The Shining - Potential Film

The Shining is a Psychological Thriller film released in 1980, and is the story of a man that takes up a job to be a caretaker of a hotel over the winter, so temporarily moves in there with his family, However, spending time on his own in the hotel sends him insane, to a point in which he chases after his family with an axe trying to kill them. The idea of a chase scene could be used for our film, such as a person in a panic and rushing to escape from a killer, or alternatively the police. We got this influence from the film 'The Shining' due to its chaotic pace when the family are running away from the main antagonist.

The Shining - Opening Sequence

Warner Bros- 7 Seconds
A Stanley Kubrick Film- 4 Seconds
Jack Nicholson- 5 Seconds
Shelley Duvall- 5 Seconds
The Shining- 5 Seconds
Featuring Danny Lloyd- 5 Seconds
Scatman Crothers- 5 Seconds
Barry Nelson- 5 Seconds
Phillip Stone- 5 Seconds
Joe Turkell- 5 Seconds
Anne Jackson- 5 Seconds
Tony Burton- 5 Seconds
Executive Producer, Jan Harlan- 5 Seconds
Based upn the novel by Stephen King- 5 Seconds
Produced in association with, The Producer Circle Company, Robert Fryer, Martin Richards, Mary Lea Johnson- 5 Seconds
Screenplay by, Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson- 5 Seconds
Produced & Directed by Stanley Kubrick- 5 Seconds

The Shining - Codes and Conventions of the Pyschological Thriller

In terms of Cinematography, the typical codes and conventions of the psychological thriller genre would consist of close-ups, long shots and Ariel shots. This is shown in as Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The film centres around the main character Jack Torrance’s mental state turn to a violent level during being the caretaker in the Hotel. Kubrick samples a series of Long/Ariel shots, to anchor his isolation, and close-ups to highlight his insanity. In terms of camera movement, we have followed “The Shining’s” codes and conventions of the dolly shot, as it almost conveys the notion that the delusional lead protagonist is stalking his victim. A lot of psychological films tend to play on the minds of the audience, into believing something different than to the actual outcome of the film. For example at the end of the film there is a photo shown of the main character Jack, attending a ball at the hotel in 1921, six decades before he became the caretaker, indicating that somehow he has been either alive since then or reincarnated, which will confuse and excite the audience.

Paranoia - Opening Sequence

I have been researching thriller films to help me better understand what needs to be included in the thriller opening which my team and I will create. I believe this task has helped to get an insight into what some thriller films consist of and why these things have been included. It has helped me to understand the importance of appropriate sound, titles, timings, costumes, props and many more things, all of which we need to consider when creating our own thriller opening. 

Paranoia is a very recent film which came out in the UK on the 16th August 2013. It is a thriller film starring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford and Amber Heard. The story line is about a new employee starting at a large and powerful corporate company who is a nobody in the world of business. However, he is set the task of spying on his boss's old mentor, to secure him a multi-billion dollar advantage.

The opening sequence of Paranoia is quite an interesting one. It does not give much away but still manages to keep the audience gripped from quite early on. 

Here is the opening sequence and how long each screen is displayed for:
Black screen- 2 seconds
"Relativity Media'- 16 seconds
"Reliance Entertainment- 9 seconds
"I'm Global, a Reliance Entertainment Company- 7 seconds
"Demarest Films- 7 seconds
"Black Screen- 7 seconds
Opening shot of a street lamp and camera pans down to show a lit street at night, a voice over starts. The shot lasts for 4 seconds before cutting away to a black screen displaying "Relativity Media presents"
This sequence repeats itself but showing a shot of a man running, again it flashes to a black screen with the words "Reliance Entertainment and Demarest Films present"
The image then flashes to and from these words and a front view of the man running, as if he were running towards the camera.
Again, a black screen appears with just the words "In association with I'm Global and E Stars Distribution".
There is a two second shot of the man still running and "An Emjag Productions Gaumont, Film 360 and Deepak Nayar Production"
 Finally, after a short film introduction narrated by a voice over, the names of the actors starring in the film appear and at 2:20 into the film, the title "Paranoia" flashes onto the screen.

Gone - Opening Sequence

 

'I have researched the openings of various thriller films in order to find out some of the key title conventions for a thriller film and to view which elements work well with the genre. Also, by researching the opening sequences I have become aware of the importance of sound and mise-en-scene to create the intended atmosphere. '

The opening sequence of the film ‘Gone’ is typical in its conventions considering that it is a thriller film. This is because it is make to cause anticipation of what is to come. The sequence follows the main character Jill walking through the woods. There are various different shots of her crossing of different sections on a map. Telling the viewers that she is searching, hence causing anticipation and making the audience question; what? The music playing in the background of the sequence is also used to cause a feeling of eagerness, suspension and tension. Using sound in order to create ten a characteristic often used in horror films.

Gone Opening Sequence:00:19 'Summit Entertainment' (19 Seconds)

00:29 'Lakeshore Entertainment' (10 Seconds)

00:42 'Sidney Kimmel Entertainment' (10 Seconds)

00:45 'Summit Entertainment' (5 Seconds)

00:50 'Lakeshore Entertainment' (5 Seconds)

00:58 'Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Presents' (5 Seconds)

01:06 'A Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Production' (5 Seconds)

01:14 'Amanda Seyfried' (10 Seconds)

01:28 'Gone' (6 Seconds)

(Cast: 4 Seconds)

01:35 'Daniel Sunjata'

01:40 'Jennifer Carpenter'

01:54 'Sebastian Stan'

02:03 'Wes Bentley'

02:10 'Nick Searcy'

02:17 'Socratis Otto'

02:23 'Emily wickersham'

02:34 'Joel David Moore'

02:41 'Katherine Moennig & Michael Pare'

02:46 'Sam Upton & Ted Rooney'

02:53 'Eric Carufel & Amy Lawhorn'

(Crew: 4 Seconds)

 02:59 'Casting by Deborah Aquila, csa & Tricia Wood, csa'

03:13 'Music by David Buckley'

03:20 'Costume Designer Lindsay Ann McKay'

03:38 'Film Editor John Axelrad, ace'

03:46 'Production Designer Charisse Cardenas'

03:53 'Director of Photography Michael Grady'

03:59 'Executive Producers Andre Lamal & Eric Reid & Ted Gidlow & Bruce toll'

04:06 'Executive Producers Jim tauber & Matt Berenson'

04:12 'Producer Sidney Kimmel'

04:18 'Producer Dan Abrams & Chris Salvaterra'

04:24 'Produced by Tom Rosenberg & Gary Lucchesi

04:31 'Written Alison Burnett

04:37 'Directred by Heitor Dhalia

Battleship - Opening Sequence

The opening titles to any film change all the time in the way they are laid out or the way they are designed. There are many different ways to do this and this can be shown through all the different thriller films. Looking at Skyfall and Battleship which are two recent films that are both thrillers and their opening title sequences are completely different. The titles take a while to completely show up on the screen, but when the titles are fully on the screen, they stay there for a few seconds and then move on. The time it stays on the screen when it is fully complete is shown in brackets.

Battleships opening sequence:

-Universal 100th anniversary - 22 seconds (3 seconds)

 A Comcast company

-Hasbro - 11 seconds (3 seconds)

-Blue grass No. 93 films - 4 seconds

-Film 44 - 5 seconds

-Universal Pictures presents - 2 seconds

-In association with Hasbro - 2 seconds

-A Blue Grass/ Film 44 production - 2 seconds

-(Comes up like a futuristic type writer) In 2005, Scientists discovered a distant planet believed to have a climate nearly identical to earth.

 In 2006, NASA built a transmission device five times more powerful than any before it, and a program to contact the planet began.

 It was known as The Beacon Project - 18 seconds

-(everything disappears besides....) The Beacon Project - 2 seconds

-Film starts - 8 minutes

-Battleship - 5 seconds

Skyfall - Opening Sequence

Skyfall opening sequence:

-Metro Goldwyn Mayer (ars gratia artis) - 11 seconds (6 seconds)

-Columbia, a Sony pictures entertainment company - 19 seconds (6 seconds)

-Film starts - 12 minutes and 35 seconds

-Albert R.Broccoli's Eon productions LTD. presents - 3 seconds

-Daniel Craig - 3 seconds

-as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in - 3 seconds

-Skyfall - 3 seconds

-Starring Javier Bardem - 3 seconds

-Ralph Flennes - 3 seconds

-Naomie Harris - 3 seconds

-Bérénice Lim Marlotle - 3 seconds

-Ben Whishaw - 3 seconds

-Rory Kinnear, Ola Rapace - 3 seconds

-With Albert Finney - 3 seconds

-and Judi Dench as M - 3 seconds

-Co-producers, Andrew Noakes, David Pope - 4 seconds

-Script supervisor Jayne-Ann Tenggren

 Sound recordist Stuart Wilson

 Electrical supervisor John Higgins

 Second Unit assistant Director Terry Madden - 4 seconds

-Makeup designer Naomi Donne

 Hair designer Zoe Tahir

 Mr Craig's make up Donald Mowat

 Wardrobe Supervisor Gordon Harmer

 Publicity and Marketing Stephanie Werborn

 Promotions Keith Snelgrove - 4 seconds

-Supervising art director Chris Lowe

 Set Decorator Anna Pinnock

 Property master Jamie Wilkinson

 Construction manager Stephen Bohan

 Skills photographer  François Duhamel

 Visual effects provider Leslie Lerman - 4 seconds

-Production Supervisor Janine Modder

 Location production managers Chris Brock, Angus Moe Gordon, Anthony Waye

 Second Unit production Manager Terry Bamber

 Post production supervisor Michael Solinger - 4 seconds

-Visual effects and miniature supervisor Steve Begg

 Associate producer Gregg Wilson - 4 seconds

-Unit production managers Callum Medougall, Jeremy Johns

 First assistant director Michael Lerman - 4 seconds

- Casting Debbie McWilliams

 Main titles designed by Daniel Kleinman - 4 seconds

-Special effects and miniature effects supervisor Chris Corbould

 Stunt coordinator Gary Powell - 4 seconds

-Second unit director Alexander Witt - 3 seconds

-Costume designer Jany Temime - 3 seconds

-Editors Stuart Baird A.C.E. Kate Baird - 4 seconds

-Director of Photography Roger Deakins A.S.C., B.S.C. - 4 seconds

-Production Designer Dennis Gassner - 3 seconds

-Music by Thomas Newman - 3 seconds

-"Skyfall"

 Performed by Adele

 Written by Adele and Paul Epworth

 Produced by Paul Epworth - 4 seconds

- Executive Produces Callum McDougall - 4 seconds

-Written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan - 4 seconds

-Produced by Michael G.Wilson and Barbara Broccoli - 4 seconds

-Directed by Sam Mendes - 5 seconds

Skyfall's opening sequence is much longer than Battleship's and this is because with Skyfall, a song is put over the whole intro sequence (Adele's Skyfall) that makes it longer. This is because the whole intro sequence is set to fit into the whole of the song, but with Battleship, its quick and straight into the film quickly.