Frame 1
An extreme close-up of the 'victim' character in my trailer; Kayleigh with a blank stare as a single tear rolls down her face. Although this suggests that she is suffering from shock, rendering her unable to respond to the detective's questions (which would make her a liability), the rain in the background possibly represents the inner despair and trauma that she is trying to contain (since the raindrops on the windows somewhat resemble tears). With this in mind, it makes Kayleigh a stronger character than she was at first glance, as it shows that she's capable of not letting her emotions consume her despite the horrors she has witnessed. Rain is a common element within the thriller genre, found in films like Se7en and Shutter Island to connote a solemn/dreary mood.
- Rain in Se7en (1995)
- Rain in Shutter Island (2010)
Frame 2
A close-up of my trailer's main protagonist Detective Maria Jones. She challenges thriller conventions due to the fact that she is a middle-aged, female lead detective, when usually the detectives in thrillers are male and the women play less significant roles and are always shown to be young. The idea behind having a female lead was inspired by Girl on the Train, since it not only appeals to the female demographic but also brings a different dynamic to the thriller genre. The dynamic involves that instead of having two male leads (one older character who is wise, the other being younger and more reckless) partner up like in Se7en, we have an older female partner up with a younger male who is equally just as reckless and intelligent as herself.
- The protagonist in Girl on the Train (2016)
Frame 3
A midshot of my second lead character Peter Stone. The fact that he is not the main protagonist of the film already makes him challenge thriller conventions. Judging from his attire (E.g. wearing a white blazer/black jacket with a camera) and his curious expression, it is made clear to the audience that he is a journalist. Stone's personality and appearance was heavily inspired by Jake Gyllenhaal's journalist character Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler, who is incredibly intelligent and is very aware of it. This is both an asset and a hindrance to him as it often gets him into trouble, due to the fact that he can come across as a 'smart-alec' because of it. This trait comes into play later on in Contradiction.
- Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Nightcrawler (2014)
Frame 4
An over-the-shoulder shot of my two protagonists meeting face to face. At this angle Peter appears larger than Maria, which would normally infer that he is superior to her (a common stereotype in thrillers since they are usually male-dominated). However in this scene as he inquires about the recent murders that have occurred, Jones' reply is a terse "I'm not releasing any information"; demonstrating her level of authority and status over him. As she does this she is challenging the trope that women must always do what the man says.
Frame 5
An extreme close-up/zoom out of Peter Stone's crimeboard (though using Jones' old case files). This is a very common trope in thrillers since it can be used as exposition for the plot and can demonstrate a character's intelligence/determination, as it shows the amount of research they are willing to undertake in order to solve the mystery. Examples of films that have used this trope are Memento and The Silence of the Lambs.
- Memento (2000)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Frame 6
A POV shot of someone driving down a dark country road, with the headlights being the only light source. Both darkness and low-key lighting help establish the genre as thriller, because the overall concept of a thriller is to create a grim, dangerous world/atmosphere that the audience would wish to see the protagonists improve. Plus according to my research the purpose of a thriller is to "invoke a fear, anticipated or tense response from the audience", which involves playing on their fears and bringing them to life in film. By having a POV shot it is unclear of whose perspective the audience is seeing from, which creates suspense and tension as there is the chance that it is the killer's perspective (possibly on their way to their next victim).
Frame 7
A high angle shot of the next victim with the silhouette of the killer standing over them (holding a bat). High angle shots are often used to establish a character's vulnerability, which is especially evident with the girl in this scene since she is gagged/tied up and at the killer's mercy (therefore conforming to the stereotype that women are inferior to men). This scene also seems to draw parallels to Frame 4, however this time the male's (in this case the killer's) presence is more oppressive and frightening whereas in the other frame Stone's presence was merely curious. The near absence of light in this frame helps to emphasise the danger of the situation, as it seems to represent the victim's light/life being 'snuffed out'.
Frame 8 - Film Poster
For my poster I chose to use two images, one of my main characters Peter Stone as the main image and a crimeboard as the background. These two images compliment each other nicely because in my trailer there is a scene where Stone is using/looking through the old casefiles of the killer in order to come up with new leads. By using a crimeboard as a background it both hints at the film's plot (as well as clearly showing the audience what genre it is) and establishes a key character trait of Stone, which is the fact that he is very capable of performing his own research and investigation despite having never done it before. It is also a stereotype of thriller film posters to mostly feature the male character, to mostly appeal to the male audience (as for me I aim to appeal to both genders, however I figured it would be easier to win over the male demographic first since they are more familiar with the thriller genre). I made sure to add lots of shadows (using the cloud effect on Photoshop) to include the idea/concept of a 'shrouded mystery'.
Examples of thriller posters I took inspiration from:
- Child 44 (2015)
- Absolute Power (1997)
- Taken 3 (2015)
Frame 9 - Film Magazine Cover
Ways of how my film magazine cover conforms to magazine cover stereotypes involves my decision to have one large image in the center as the main focus (which consists of one of the main leads in my film) along with three smaller images advertising other upcoming films such as She, Unstable and Ophiophobia. I chose those film titles specifically because each of them sound very vague but at the same time rather threatening and foreboding, which suits the thriller genre perfectly. Other magazine conventions/persuasive techniques I used were the mentioning of an interview with a famous director, new information on another upcoming film like Delirium and a competition which provides the audience the opportunity to win VIP tickets to a premiere. My USP is the fact that this issue is supposedly the 25th anniversary issue, which would make the audience believe that there is exclusive content within this magazine and convince them to buy it.
I chose the masterhead Legacy because it connotes that my magazine brand is timeless/legendary and that it's better than the rest.
Examples of magazine covers that I got inspiration from:
