Kill Bill part 2, where 'blondie' cries on the bathroom floor and Animal kingdom, where the main character sits in a bathroom whilst worrying about his girlfriend.
One prop is a bracelet which falls from Tiffany's hand in the second shot, it has many vibrant colours and stands out within the snow. Two phones will also be used within the scene, one is Tiffany's and one is Peter's, they are used in order for the search for tiffany to begin.
The final props that are to be used are a pair of gloves, these will be pulled off and dropped when Peter enters the claustrophobic toilet/bedroom. Even though there are very few props they each have a part too play, the first few scenes are very empty of props because the character is being pulled through a snowy forest. The Bracelet helps to link Peter and Tiffany's relationship, the Phones are used in order to clarify this connection, and the gloves are used so that it becomes apparent that peter feels uneasy about the situation.
The music for my personal edit of the thriller will be from a webs tie called cllct.com after being given permission I was aloud to use several tracks for the thriller, the music needs to add suspense but not dominate the visual aspects, therefore I needed quite music that would can have diegetic sound above. the music will come in slowly as the opening minute ends. The music will be posted below when the best fitting track has been chosen.
Shot one- Begins with a close up shot of the female character being dragged through a field covered in snow by a man, cut to: Shot two- Close up shot of a significant looking bracelet or headband falling off the dragged girls hand, then cut to: Shot three- Close up low angle shot of the man holding the girl under her arms whilst dragging her still through the snow, cut to Shot four- A point of view shot of a boy walking along the field and finding the significant looking bracelet or object, this could be a slight tilt shot when he picks it up to signify confusion, cut to Shot five- Cut to a point of view shot of the girl as she is dragged through the snow, cut to Shot six- Worms eye view of the girl looking up at her murderer, cut to Shot seven- birds eye shot of the boy who previously found the bracelet sitting in a claustrophobic space maybe a small bedroom or public bathroom holding onto the bracelet that he found and crying, cut to Shot eight- tilt shot of the Girl being buried in the snow, cut to Shot nine- Boy in bathroom or a small space phoning the girl, this could be a close up shot of either him dialling which enables the audience to see the characters name of who he is phoning, cut to Shot ten- girl lying in undergrowth where the male character has dumped her, her phone beside her then goes off, you hear diegetic sound of her ringtone, cut to Shot eleven- low angle tilt in the bathroom as the the boy looks at the bracelet he found in the snow, there is an identifiable object on the boy as well.
Shot twelve- a very far away shot of an orange blur in the distance, the phone can still be heard in the distance. The shot slowly fades out and the title appears.
Another film that we can link our Thriller to is 'Animal Kingdom' this is because both main male characters sit in a bathroom thinking about a close female friend they have lost. This link could show that it is not directly Peter's fault that Tiffany is 'dead' but the death could still be linked back to him and that Tiffany's murderer could also be after Peter. Another intertextual reference is to 'Fight Club', this is because our character could be fighting personal demons which cause him to create a second persona. This is intertextually linked through the flashing between two characters, one pulling a body through the snow and the other trying to remember what happened to Tiffany. This could link in a way back to Fargo because the main character is not in control of the two men he hired but it was his own greed that caused them to become part of his life.
