Transit - Mood board (to be added to)

Type of Thriller

What Type of Thriller is our Film?

I would say that because of the events that occur in our opening it would be fair to say that the film crosses over two sub-genres, these being crime thriller and psychological thriller. 

The film fits the crime thriller genre because of the fixation around the crime that is committed (murder) and also the shady meet up that revolves around the contents of the bag. As crime thrillers often focus on the villains instead of the police, it seems relevant as we focus on the killer (Bill) and also the two characters meeting up over the contents of the bag (John and Hanna). The claustrophobic city location is also reminiscent of crime thriller locations such as the city in 'The Killing' and 'Se7en'.

Copenhagen, the city used for 'The Killing'

The film also slightly crosses over into the psychological thriller genre because of the character Bill. He has a fixation with the bag that John carries and will not stop at anything to retrieve it, this sort of mental/emotional aspect does fit with the genre. The way Bill pray's on the other characters could be linked with others like Travis Bickle from 'Taxi Driver' and David from 'Shallow Grave'. Much like Travis Bickle, Bill also relies a lot on his vehicle.

Travis Bickle from 'Taxi Driver', a mentally unstable character that could be linked to Bill.

David from 'Shallow Grave'

Thriller Film - Plot Synopsis

Thriller Film Title - Transit

Plot - John is making his way into the multi-story car park with a bag on his back. He intends to meet with Hanna to hand over the contents of the bag, but unknown to both of them John is followed in by a suspicious van driver (Bill). Bill has a captivation with what’s inside the bag and will do anything to retrieve it, causing things to go awry for John. As John nears the meeting point things seem to be not as expected.

Thriller Film Opening - Shot List

Shot list:

- High angle shot of Jon walking up the stairs with the rucksack.

- Close-up/ Tracking shot of a leaf falling down and landing on the windscreen of the white van.

- Shot from within the van, camera focused on the leaf and windscreen, shift in focus to Jon at the top of the stairs walking around to the right.

- Extreme close-up of Bill's eyes (angry or emotionless expression), diegetic sound of the van starting up.

- Mid-tilt of Jon entering the car park stairwell.

- Tracking shot of the van going round the corner.

- Long shot through broken window of the van going into the car park (test shot on previous post).

- High-angle of Jon walking up stairs.

- Mid-shot of the third person checking their watch, Match on Action close up of the watch (Maybe pan to white van in the background).

- Close-up of Jon's feet as he turns the stairwell.

- Low angle/ Tilt of Jon walking up the final set of stairs.

- Mid-shot to Close-up of Jon walking through the door.

- Point of view, Jon looking around (Spots van, shot holds for a second).

- Long shot of Jon looking around.

- Over the Shoulder/ Tracking of Jon walking up to the van with one door open, gets to the van see's third persons watch on the floor.

- Close-up of the watch getting picked up by Jon, has a smashed clock face.

- Close-up of Jon's worried face.

- Mid-shot/Tracking shot of Jon running towards stairwell doors and throwing them open, camera movement shaking to symbolize running/ add to the action. 

- Mid-shot from other side of the doors of Jon busting through and getting to the lift.

- Extreme close-up of Jon's finger repeatedly pressing the down button.

- Medium close-up of Jon impatiently waiting for lift.

- Point of view shot of lift doors opening, third person slumped dead on the lift floor with a business card placed on her.

- Worms-eye shot from third person's perspective of Jon walking in an crouching down in front of her.

- Close-up on the business card whilst Jon picks it up.

- Diegetic sound of lift doors closing, shot from the back of the lift of Jon turning around.

- Just before the lift doors close, close-up of a foot stopping the door from shutting.

Upon arriving at Anglia Square car park to practice some filming it was apparent that it had been closed. This meant we had to look around other locations to see if they would have the same effect and opportunities. We are communicating with the manager of the car park in order to see if it is possible to still use the car park, but if this is not the case then the shot list may be subject to change.

Case Study - Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Opening Scene)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Release Date: 2003
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Genre: Thriller, action, crime
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Daryl Hannah

Plot: The lead character, known as 'The Bride' was part of an assassination squad, lead by 'Bill' who is also consequently her lover. Upon realising that she is pregnant, 'The Bride' tries to free herself from her life of killing and finds a new lover who she intends to marry. On her wedding rehearsal 'Bill' arrives and guns down 'The Bride' due to his jealousy and anger. 'The Bride' awakens four years later to the fact that her baby is gone and she sets out to get revenge on 'Bill' and his assassination squad.

The group that rated Kill Bill Vol. 1 highest was males under 18/aged under 18, this could be because of the frequent stylised violence that could appeal to the teenage audience. Kill Bill Vol. 1 could also be considered to belong to the action genre, therefore this could appeal to adolescents as this is the target audience for most action films. Another group that rated the film highly were females aged 18-29, this is most likely due to the role of The Bride, played by Uma Thurman. This character is a strong woman and goes against the usual misogynist representation of women within film and in particular the action/thriller genres.



Kill Bill Vol. 1 - Opening Scene Analysis

Case Study - Witness

Witness

Released: 1985
Director: Peter Weir
Genre: Thriller, drama, romance
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas

Plot: A young Amish boy by the name of Sam Lapp witnesses a murder in the toilets of a train station toilet. He, his mother Rachel and a cop named John Book must go into hiding when the killers come after them.

When looking at the user ratings on the IMDB it shows that women over 45 rated it highest. This could have been due to the lead female character and the underlying plot line of romance between her and John Book (Harrison Ford), especially as Ford could be seen as desirable to some women. Older women rated it higher than younger women, this is most probably due to the appeal of the characters, plus the film was probably not targeting younger female audiences when casting the actors. Witness - Screenshot Analysis

Case Study - Taxi Driver

Case Study - Taxi Driver

Released: 1976
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Paul Schrader
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybil Shepherd
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller, Physiological Thriller
Budget: £1.3 million

When looking at the user ratings for Taxi Driver from IMDB users it is shown that the highest rating comes from males under 18. This could be because of the focused male lead or the influential nature of younger males. Overall the male audiences rated the film higher, this is most probably because it was aimed towards adult males in the first place, although high ratings were received from females too indicating that the female characters in the film were appealing to a wider audience.



Taxi Driver is about Travis Bickle, a supposed ex-marine who suffers from insomnia and possibly a psychological disability. He takes up a job as a taxi driver in New York, driving at night (due to his insomnia) and working in all areas of the city, including the most dangerous. Travis spends his days in seedy cinemas and questioning what has happened to society, with strong opinions about what is right and what is wrong.

Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs

This is a monologue from Bickle, talking about the streets of New York City and the demise of society and those who populate it. Early on this makes the audience aware of Travis' strong opinions on his fellow citizens, especially as he sees every area of the city and the "animals" that populate it. This backs the idea of Travis being a psychopath, a generic convention of some thrillers because of the unstable mental capacity of the protagonist/antagonist and the ease of which the lines between right and wrong become easily blurred, allowing events to take place that are commonly seen in this genre (such as murder etc.) These kinds of characters can be found in films such as 'Psycho', 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', 'Natural Born Killers', 'Seven' and 'Silence of the Lambs'. When Travis talks about "the rain" it could mean several things, perhaps he is referring to himself, a sense of foreboding for events to come, or perhaps he is referring to the upcoming election. It would make more sense to be talking about himself, as he literally takes action in order to "wash the scum from the streets".

John Doe in se7en, this film applies particularly to Taxi Driver because of it's neo-noir qualities

This speech also indicates how alone Travis feels amongst the rest of the people in the society as encapsulated in this scene, I think its ironic that this movie is situated in New York, a place where you cannot go more than a few seconds without encountering people, and yet that is where someone like Travis feels most alone, that is where his sense of loneliness is heightened so as to bring him to the edge of madness.
Travis descends into madness after being rejected by his love interest 'Betsy' but it could also be said that Travis really turns when Iris first gets into his cab and he is handed the $20 note, which he separates from the others suggesting that he views himself as a hero, intending to give the money back. This shows that Travis is becoming deluded when viewing himself as a hero as he loses his self-awareness which tests the audiences sympathy, therefore engaging them to the character which many thrillers aim to do in order to develop an in depth plot line.
 Although the audience know that Travis was a marine in Vietnam, they don't know what actually happened in order to make Travis so fragile to the elements that surround him, thus provoking questions as to why Travis feels the way he does, another clever device that makes the audience feel connected to the character when trying to find out about his past from his actions in the present. His experiences at war must have had an impact on the way that he lives now, as they do on many men that go to war, and this perhaps helps to make Travis a much more feared character because of the way that he easily turns his anger into a ruthless soldier once more. This fear is very important to the thriller genre because it helps to keep the audience hooked and it signifies the genre. Another point of view to this is that Travis in fact never was in Vietnam, this could be derived from his limited knowledge of firearms and the way that he avoids talking about his experiences in the opening scenes. Travis could have created this back story to enable him to be the hero that he always wanted others to view him as, adding to the characters complexities.
When looking at the behaviour of Travis Bickle it would be fair to say that he is living in his own alternate reality, his own dreamscape. This can be seen by the way that Travis looks into his rear view mirror at the beginning and end of the film, most importantly during his last cab ride of the film in which he appears a changed man, implying that he is absent from reality and lost in his own thoughts. This is similar to the dreamworld created by the two girls in 'Heavenly Creatures' and is used to connote escape from the real world and the problems associated with it.

Taxi Driver - Shot Analysis