Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is a software that we'll be using frequently throughout our media studies course in order to peice together clips to form our work.
Last week we had a few lessons focusing on how to use Adobe Premiere Pro, we were given the raw files to an a level opening sequence to a film from last year, and we had to recreate the sequence using premiere pro.
First we imported the clips on to the computer, then put them in order,
we then learnt the techiques such as editing using frames and about FPS (trim/cut)
adding transitions, adding titles (positioning/opacity/keyframes), adding effects/animations and sound effects/overplay

The Village

The opening to the village is very limited in my opinion, quite basic. It begins with a rather disorientating shot of trees, this is used to confuse the audience, which is iconic of thriller films, to make an uncomfortable environment. Very minimalistic lighting, typical to the genre, black tree's on white background which is also iconic of thriller films to have silhouettes. The text dissolves through the image, very slowly to set the slow pace of the movie, along side the eerie music setting the mood of the film. The director had made the decision to follow the stereotypical conventions of the thriller film, as this is what helps the audience understand the genre.
as the pace of the non-diegetic music gradually increases as does the editing of the dissolves until an anticlimactic shot tracking the trees, it becomes clearer that the camera is lost in the woods, by the use of the LA shot looking up towards the trees making them look daunting or scary, iconic of thrillers to make the subject seem small and insignificant.

Sin City

The opening sequence to 2005's 'Sin City' by Robert Rodriguez connotes that it is a Thriller by the use of low-key lighting, and a slow pace at the beginning. This film does not have an opening sequence like most other thrillers do. It starts with an establishing shot of the city skyline, where one woman is smoking on the roof of a tall building on a cold windy night, this is iconic of this genre of film, the screen is in black and white apart from the woman’s red dress and red lipstick, the colour red symbolises lust and passion but in the meantime could also represent danger. These simple indexical sign's reinforce that it is a thriller; because right away the audience is wondering why the director has chosen to this and what will be happening soon. A woman smoking in thriller films is often seen as quite sexy, but can denote a powerful dangerous woman, this reinforced the colour red representing lust, yet also danger. On the other hand, the way in which the colour of her dress symbolises power, contrasts with the backless design signifying vulnerability
A man appears in ELS and gradually walks though centre into a mid shot, the man and woman are level on screen this denotes that the genders are equal in the shot.
Throughout the scene the pace is slow and steady and there are various long-held straight cut's and jump cut's of the two characters, CU's, ECU's and zoom's of the cigarette and of the kiss and their faces, this makes the audience not only see the continuity but also to connect and interact with the characters.
The director also decided that he would occasionally cut to a shot of a comic book, in silhouette which reinforces the genre as silhouettes are used alot in thrillers. This also establishes that this is a fictional comic book story.
Alot of the scene is established through sound, non-diegetic jazz music sets the passionate, romantic scene, the ambient sounds of the city night reinforces the location, along side the sounds of rain and wind. Also the voice over helps explain the narrative, and makes the personas inner thoughts known.
The man in the suit with a gun is iconic of the classic hit man look in typical action thrillers, e.g. James Bond. Once he shots her, she falls off centre and lower than him in the shot, signifying that she is now a weaker character. The opening extract finishes with a close up of him half in the light symbolises the mystery of his character, highlighting the genre of thriller.

The Birds

The opening sequence the thriller 'The Birds' by Alfred Hitchcock beginnings with a shot of squawking wild black crows fluttering rapidly across a white sky, this is an example of binary opposition. Silhouettes like this are used frequently in thrillers as it symbolises the evil, represented by the crows being iconic of death, contrasting with the plain white background representing pure and good. It is a very simple opening, but as are most opening sequences to thrillers. The titles appear on top of the black crows in simple font too, but the cold blue writing dissolving on and off screen reinforce the coldness of the scene and scenes to come.
Also, the non diegetic sound of birds annoying high pitched squawking sets a quite uncomfortable mood, which emphasises the genre of the film. The frantic flocking birds speed up and the pace of the non-diegetic sound does too in parallel until it fades to black. At this point it has no relevance to the plot so far, but it will stay in the audiences mind and leave them curious as to what it meant, this is iconic of the thriller genre.
Then an establishing shot of a city dissolves through the shot of the birds. The camera pans into a long shot following one woman in the centre as she crosses the road, this signifies her importance. This becomes apparent also once the narrative continues to see her in centre mid shot. The off screen music is quite soft and calming which is a juxtaposition from the previous scene with the uncomfortable squawking sounds, this reinforces the fact that it is a different scene in a different location.

What is a Thriller?

A thriller is a genre of film, a typical thriller film consists of a list of semiotic codes that most thrillers follow and have become iconic to the genre, such as; they often start with a slow paced opening sequence, the lighting is very low-key, it is very common for them to contain non-diegetic sound in the background, e.g. Organs or brass bands, used to set the mood, this is reinforced by, very minimal, ambient sound, setting the location. Quite often there is narration to help explain or expedite the narrative. The director of a thriller film attempts to create an uncomfortable, yet engaging atmosphere, this is established by the use of suspense, intriguing the viewer to watch on. Also, they always contain scenes with tension, which also sets the mood of the film. Until they build up to the climatic thrilling definitive point in the film, or one of them.

There are many sub genres of the film genre thriller, for example -
·Action Thriller
·Adventure thriller
·crime thriller
·disaster thriller
·drama thriller·sci-fi thriller·psychological thriller·spy thriller
And many others.

Film's such as sin city and the village are two different types of thriller, but they both follow similar conventions, although sin city does not have a title sequence, the film starts on a rooftop of a city, with very low key lighting, very few colours, most of the sound is either non-diegetic music or ambient sounds. It does contain some diegetic dialogue, unlike the opening to the village, but in that case they focused on sound creating ambience. Both beginnings start very slow-paced and build up until the crescendo.