Past Student Thriller Analysis

The first film I will be looking at is called Independent Law. The font of the title and the text used to introduce the director heavily implies horror or thriller themes. The first 10 seconds make it abundantly clear that this film will not be a peaceful one with a happy ending. Independent Law is an interesting title, given the fact that laws are used to control the masses to stop them from doing bad things, there is a heavy implication that a specific individual or a group of individuals wish to operate by their own rules and break away from the control that is put in place by regular law. This leads me to believe that the film will have a focus on illegal activity.  The first scene shows an excellent manipulation of light, it is constructed in such a way that we can make out a character, but none of his or her features, this is the perfect way to introduce an antagonist as well as obtain and maintain the attention of the audience. The fact that they chose to fade the film in and out and present the names of the actors and editors during these fade outs interrupt the flow of the film in such a way that stops the audience from getting a clear understanding of what is going on at the beginning, this was deliberately done in order to build up for something big in the middle or at the end. It is later revealed that the main character is a murderer or a cereal killer of some sort, this was done through a good variety of camera angles and techniques. The medium short that follows the first killing displays a sinister look on the characters face, confirming her as the antagonist. They continue to use the light in order to to show that this character is one with bad intentions and their deliberate camera work further supports this. There is a good amount of mystery in the scene too, when the supposed antagonist states ''you have one last chance'' the audience will want to know what the male character has done in order to land himself in that situation in the first place, which will encourage them to continue watching. The shot right at the very end is a very effective one, the antagonist marks their next target, the audience will want to know how they go about dealing with this target, so they will continue watching. Overall, a variety of techniques when it came to camera angles, lights and sound were used to make this a great thriller opening.

The second thriller I have chosen to analyse is ''The Routine.'' The first thing I noticed is that their ident was a very simple one. a very generic logo following the company name, this may be the case because they did not spend a lot of time on it and wanted to focus on the film itself. Examples of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound are showcased instantaneously, with the alarm clock serving as the diegetic on screen sound, and the music being the example of non-diegetic sound. A relatively normal and cheerful atmosphere is created at the beginning of the film through the use of the sound and all that can be seen is a male character following his morning routine. The routine is an excellent title for this film as that is what is shown on screen as the first part of the film. The routine that is being followed is showcased several times, the music continues to play through all of the repeats apart from the last, this indicates that something is out of the norm, the same sequence of events that gets followed every single day gets shattered which foreshadows trouble and danger for the main character. The change in camera angle, which is most likely deliberate, when the protagonist is brushing his teeth indicates that things continue to change despite the fact that the audience was lead to believe there is a set pattern this person will follow every single morning. The suspicion of trouble is confirmed when a figure dressed in black walks past the main character, with a loud, unpleasant sound following his appearance in order to emphasize his significance. Shortly after the protagonist finds a sign that says ''you're next'' which indicates that it is time for the antagonist to make his move. The man then gets knocked out and upon waking up realizes that he is now in a different location.  The rolling shot as well as the background transition while keeping the character in focus was really well done. This shows an excellent understanding of the editing software and techniques that they were given. An excellent opening.

The third and final film opening I will be analyzing is named ''The Betrayal.'' The noise that accompanies the ident is very unpleasant, however it makes it very clear that the company will be working in the thriller/horror genre.  Right from the very beginning the audience is gripped in as they are presented with a figure who is tied to a chair, it is not clear whether the character is dead or alive and the scene is instantly highly tense which encourages the audience to continue watching. The character who is in focus in this scene is shown from several camera angles in quick succession, but this still does not answer many questions that are raised, such as how did he get there, is he alive and what will happen next. The scene that follows is a party, and a positive and cheerful atmosphere would be expected, however good manipulation of the light and editing keeps the atmosphere tense, as well as alerting the audience to pay attention for any clues as to how the character at the beginning ended up in his position. We see that the character we were presented with at the beginning of the scene had a drug substance added to one of his drinks which rendered him unconscious, meaning the antagonist could do as he pleased with him, that is how he found himself in his current predicament. The constant switching back and forth between the substance being added to the drink and the drink being consumed will raise tension in the audience as it is a perfect example of dramatic irony.  As the antagonist approaches we are shown the title of the film, meaning we do not actually get to see the interaction between the supposed protagonist and antagonist. This would be a good tool to make sure the audience continues watching after the two minute intro. Overall, a good selection of techniques was used to create this film and it is a good opening which could easily be developed further.