Progress of our Thriller

Over the past few weeks of filming scenes for our thriller, it soon became apparent that having a large cast wasn't working properly, therefore we felt that it wasn't too late to change certain aspects of our thriller to make it easier. The problem we found with having a large cast was that it was always the issue that at least one actor couldn't make it on time, and when they were all together they weren't working properly.

Now, instead of having a large cast with around 6 actors, we are only having two, one boy and one girl. We are still including a chase scene, but it shall be circled around a block of flats instead. We are also going to focus more on artistic style with more focused shots, and are going to use the feature of a voice over, so we don't have to focus so much on the chase scene. Therefore this will create more mystery.

Millers Crossing (1990)

Millers Crossing was directed and written by the Coen brothers, and is of a Crime/Thriller genre. It is very cleverly directed and is full of thriller signifies and intense scenes.

The style of the film is quite "gangster" as the actors play the role of American Gangsters, which almost reminds you of the Mafia in Godfather. The beginning scenes have a fantastic Mise-en-scene and are full of thriller signifies such as slattered blinds and a electric fan. The colours of the Mise-en-scene are also quite dark and dingy, which almost portray a feeling of a thriller. There are also many gruesome scenes which obviously are typical of a thriller, yet at the same time scenes are quite stylish, with quite calming music in the background. This is typical of a Coen brothers film as well, as there always made with class and well thought about story lines.

The guys in the film are also quite tough which you always find with a thriller film, however the female lead in this film isn't actually portrayed as being vulnerable, yet quite strong as she stands up for herself against the main guy lead. This is quite surprising as you normally find the female leads relying on the guy to rescue them. Although every single time you see her, she's always filmed within quite a personal place for a women. For example, at one point there's a scene where the she's filmed being invaded in the girls toilets by the main guy, and another one where she's filmed while she's in her dressing gown and underwear. Although, at the same time in these scenes she's always strong and stands up for herself. This isn't very typical of thrillers, and is therefore quite unusual.

There are plenty of varied shots used throughout this film. For instance, they used shallow focus, where one of the male protagonist is in focus, where-as the background is out of focus. This is quite effective, and therefore adds to the films style and authenticity. There are also plenty of zoomed in close-ups, longs shots and medium shots. However, in this film there are also a range of simple shots, for example there's a simple shot of one of the male protagonist hat falling upon the ground. Although the shot looks fairly easy to film, in reality this was probably quite hard to achieve, and it looks very effective and adds the films "class." Overall, Millers Crossing is a stylish film and every character you notice is dressed in glamorous clothes, and during the film there's the symbol of the expensive looking cars and the powerful men smoking. In every shot, the mise-en-scene is stylish and typical of the era that the film is meant to be shot in. For example, the colours of the room are rich such as dark browns and deep reds which are connoting danger, love and passion, and during scenes in which violence is happening, the men always seem to keep calm.

Why does Britain need a Film Industry?

Britain needs a film industry for a number of reasons. For example, the most obvious reasons is that it creates thousands of jobs for British people. This includes:

• Actors/Actresses
• Directors
• Produces
• Camera Crew
• Builders
• Costume Designers
• Script Writers
• Marketers
• Hair dresses
• Make-up Artists

Without these type of job offerings, the employment rate would most likely double. Having British films made is also great for our tourist industry, as British films have a tendency to show of our true culture, instead of having the Americans perspective of England, which basically includes showing of the posh parts of London and having us speak in posh accents. However, British films such as "This Is England," actually show of our city and rural settings and what life was like for British, working class people. Where-as not many films actually show of our culture. Therefore, British films put our Country on the map.

We also gain Britain's political views, as if we simply just had American films being made, all we ever see is the Americans way of ruling this world, yet we never view the British government. Therefore, people all over the world will be more aware of how we rule this country and our political history. We also have a British film industry to show of our talents! Most people believe all the best Actors/Actresses/Directors are American, simply because that's all they see in films, yet in fact some of the most talented directors and Actors are British. However, if we don't have British films showing this then they would permanently stay hidden.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men is directed and produced by the Coen brothers, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and was one of the most intense thrillers I have watched in a while!

For starters, the actual narrative is very simple as it's quite straight forward as it's simply a goose chase mainly between the sheriff of his town who is carrying around $2000,000 and drugs in a suitcase, and a guy who follows him in his tracks as he's after the money. However, of course the guy who is chasing him is pure evil as he intends to kill anyone in his path.

The simplicity of the story is what makes this film so watchable and intense, as it's filled with wonderful shot types and thriller signifies. For starters, the Mise-en-scene for most of the film is of a desert, where you get to witness some fantastic scenery. There's a powerful shot of the Sheriff looking through his binoculars at some tree's, which is a great example of "The Rule of Thirds," and the shot type also shows shadows from the tree's which is a great thriller signifier.

Of course, certain parts are very gruesome as you witness a lot of wounded men, but the pace of the film is quite slow and not rushed. The actual Shrift himself resembles quite a secretive man, especially to his wife, and is typical of a strong, male stereotype. What really keeps you on the edge of your seat however, is the scenes when the Sheriff is hiding in a Motel with his money, and the guy chasing him finds where he is with a tag he carries around which bleeps every time he nears the money. These scenes are so intense due to the fact the camera doesn't allow you to see where the two guys are, therefore your kept on the edge of your seat waiting for something to happen.

The music also creates atmosphere because it's dead quiet before something is about to happen, which creates intensity throughout the scenes.

The Themes of our Thriller

The themes of our thriller are corruption, deceit, duality of characters, mystery, danger and finally moral ambiguity. The reason why these are the themes which represent our thrillers is because there is a lot of people deceiving each other in our thriller. For instance, there is a lot of conflict between the two gangs which therefore connote a lot of danger and mystery.

The style of our film is that it is a modern, British and is of a gangsta genre. This is because we wanted our gangs to reflect similarities to the "Mafia," and the role of gangstas suited the genre. Therefore, our Sub genre is action thriller.

The influences of our film is "Layer Cake, 2004" and "Essex Boys, 2000." Layer Cake has held an influence over our film because of there use of plot line (drug use) and the dynamic chase scene they use which really grabs the audiences attention, which is what we wanted to achieve for our own film. Essex Boys influenced us by the gangs, as there typically British which will hopefully come across in our film.

Overall, we shall be analysing plenty of films which involve various chase scenes, so we can base that in our own thriller film. However, we shall not be focusing on American films as they tend to be to over exaggerated, and we want our film to give of a British character.

Method 4: Case study into "This Is England" Shane Meadows (2006)