Planning: Plot Details

My Thriller movie will be a hybrid of a conspiracy thriller and a medical thriller. The main idea of the plot is that a young man overhears heads of a pharmaceutical company discussing the possible dangerous implications of a new drug they are testing. He is spotted whilst doing so and leaves the building in a hurry, forgetting his wallet. The pharmaceutical company then uses it to track him down and test the new drug on him unwillingly to see if it is indeed dangerous. It is slipped into his food at a restaurant while he is with his girlfriend. He then suffers adverse side effects later and becomes dramatically ill on the way home where he is abducted by scientists and stuffed into a truck. It is then the girlfriend's quest to find her boyfriend and uncover the circumstances surrounding his illness.

I do not intend to film all of these scenes, but this gives adequate background information on the plot.

Research: Suspense

One of the main components in creating a compelling Thriller film is the correct execution of suspense. Through this, the audience becomes more intrigued in the film and finds it easier to feel more involved with the storyline as they can feel some of the same emotions as the characters are feeling.

The most relevant definiton found on Dictionary.com was this:

1. a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.

I feel that although there is an element of excitement in awaiting the outcome for the audience, the general feeling for them is apprehension or anxiety if suspense is pulled off well during a film.
It is my aim to create suspense during the opening of my film.

Research: Definition of Thriller

The best definition I could find of the Thriller genre was this:

'Thriller is a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. Part of the allure of thrillers comes from not only what their stories are about, but also how they are told. High stakes, non-stop action, plot twists that both surprise and excite, settings that are both vibrant and exotic, and an intense pace that never lets up until the adrenalin packed climax.'

I agree with this definition because I feel it encompasses the main aspects of the genre, namely the importance of a plot that makes the audience have to think and which intrigues and surprises them, and the build up of tension throughout the film. The ability of film to draw the audience into the world of the Thriller through the settings and the ability to relate to the main charcter/s is also essential.

Research - How a movie from the Thriller genre creates a distinguished opening sequence

The movie I am analysing the opening scene of is the 1993 film Cliffhanger. The film opens with a scene of two climbers perched on the side of a mountain, it is connoted that they are in need of rescue from the fact that one of them has a flare in his hand. This scene immidiately establishes a connection between it and the title of the film. A variety of extrme long shots, 360 degree shots, and bird's eye shots are used to highlight the scale and height of the surrounding mountains, connoting a vulnerability of the climbers stranded there.

The main protagonist is also immidiately established as Gabe (played by Sylvester Stallone) through his involvement in climbing the mountain to rescue them, upbeat non-diegetic soundtrack is also used as he's climbing to show he is confident in climbing and is there to 'save the day'. When he reaches the perch where the fellow climbers are, low angle shots are used on Gabe to show he is the one in control, whilst high angle shots are used on the other two to show they are not. Gabe's confident, jokey nature also makes him a likeable character to the viewer.

When they are waiting for the helicopter to set up a rescue line, there is a relaxed, light-hearted nature among the trio which makes the sudden change to a life threatening situation even more tense for the viewer. As the helicopter sets up the rescue line, forboding non-diegetic soundtrack briefly plays, hinting at something possibly going wrong. As the female character crosses the line, high angle shots are used to show that she is not in control and unconfident. Extreme close ups of her harness breaking and reaction shots are used to highlight her sudden terror at the situation unfolding. The non-diegetic soundtrack immidaiately changes to high-tempo, suspenseful music to fit in with the characters terror. As Gabe is attempting to pull her up, reaction shots of extreme close ups of both their faces clearly detail the emotions they are experiencing and the desperation of the situation.

The sudden death of what appears to be a significant character immidiately establishes the genre as a Thriller and also intrigues the audience as it hints to more twists and possible deaths in the plot to come. The themes of the plot are also made fairly obvious to the viewer, such as fear, guilt, suspense, and trauma.