Thriler Audiences: Who are the consumers?

It is important to look into just who the audiences of thrillers are and which of these we want to target our thriller opening towards. We researched some statistics for films released in the UK in 2009 and looked into gender demographics for different types of thrillers.

Gender demographics
Sci-fi, crime and action films are geared more towards males, whilst for females it is romance, period and suspense films. Horror and comedy films tend to be more in the middle and widespread.

UK Cinema-going in 2009
• In total, 501 films were released, 31 of which fell under the suspense or thriller category...
• Action, comedy, and animation films accounted for 52% of the total box office gross. So why are these genres so popular? Well as mentioned earlier, comedy films appeal to a wide audience of both males and females. Similarly, animation films are generally suitable for all ages and so are family favourites, whilst action films are big summer blockbusters again and again.
• In comparison, suspense/thriller films contributed a mere 4%, which I thought was quite a surprise. I think that maybe thrillers just don't appeal to as wide a market as other films. For example, in the 'fantasy' genre there were only four films released in 2009; however, they contributed 5.4% of total box office gross, more than that of suspense/thriller films which had 31 films. Could the films' certificates be what's affecting the popularity of thrillers?
 

Thriller certificates

To the right are ten varied examples of thrillers I have chosen somewhat randomly, along with their certificate.  We can see that the majority of these examples have a rating of 15, with a couple of 12 and 18 ratings each. I kind of expected more 12 ratings, but it's obvious that thrillers generally have a more mature audience than say animation or even comedy films. With this in mind it is no surprise then that thrillers don't gross as much, so I guess under 18's form a larger portion of movie-goers than I originally thought. (That or thrillers just suck... only kidding!)

Practice Film #2

Practice Film #1

This is our first practice film, based on the brief: 'a thrilling game of cards'.

Structures of Thriller Openings

There are three basic structures when it comes to the opening titles of a thriller:

A blank screen with titles rolling over it, followed by narrative opening
We observed two examples of films that utilized this in class: Dead Calm (1989) and Donnie Darko (2001). Whilst visually not very interesting (white simple serif font over black background), I thought that the audio in the opening for Dead Calm contributed a lot. The segue between the increasing, disturbing soundtrack and the narrative of the passing train was very effective. Donnie Darko's opening is also slow but mysterious. It creates intrigue through setting, character and choice of soundtrack, although this is ruined by the somewhat shoddy choice of typeface (see The Shining).  

Titles running over a narrative opening
 This is another common structure, although the choice of titles here are probably even more important as we wouldn't want them to distract from the narrative. One example where this was used to great effect is that of Panic Room (2002). The shots in this opening couldn't be more simple basic - simple shots of the city that represent the setting. However, the visually interesting three-dimensional titles add something that is perhaps quite sinister; there is something almost unnerving about these big letters suspended in mid-air, looming over the city.

Then there's the opening of The Shining, which I've already talked a bit about in my response to the Watching: Beginnings documentary. In what otherwise is an effectively uneasy opening that portrays the isolated surroundings of the setting, is the monstrosity that is the ugly cyan lettering scrolling up over the image in what could easily be recreated in Windows Movie Maker or such amateur editing software. Awful. It is just another reminder of the importance of font choice, as upon first viewing this pretty much broke any suspense that was building up for me whilst watching.

Discrete title sequence
These title sequences are usually heavily-edited and are separate from the film's narrative. This type of opening can be exciting and effective for conveying a certain mood or effect. The famous title sequence of Se7en (1995) is a prime example of this. Another is Enemy of the State (1998), which combines grainy, CCTV-style footage, with distorted transitions and fast-forwarded sequences to create a thrilling fast-paced opening.


Stylized editing
Because of the stylistic approach to the editing of these title sequences, their creation are often more time-consuming than the regular more basic approaches. However, when done right, they can add a lot to a film. One example is the French film 'Mesrine: L'instinct de mort' (2008), which utilizes split-screen effects of different shots of the same scene to create a tense atmosphere.