Supernatural thriller Genre research(Characters)

Characters come in a wide variety in supernatural thriller. Characters include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, characters with deep dark pasts, psychotic individuals, spree killers, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. 
The protagonist is often an innocent civilian who is not used to danger. The main villain often plays games with the protagonist. Our film follows this character convention as our villain(death) is messing with our hero. Also, our main character starts as an innocent civilian, so our film matches that convention too.

 
Real life examples include: 

Jerry Shaw(Eagle eye)- Innocent civilian
plunged into danger. and on the run. He is hunted by a government agency after getting a mysterious phone call.
Would be like our protagonist because he
too is plunged into danger unexpectedly and has to quickly adapt to the danger he is placed in.

 
















Evey Hammond(V for vendetta)- She is innocent until V makes contact with her. 



V(V for vendetta)- A criminal with a dark past. He uses terrorist acts to fight an oppressive government. Even though he is a hero in this film, we could relate his character to our antagonist as he will be faceless, mysterious and cunning. 

























Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the lambs)- A psychotic individual who enjoys the pain and misery of others. He is a prisoner in maximum security prison for murder and cannibalism. He torments the main character in the film  and gets inside her head. This relates to our villain as he also enjoys tormenting people and making others miserable.

analysis of a title sequence-The ninth gate

the titles start with the names of the companies and director , in a very standard white letters with black background setting . Due to the fact that this section of the titles lasting for a very short amount of time and been very bland , it suggests that what is on this section isn't very important , and are only there for recognition , and not to show off the main actors / screenplay writers , like the next section does.The colour scheme suggests that this film is a dark , or scary film.

in this section of the titles , the mood is heightened by some loud and epic underscore music , this adds to the anticipation and excites the audience. You also see the important big names on this sequence , with the names of Johnny depp in big bright bold letters , however on a dark background , which suggests something sinister about the film. This section also sees the camera traveling through a series of gates , each one different to show change of location , and as to not get too repetitive and lose viewer interest, relating to the title , and actually goes into the action of the film when passing through the ninth gate , the end signify by a bright shining light at the end , suggesting maybe the ninth gate is based on death or heaven and hell , due to the old cliche of when someone dies , going towards the light , made even more so likely due to the scene before this been a man taking his own life , as if this section is going through the nine gates the man must travel through to get to heaven/hell. the repetition and simple nature of this title sequence is used so to not give much away about the film , due to it been a thriller , and leaves audience guessing what it really is about. They also use changes in layout and size of font in order to catch audiences eyes , they also pick up the pace in which the words appear in the end to intensify the titles and engage , as people expect something's going to happen , this also keeps the audience interests through the "boring" parts of the credits.

Zach's first story

The story starts with a guy sat at a train station , reading a newspaper . The setting is very dark and bland , low lighting , very dreary looking , you can tell that the guys depressed . Then , over the other side of the tracks , sat on a tram , he see's a beautiful girl , dressed in bright red , looking happy and positive and like a shining of light in an otherwise bleak place. This instantly lights up the guys mood and feel , as he rushes to try and get to the girl , encountering many problems along the way.

firstly , he runs into a busy shopping mall where he bumps into a crowd of people and knocks an old lady down , a short chase then ensues with a security guard , which he loses by hiding in a shop.

he then spots the train again going down the tracks , as he crashes through the backdoor of the store , and climbs down some stairs and sets off sprinting along a car park , when a car pulls out and smashes into him , he falls , hurts his leg , but is fine and carries on running , now limping.

he then loses sight of the tram , however then spots an electric scooter , jacks it and speeds offf down the road, Where he again catches up with it. He then speeds in front of the tram, forcing it to slow to a stop , and as the doors open , the girl walks out and towards the man.

he then  tells her about how he thinks she's the most beautiful girl he's ever seen and , to his amazement , she reveals she saw him too and thinks the same , the two walk off , hand in hand .

Audience profile

After looking on the BBFC website I've come to the conclusion that our film is a 12A certificate. This is because even though our film has violence, it doesn't dwell on it and there is no gore. Our film also contains no sexual violence or swearing, which makes it fit easily into the 12A category.
   Our film is based at anyone over the age of 12, but mostly people aged between 15 and 20. This because two of the characters in our film are college students. Our film also contains moderate violence so this age age group will find our film more appealing than younger audiences.
 Even though our film appeals to both genders, I think our film appeals more to males than females. This is because there are no female characters in our film and our main character is a male who is perceived as strong and powerful, which may deter women a little.
   In terms of ethnic origin our film appeals to all ethnic backgrounds so this characteristic of audience appeal is irrelevant.

  Our film will appeal to audiences who like films such as V for vendetta. Even though V for Vendetta isn't strictly a thriller, the fantasy element of an unknown character (V) influenced our film meaning our film will appeal to fans of that film.

Zach's second story

the film starts with a group of guys , all sat around , taking drugs.  after the drugs start to take effect , the story starts to focus on one main character , as it goes through the journey of him "tripping out". From his eyes , The story looks really cool , exiting and amazing , the first thing he sees is him surrounded by demons , with a girl been held , captured , by the demons , so he starts to fight the demons , however , when seen from the eyes of his friends , it's shown he's actually flailing his arms at them , as he's seeing them as the demons , after they laugh so much they literally collapse to the floor , the story goes back to viewing from from the main characters eyes , as he see's the demons killed , and the captured girl beckoning him towards her , as it then changes back to the friends view , where he staggers towards the girl laid out on the sofa , and attempts to kiss her , which looks absolutley ridiculous , it then changes back to his view , in which he's swooping the girl off her feet , and getting ready to breakout of the prison she's locked in , by bursting through the door , which in reality again , he's actually falling about the room , until eventually jumping through the window . he then see's a harley davidson motorbike propped up against the wall , keys in engine , which he decides will be his getaway motor , in reality it's just a girly little trike , he then rides around the front of the house , and off into the night.
the friends , still laughing and joking about the events , go back into the house and continue their party type thing.

the night then goes through passages of time , with three scenes to depict the passage of time , and in each scene , the group get progressivley more worried about the whereabouts of the guy , with each scene getting more intense (first scene they text him , second they ring , no answer , and the third they set off to find him).

once they set off to find him , they eventually track him down to the motorway bridge , which he is climbing up and attempting to cross , and try to get him down , through his eyes however , the cars look like little kids cars to him , the group fail in their attempts to stop him , and he ends up getting run over.

research into genre (theme)

themes

the prominent themes of this genre are:
death
hauntings
unfinished business












the main characteristic of films from the supernatural thriller genre is death. Due to death been such a huge part of the genre , it is very common to see main characters and heroes die. This gives this genre an edge and a difference to other genres such as actions or rom coms, the more popular genres, as it is seen as going agains the common conventions of film. Another characteristic surrounding death is that it's never simple , it always comes with a catch , such as the character having the chance to save themselves from death (life on mars) or been stuck in purgatory , who need to complete or do something in order to pass onto the next life , such as in sixth sense, in which Malcom Crowe needs to help the child , who has the same problem as vincent , as well as resolving his issues with his wife , in order to pass on.

hauntings are also a big part of this genre , as this is used to add the horror , scary part to this genre , as death alone isn't really that scary , however ressurections from the afterlife evoke some fear in some peoples minds. Hauntings also linked to the unfinished business side , as a common think is to get rid of the haunting by finishing some business , such as in "The woman in black"

unfinished business is also a huge part , and is usually the biggest part of the story. The unfinished business is usually used in conjunction with the death and the hauntings as a way to conclude the story , this can be seen in films like the sixth sense i have described , and the woman in black.

Dale's Storyline

For our film idea, it starts with a boy in the street standing still, and then he is approached by a drug dealer. He buys some magic mushrooms from the dealer, but tells him he will pay him the next day. The next day the boy wakes up, gets ready for college and leaves his house. When he's walking down the street he is confronted by the dealer who wants his money. When the boy (Alex) tells him he hasn't got his money the dealer punches him and he falls on his head, splitting it open and killing him. He then wakes up in a derelict area. He is accompanied by a man (Agnar) in a shirt and tie, wearing a mask. He asks Agnar where he is and he explains that he's dead and he's in purgatory.
   Agnar then offers him a chance to save his own life, all Alex has to do is walk through a door Agnar points out, however, if he fails to save his life he'll be stuck in purgatory/limbo forever. Alex walks through the door and he's back at the scene of his death. He sees the dealer who attacked him approaching him, so Alex runs from him.
   There is a chase scene and Alex gets away and returns home. He then calls his friend to tell him whats happened to him. When his friend arrives he has a bag and in the bag is Agnar's mask, ending the film.  

Ryan's individual storyline 2

This film follows an old World War 2 veteran on his deathbed who is haunted by the ghost of an old soldier, who was 'lost' in the war. With him, he relives old memories that they had together, starting with their childhood, where their love of playfighting with guns is shown. the memory skips ahead to  the child being informed of their fathers death in the great war. Struck with grief he vows to follow in the footsteps of his father and fight for his country. The memory again skips ahead now to the two training together for the army. The two exchange stories about home and their plans for when they get back home. The screen cuts to black and gunfire is heard, along with the terrified screams of dying soldiers.

The story now cuts back to the present, where another old soldier of enters the room. It is then revealed that the ghost haunting the veteran is actually a younger version of him, before the war. The dying veteran confesses his regret for pursuing a life of war and his wish to have spent more time with his family before the horrors of the war scarred him mentally, leaving him emotionally crippled. As he takes his last breath, he whispers the words 'I'm sorry' to the ghost of his former self.

Ryan's individual storyline 1

The film starts with a back alley drug deal, where main character Jason is being dealt by an old friend. However the deal turns bad and Jason is captured by a squad of policemen. He is found guilty of possession of a class A drug and is sent to prison.

12 years later, he is released from prison, where he moves in with his sister. despite his initial outlook is positive, he soon learns that life isn't easy for people with his criminal record. He can't get a job, his girlfriend leaves him and his sister is pressing him to move out. after a 6 month montage of misery, Jason finally decides he has had enough. He grabs a knife and robs a local gun store. He kills the owner and quickly flees and attempts to track down his ld dealer, who in his eyes is he one human who ruined his life. The task proves not too difficult, and Jason finds himself in a house, face to face with the man who roamed free while he was stuck in a cell. The dealer makes a feeble attempt to save his own life, with no effect however as Jason pulls the trigger and ends his former friends life.

Not a moment after shooting the gun, police sirens appear in the background and the house is quickly surrounded by police. With the situation hopeless and Jason out of options , he turns the gun on himself, ending his misery once and for all.