Film Distribution Research

What is a film distributor?

A film distributor is an independent company, which acts as the final agent between a film production company and a film exhibitor (the place the film is shown) - to the end of securing placement of the producer's film on the exhibitor's screen. How film distribution works:

• Somebody thinks of an idea for a film.
  
• They create a plot outline and use this to promote interest in the idea.


• A studio or independent investigator who likes the concept of the film, decides to purchase the rights to it.


• Screenwriter, producer, director, cast, crew etc, are all brought together to make the film.


• The film is finished and sent to the studio.


• The studio makes a licensing agreement with a film distribution company.


• The distribution company determines how many copies of the film to make.
  
• The distribution company shows the film to prospective buyers who represent the exhibitor.
  
• The buyers negotiate with the distribution company on the terms and conditions of the deal. (lease agreement)


• The prints are sent to the exhibitors a few days before the opening day.


• The exhibitor shows the movie for a specified number of weeks.


• People buy a ticket and watch the film.


• At the end of the decided screening allowance, the exhibitor sends the print back to the distribution company and makes payment on the lease agreement.

Film Distribution Companies

Below are some examples of film distribution companies:

• 20th Century Fox


• British Film Institute


• DreamWorks


• Miramax Films
  
• Universal Pictures


• Walt Disney Studios


• Warner Bros

All these distribution companies distribute different types of films. Each is usually specialised in a specific genre, e.g. Walt Disney Studios distributes children’s films.

Below are some examples of thriller films and their distributors:

• When A Stranger Calls - Sony Pictures


• Jaws - Universal Pictures


• Taken - 20th Century Fox


• Psycho - Paramount Pictures


• The Orphan - Warner Bros.
  
• The Bourne Ultimatum - Universal Pictures

Research Into Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. The company was founded in 1912 and is owned by media conglomerate Viacom. Paramount Pictures is America's oldest existing film studio and is constantly ranked as one of the top grossing film studios.

Many films are owned by Paramount Pictures and therefore all rights are reserved to the company. Paramount is a major film distributor.

In 2007, Paramount Pictures established direct motion picture distribution operations in 15 key international countries. This international distribution increases the amount of people who are able to see the films they have the distribution rights to. The more people who can see the films, the more successful the film is and the more revenue can be generated. This is good for all parties involved in the production of the film.

Paramount Pictures has made many technological advances to keep up with competitors and remain in the top league when it comes to film making and distribution. In 2007, Paramount entered into an agreement with Apple to sell some of the company's movies as downloads through Apple's iTunes store. In January 2008, company representatives announced that Paramount would join a growing list of production studios that officially supported the transition to Blu-Ray technology over the more standard high-definition DVD format. This again, increases the number of people who can view the films owned by the company.

Below are some examples of thriller films Paramount Pictures have distributed

• Mission Impossible


• Till Human Voices Wake Us


• The Uninvited


• Fatal Attraction
  
• Psycho


• Witness

In our thriller film, we have invented a film distribution company called Genesis Pictures. This name is shown on our credits and makes our film production look a lot more realistic. We couldn't use an existing distribution company as this goes against copyright regulations.

Characters In Our Thriller Film

Three Main Characters In Our Film

The story revolves around the kidnapping of Mrs Anderson and the struggle Mr Anderson goes through to get his wife back. Three of the main characters are Mark Anderson, Kate Anderson (Mr and Mrs) and the kidnapper, David Jones.

Kate Anderson

Kate Anderson is a 35 year old women, who finds herself in a unexpected hostage situation. Her husband is Mark Anderson, and it is his unsuccessful past that puts his wife in danger. She is very much a maternal women who prides herself on her home, her appearance and the way she raises her only child. She only has a part time job, so spends the majority of her time doing housework and looking after her family. Kate is dependant on her husband and has been happily married for 15 years. As shown in this film she relies on Mark for most things, so when left to fend for herself, Kate has to find her inner strength and deal with the difficult situation alone.

Mark Anderson

Mark Anderson is a 40 year old man, husband of Kate and Father to the couples only child. He appears to have the 'perfect' life, but hidden behind this facade is a helpless man, drowning in debt. Mark's many failed business ventures have left him in a precarious position with one man in particular, his last business partner and hard man, David Jones. David is not a man you want to owe money too, and that is precisely the situation Mark finds himself in throughout the film. This places his much loved wife in huge danger and Mark decides that now is most definitely the time to take the matter head on. Mark is a very intelligent, courageous man and has no limits when it comes to his family. He will do anything in his power to protect them. Mark uses his intelligence to uncover the truth of his wife's disappearance and his courage to stop David Jones, the man whose presence has plagued him for over 5 years. This character identifies with men who have always worked hard, and never had any success in life.

David Jones

David Jones is a 45 year old businessman with an unhonourable reputation. He is very successful financially due to running his own debt collection company, but his life is one which revolves around making money and nothing else. He has never had time for family, friends, or anything that could take away from his monetry gain. David is known for using violent means and often takes advantage of people weaker than himself to get what he wants. He has no care for anyone else his actions may effect, he cares only for himself. David is a large man, who if the people he pays to fight his battles are not up to scratch, would not mind doing the dirty work himself. He has a way of avoiding the police, and uses his wealth as a powerful tool in defying the law. This includes paying people to keep the silence like he does in this film. David bailed Mark Anderson out when a joint business venture they had, failed miserably many years ago. Not one to forget a huge loss of money, David has been making Mark's life hell for the past 5 years, and is not about to give up now.

Storyboard And Planning For Final Task

When we were planning for our final task, we had lots of different ideas. We tried a few different ones, because some did not work out in reality, looked unprofessional or the final product was not hadt the effect we had hoped. Below is the storyboard for our first initial idea.


We decided to scrap this idea before we even got to the filming stage, as we felt that too much was going on in the first two minutes of the film and it would look like a small film rather than just the opening. It would also be difficult to make all the things happening in the opening happen in real life, so it would take a long time to film and edit, with an unsuccessful result.

Our second idea was completely different to the first and the storyboard for this is below.

We got to the filming stage for this idea, and we thought it worked well. We purposely blacked out all the lighting, to create a more sinister atmosphere. We filmed the opening exactly as we had storyboarded it. When we got to the editing stage, we discovered that our footage looked grainy and ammature. The main subject of the opening was not visible the majority of the time and there was no need to make the room dark, as this added nothing to the final product. This idea worked much better on paper than it did in reality, so the planning stage is very crucial.

On our third attempt, we managed to come up with yet another plot, and a further storyboard, shown below.

This idea was the one we filmed, edited and decided was our final idea. It is much more realistic for a film opening as it introduces the film rather than creates a short film in the first two minutes. We decided to create the thriller atmosphere and tension through the use of music and a red herring, rather than generic thriller conventions often found throughout the rest of the film. We have outlined how we would use such conventions later on in our film were we to film the entire thing. This storyboard allowed us to know exactly what shots, lighting, sound and props we were using and we could arrange this before it came to filming, to ensure it was as efficient as possible.

The Filming Process

Shotlist
Before we began filming we created a shotlist that told us exactly what shots we wanted to film for our opening. Along with our storyboard, this was very good planning and it meant that our filming went much smoother.

When we were given our brief to create an opening to a thriller film, most of our initial ideas were too complex to make into a reality. We were thinking too big. We also realised that our ideas were too full of action, and that it would be much more realistic and effective if the suspense and tension was created in a more subtle way. After analysing some other films in the same genre we discovered that this much more similar to what they do and that they do not try to create a mini film in the first two minutes, they simply set the scene.

When we finally decided on our idea, we made a storyboard and began to film. We had to film in our media lessons, which are timetabled during the daytime when it is light outside. When we got to our location, we thought that we needed to make it dark in the house to create an eerie atmosphere. After analysing other films we found out that this was incorrect and that our efforts to block out the light from windows in the house led to grainy footage that left the action undefined and the end result was not as effective as we had hoped.

Our idea involved a girl babysitting and we thought that by including an instant messenger conversation on the computer, we would be able to set the scene for the thriller. This proved very problematic. Having an instant messenger conversation required the use of MSN. To use this programme to have a conversation we needed two computers. We had one computer and a laptop, however the Internet was not working correctly on the laptop so we could not use MSN. We resolved this by using my mobile phone which had Internet, but this took a long time to respond to the computer so the conversation required a lot of editing. During the editing process, we decided that this idea was not successful as it looked very unprofessional when we had uploaded the footage. We then chose to come up with an entirely different storyboard.

When we had come up with a totally different concept that involved a fully lit house, which was much more realistic, we re filmed all our footage. On the second attempt to film, we were much more capable of using the camera, although we did still encounter some problems. The camera we were using would not work properly unless it was plugged into a mains supply. This was not much of a problem when we were filming inside, but when we had to film our establishing shot from outside the house, we had to use an long extension cable that ran from the garage. Whilst outside, there were some interruptions such as passing cars and noises that were not appropriate such as a car alarm. We could erase this on IMovie though, so that wasn't such a big problem.

When we had finally got the outside footage, we waited for our actress to arrive on set. She was running late and could not make the filming in the end. I stepped in so this was an easily resolved issue. The only other problems we encountered were the numerous outtakes we had. This was due to mistakes with the camera positioning and the occasional incident of laughing at inappropriate times or making other errors such as turning the wrong way when opening the door, blocking my face from the camera. This was fine though, as we could easily edit out any errors with IMovie.

Our end result was very effective and the lighting was much better this time as it looked more realistic and the image quality was highly improved. I am very pleased with the way our filming turned out and I am glad we learned from our mistakes from the first time we filmed. Those mistakes led to a much better final product. After all the editing, I think our opening sequence was a success.

Locations For Our Thriller Film Opening

When we planned our opening scene, we chose to do a babysitting scenario. This meant we only needed one location for filming. We filmed at a member of our groups house, which was not too far from school and fitted the babysitting scene well. This meant that during our allocated filming time during lessons, we could easily access the house on foot.

As the majority of the group members live in Hitchin, we then had to choose which of our houses would be the most suitable. We chose the location we did because the area outside the house was perfect for the establishing shot due to the amount of space, meaning we could get a large zoom - in to the house window. Also the lounge is open planned, which meant that we could easily set up the tripod for the inside scenes. The kitchen in the house was very close to the lounge, and this meant that the pan shot we wanted of the babysitting walking across the lounge to the kitchen could be acheived. The back door in the kitchen was perfect for the shot of the babysitter disappearing into darkness, meaning that this location was great for filming our opening 2 minutes of our film.

The Use Of Dialogue And Music In Our Thriller Opening

In our thriller film opening we used some recorded dialogue and a soundtrack to establish the scene and set the mood. We chose to play a soundtrack over the entire opening scene, so we could creat an eerie atmosphere. We also added sound effects to make the whole scene more realistic.

The Soundtrack

We decided that we needed a soundtrack that made the audience feel uncertain and fitted with the scence we had created. This meant that the music needed to be louder at certain times, to place emphasis on key points of the scene and also to heighten the tension and suspense. We discovered this technique from watching other thriller films, it seemed that an eerie soundtrack really added to the film and made them much more thrilling.

We searched the internet for a long time before finally deciding on the piece of music we used for our film opening. This was largely due to the amount of royalty free music available on the internet. We need to make sure there was no copyright restrictions to the piece of music we wanted to use. We eventually found a website - www.incompetech.com this site specialises in royalty free music, and there was a large selection of pieces in the 'eerie' section which was perfect for our thriller genre. We listened to a few of the pieces of music and then agreed on three we liked the best. We downloaded these three and imported them onto the Apple Mac so we could see which of the three fitted the opening the best.

In the end we chose a piece called Spider Eyes by Kevin Mcleod. This was because it fitted the footage well and even had louder parts which went with the action and really heightened the suspense. It creates an eerie atmosphere which was exactly the effect we were after.

Other Sounds

We used some dialogue in our opening scene in the form of a phone call. The ringing tone was an effect that we used from the IMovie library on the Apple Mac and we found that this was more effective and easy to do than using a real phone ringing in the scene. It also meant that we could play the conversation over the establishing shot that sets the scene at the very beginning of the film. This has two purposes, firstly it means that the beginning is more interesting and secondly, the audience can then be thinking who made the call? Why did they make the call? Was there significance to this call? This is a good technique as it means that the audience are already curious and interested in the film.

Phonecall Voiceover Script:

Babysitter: 'Hello'
Unknown Male Voice: 'Hello, is Mrs Anderson there?'
Babysitter: 'No sorry she's out at the moment, I'm just the babysitter'
(The line then goes dead and only the dialling tone can be heard)
Babysitter: 'Hello? Hello?'

The piece of music 'Spider Eyes' is played throughout the opening as mentioned previously, we also used the sound of dogs barking over the establishing shot. This effect was found on the Apple Mac in the IMovie library and it made the scene more realistic. The only other sounds are the actual sounds that match the action in reality. For example, the opening of a coke can and the pouring of the coke into a glass which like the dogs barking adds to the realism and enables the audience to relate to the situation more effectively.

Significant Developments Within The Film Making Industry

There have been numerous developments within the film industry and especially the thriller genre. When thinking about modern day films, they have certainly come along way since the black and white silent films that existed when film industry began.

Films nowadays are not as simple to make as they once were and they require many more specialist individuals who work together to produce a final outcome. The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film personnel. Films are much more expensive to make these days, but this means better results. The more technology evolves, the higher production costs are. This is largely due to the use of special effects and CGI (computer generated images) because the filming equipment itself has been made more affordable. This affordable equipment is probably due to the large scale the film industry now operates on. The more expensive films tend to then generate more revenue, which is necessary if the film production company wants to make a profit.

The ability to aquire investment from outside the film industry has meant that independant film production has evolved. An independant film is a film that is produced mostly outside of a major film studio. In order to be considered independent, less than half of a film's financing should come from a major studio. These types of film did not exist in the earlier years of film making.

The bigger the budget for a film, the more technical it can be made. The first movie cameras were fastened directly to the head of their tripod or other support. Nowadays, a huge variety of highly complex cameras are used on a number of different support mediums. Since the 1990s, computer generated imagery (CGI) has come to the forefront of special effects technologies. CGI gives film-makers greater control, and allows many effects to be accomplished more safely and convincingly. CGI is used in many of the thriller films that we have studied such as 'X-Men' and 'The Matrix' The CGI is used to create characters or locations that could not exist in real life, so would be impossible to film with a camera.

All these develoments mean that thriller films can be made much more exciting, and when necessary the scenes can be made to look unrealisic and more fictional, which adds to the thrill element of the film.

Target Audience Research

For our target audience research, we created a small questionnaire that we gave to people of various ages to see what type of people typically watch thriller films. This gave us an impression of who we should make our film appeal to. The questionnaire is below:

• How old are you? ........
• Are you male or female? .....................
• Do you watch films? ........
• What is your favourite genre of film? ............................
• Do you enjoy thriller films? ..............................
• Please state your favourite thriller and say why you like it: ...................................................................................................................................................................
• What age characters do you like to see in films? ..........
• Why do you like to see this age of character? ......................................................................

From our questionnaire, we determined our target audience. Here is what the results showed:

• Young people do not watch thriller films, largely due the unsuitable themes associated with the genre
• Boys often enjoy thrillers more than girls
• People in there late teens are very fond of the thriller genre
• People over the age of 50 do not like thrillers as much as the younger people
• Men who are aged between 25-45 enjoy thriller films with crime themes
• People like characters similarly aged to themselves, so they can relate to them more

We decided that our thriller film is targeted at older teenagers and adults below the age of 50. This is because the characters we wish to use in the rest of the film are aged around 40, so people of this age can relate to their situation. Also, we found that older teenagers liked most thriller films for the excitement, rather than the relatability factor. This is why our film will also appeal to them. The older generations may not appreciate the violent themes running throughout our film. We are not excluding them totally however, as they have just as much right to enjoy our film as anyone else, this is merely from what the questionnaires showed us.

Plot Outline For Our Own Thriller Film

• Jenny Vincent is a babysitter. She is looking after a couple’s young child at the family home. The child’s parents are having a meal at a restaurant that evening, hence the need for a babysitter.
• Whilst the husband and wife are out, Jenny receives a peculiar phone call from a mysterious man asking after Mrs Anderson, the mother of the child Jenny is babysitting. When the man is informed that Jenny is merely the babysitter, and that Mrs Anderson is not in, the line goes dead.
• Our opening scene suggests that the film will revolve around Jenny being endangered, but this is in fact a red herring and we have intentionally done this to add more excitement and ambiguity to our thriller. Jenny is not a very important character in the film whatsoever.
• When at the restaurant, Mrs Anderson vanishes without a trace when making a routine trip to the toilet. Mr Anderson, her husband begins to worry when she doesn’t return after a considerable length of time.
• Mr Anderson questions the waiter about the disappearance of his wife, to which the waiter replies - Mr Anderson entered the restaurant alone and he knew nothing of his wife’s location. The husband continually tries to prove that he came to the restaurant with his wife and she has now disappeared, but the response he gets suggests otherwise. There is evidence which suggests she really wasn’t with him at all, such as her coat vanishing from the coat room and only one meal order being processed.
• All these things, together with the confused staff’s reactions to Mr Andersons behaviour make Mr Anderson begin to doubt himself and question his own sanity.
• When Mrs Anderson went to the toilet, she was abducted by a gang whose plan had been organised by her husband’s old business partner. Mr Anderson had a lot of financial problems with the ex-business associate and could not repay what was owed to him currently. The gang had taken his wife and had paid the restaurant excessive amounts of money to assist them with their evil scheme. Mrs Anderson was now being held at ransom and the crime had been covered up by the restaurant alibi.
• Throughout the film, Mr Anderson is continuously tested by a variety of tricks the gang plays to make him feel as though he really is losing his mind. This includes removing all his wife’s belongings from the house and any other trace she was in existence.
• There are short flashbacks during the film which give the audience clues about what has happened to Mrs Anderson, but the entirety of her disappearance is not uncovered until the end of the film.
• Mr Anderson works his way through the film, gradually piecing together what has happened to his wife. Discussions with old friends, and the babysitters strange phone call, lead him to the fact his wife’s disappearance has something to do with his old business associate.
• He visits the suspect and he states he knows nothing about any disappearance, but Mr Anderson knows better than to trust him and gives the man an ultimatum. ‘Give me my wife back, or I’ll kill you’ The man breaks down under the strain and reveals all about Mrs Andersons whereabouts.
• Mr Anderson is so furious, he shoots the business partner anyway and goes to the place his wife is being held immediately.
• Mr and Mrs Anderson are reunited after a battle with many other men working for the business associate and Mr Anderson sees that Jenny gets a reward for her help in foiling the businessman’s master plan to get one over on Mr Anderson.

Analysis Of 'Silence of the Lambs' Opening

• The opening scene of 'The Silence of the Lambs' is a continuous narrative. This means that the story continues on from the opening. This has been done so that it seems like the audience is following the main character 'Clarice Starling' throughout.


• The first shot is a high angle establishing shot of the forest, the camera then pans down to the main character setting the scene for the audience. The forest is misty, which creates a more eerie atmosphere. This is a technique that many thrillers use and the eeriness is a convention which is again used in the thriller genre.


• It is clear that the women is running on an assault course, which could connote the fact she is a strong, independent women who can keep up in a male orientated environment. The women is portrayed as not being the stereotypical female. This is due to the casual tracksuit she is wearing and the fact she is sweating.


• Whilst she is running, we hear the sound of a flock of birds flying away just out of shot. The noise comes from behind her, meaning that something had disturbed them, indicating that someone was behind/following the women.


• Whilst she is running, a variety of camera shots and angles are used to create a sense of confusion. These include, close ups of her feet, her face (facial expression) and shots from behind her.


• A pan shot is used when the women climbs over a rope obstacle on the assault course, giving a full 180degree angle of the action.


• When the camera is behind the women following her, the audience feel anxious and suspense and tension is created because we wonder who is chasing/following the women. This technique is used further on as, out of shot, the audience hears a voice calling the women's name which again builds tension as we do not know who this person following her is.


• The audience is brought to an anti-climax when the person following the women is revealed. She turns around as a man comes into the shot and discover he is a member of the FBI, meaning that the women must be training for them.


• As the women is running back to the FBI headquarters, the camera focuses in on nearby tree which has the words 'Hurt. Agony. Pain. Love it.' This is a clever use of irony as this could easily be the villain of the story's motif. It seems to be however, the motto of the FBI, who are working to find said villain.


• The credits are block capitals whice are in bold black font that has a white border, they are also in the centre of the screen. This is done for ease of reading. The black colour could connote evil, as this is a very appropriate theme for this film.


• The scene is continually edited and the editing is slow paced. I think this has been done to show the seriousness of the themes within this film and the issues it contains.

Analysis Of 'Se7en' Opening

• The opening credits for the thriller film 'Se7en' has no narrative structure, instead, non-linear techniques are used. This means that small parts of story have been cut up and are played in a random order, so the entire plot is kept hidden and the audience cannot get the whole effect.
• The audience are shown a person writing in a book, this is intended to keep the audience interested as it poses such questions as: Who is writing in the book? What is the book about? Why are they writing in it?
• The audience are also shown a variety of images in the form of a montage. The images are very graphic and unpleasant, which is a convention of the thriller film genre. They have been chosen specifically for use in the opening scene to engage the audience. The images include such things as;

- A picture of disfigured hands

-A razor blade being used to cut the skin off of a persons finger.

-Newspaper cuttings with certain words crossed out - 'homosexual', 'pregnant' and 'God'.

-Photographs of murder victims

-A needle and other sharp objects

• The images seem very random at first, but at the end of the film, the meaning of the chosen images becomes clear. hey are infact very important factors in the plot. This is called foreshadowing.
• Another convention used in this opening is partial vision. We never see the persons face, and the majority of the images are blurred, distorted or not entirely shown. This creates a more exciting opening and keeps the audiences attention as they have to figure out what is going on.
• The opening focuses on the villian of the story which is another convention of the thriller genre, like the eerie, very dark, mysterious atmosphere which this film opening also has.
• Predominantly still shots are used in this opening, with close ups on the writing in the book and extreme close ups on things like the razor blade and the needle and thread. This makes the audience intrusively near to the horrific imagery thats being used.
• The disturbing pictures used appear to be photographs that the person has taken. I think this shows that the villain has pride in his work, which turns out to be gruesome murder. The objects selected also connect with the villain. The needle and razor blades are sharp objects which connote pain and suffering. Exactly what the murderer is inflicting.
• To add to the tense atmosphere, white noise, what sound like record scratches, thuds, bangs and creaks are used. Music that sounds very intense and serious also creates this effect.
• Graphics are used very well in the scene, the credits look scratchy and the font looks like handwriting which relates to the book reference. The credits are white font on black background, which is meant to make them clear. However, they flicker across the screen instead, which I think adds to the sinister theme.

Analysis and Planning Of Preliminary Task

Planning

Analysis

The brief was as follows: To create a short video showing someone walking across a room, sitting down and taking part in a short conversation. It should show continuity, the 180 degree rule, a match-on-action shot and reverse shot.

Below is the analysis of our final outcome:

• When making our preliminary task, I was originally in a group with three people. I had to go on a geography field trip so missed the actual filming of the preliminary. This meant that when I returned, I hadn't had as much input as the others and so I joined a group with other people who went on the field trip. We had to come up with a new storyboard and filmed our preliminary task again.
• As we were already behind, and had limited time left to complete and edit our filming, we decided to base our preliminary in a school environment as this meant we could film during lesson time.
• The idea behind our preliminary was a teacher - parent consultation at a school parents evening. As we could not gain access to a real teacher, we had to use members of our media class. This is less realistic, therefore less effective, but we had no option.
• Again due to lack of time and preparation, we could not plan the costumes we used, so the 'teacher' is not in the smart attire she may well have been in at a real parents evening. This also applies to the parent. She is in a smart business suit which may or may not be what the parent would wear.
• We only had access to a classroom, that was quite messy. We had to move around tables and we only used two desks next to each other for the teachers desk which made it look less professional. Also, we could not choose how we used lighting in the clip, as we could not block out the natural lighting from the window behind where we set up the desk. This meant that the 180 degree rule shot we used appeared darker than the shot reverse shot in the same clip. This means that we did not maintain continuity, which is something we would have to change were we to do this again.
• Overall, I think our prelimary task was moderately successful as we stuck to the breif. There are a few things which could be improved upon, which I have outlined above. I think it was a good idea to do the prelimary task, as we have learnt alot from it, including how to use the camera and the editing software, how important it is to maintain continuity and how different settings, costumes and props can make a big difference in how realistic and professional the filming looks.

Analysis Of 'Flightplan' Opening

• At the start of the opening, a repeated shot of a train zooming past at high speed is alternated with a black screen. When the screen is black, a basic white font is used to display the credits. The simple typography doesnt fit the generic conventions of other thriller films I have analysed, but the editing of the alternating shots creates the dramatic atmosphere instead.


• The music that is played over the opening of the film creates tension. This is due to the high pitched violin sounds, suggesting that something out of the ordinary may happen. A Foley sound is used when the women opens the door, this is used to add emphasis to the action being performed.


• The zooming from behind, over the shoulder of the female when she is sitting on the train platform creates the feeling of anxiety and makes the audience think that someone is behind the women, and may be putting her in danger. It also makes her appear vulnerable, as she is unaware of what actually is behind her and she is looking in the opposite direction.


• Many questions are generated from the opening scenes of Flightplan, which makes it a successful opening. This is because the audience gets engaged immediately and will be more likely to continue watching the film to find out the answers to their questions.


• Some of the questions generated by the opening to this film are: Why is the women sitting at the train station alone? Why is the women in a different country? Who is in the casket dead? Who is the man who leads the women from the train platform?


• The use of a flashback in the opening scene is also another way of engaging the viewer as they want to continue watching to find out the relevance of this flashback. The flashback creates confusion at first, but you get the sense that all will be explained later on in the film.


• The flashback occurs when the women is sitting on the platform sitting in silence thinking. This gives the impression that the flashback is a memory she is now going over in her head. The flashback involves the viewing of a body, so you can sympathise with why the women would be mulling this over in her head, as it is a particularly distressing matter.


• When the train pulls away from the platform, a very effective close up of the vehicle is used along with a sudden loud sound effect which creates fear and startles the viewer.

Thriller Film Directors - Adrian Lyne and Robert Schwentke

Adrian Lyne

Adrian Lyne is an English film director and producer. He was born in 1941 in Peterborough. He is best known for directing films that involve sexually charged characters. He uses natural lighting in his films and often uses a fog machine. This is a way Lyne creates erotic atmosphere. He received a nomination for an 'Academy Award for Best Director' in 1988 for 'Fatal Attraction'.

Unfaithful
Unfaithful is a 2002 American erotic thriller film starring Richard Gere, Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez, directed by Adrian Lyne. It is about a couple living in the suburbs of New York City whose marriage goes dangerously wrong when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling with a stranger she randomly encounters in Manhattan.

Fatal Attraction
Fatal Attraction is a 1987 thriller film that stars Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer. It was directed by Adrian Lyne. It is about a married man who has a weekend affair with a woman who refuses to allow it to end and who becomes obsessed with him.

These two films are strongly influenced by sexual tension and have strong female characters.

Jacobs Ladder
Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne. It stars Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, and Jason Alexander. It is about A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds who finds out his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him.

This film by Adrian Lyne however, is not of the same genre and has a very different type of plot which is almost completely the opposite of the previous films mentioned.

Robert Schwentke

Robert Schwentke is a German film director born in 1968. He is best known for the films 'Tattoo' and 'Flightplan'. He wrote and directed for German TV before writing and directing his first feature film, 'Tattoo', which won a Special Mention at Fantasporto as well as Special Mention at the Swedish Fantastic Film Festival.He then directed 'Flightplan', a thriller about a woman whose daughter goes missing on an airplane in flight.

Tattoo
Tattoo is a 2002 German film directed by Robert Schwentke. Marc Schrader, a rookie cop caught red-handed with drugs in a police raid of an illegal rave, joins a homicide investigation conducted by Chief Inspector Minks. The victim is a naked young woman with the skin stripped off her back, killed as she staggered into traffic.

Flightplan
Flightplan is a 2005 thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke. Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is a propulsion engineer based in Germany. Her husband David died and now Kyle and her six year-old daughter Julia are flying home to Long Island to bury him and stay with Kyle's parents. After falling asleep for a few hoursKyle wakes to find that Julia is missing.

These films both have an element of mystery in them which makes them exciting thrillers, as what you are expecting, is not always what actually happens.