documentary and audience collage

Upon fulfilling audience research such as a survey and a focus group, I have summarised the typical codes and conventions of romantic thrillers by creating a documentary of this genre:

Also, I have created a college to represent my target audience:

Survey Monkey- Questionnaire on Romantic Thrillers
In order to make my film opening suitable for my target audience, I have created a survey to collect my target audience's ideas about what they feel the codes and conventions of a Romantic Thriller are. Here is my collected data:

I am interested in creating an opening in the thriller genre. I have looked at two different types of thrillers: a romantic thriller and a psychological thriller, analysing both of their film openings and listing their codes and conventions:

Romantic Thriller: Phantom of the Opera
Codes+ conventions

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual Evidence
Stock Settings	Typical dark settings are used aswell as a town setting to establish the equilibrium.	-Abandoned opera house -Town -catacombs -graveyard
Stock Characters	-hero, vulnerable female - princess is young and brave male -outcasted villain -old, wise helper	-Mise en scene of costume, cape and mask for villain, white dress for female and suit and blouse for male.
Themes	-Regret -Loss -lust -romance -death	-close up of man crying connotes loss.
Narrative	Retells the tale of the haunted opera house in a flashback, where a phantom-masked man attempted to peruse a young soprano singer.
Iconography	-Mirror -Chandelier -Music box -Mask -Rose -Guns -Lasso	-props of weapons, like guns and a lasso

 Here is the analysis of the opening:

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual Evidence
Creation of enigma.	Fade in from black to low-key lighting of the prop of a candle flickering. This connotes paranoia and mystery, furthering the enigma. A pan across the setting of a rotting opera house is used to connote abandonment. This engages the audience as it creates intrigue about what events might have happened here and the bleak condition of the building connotes despair.	-Iconography of candle flickering in the dark -Editing, fade in from black. -camera movement of a pan across interior of opera house.
Introduction to characters	-High angle shot of character’s costume of polished shoes and suited trousers. Signifies he’s privileged economically, but the high angled shot connotes inferiority if this character, maybe hinting that he’s sinned or is misfortune in other aspects of life. Camera movement of an arc moving opposite the old man being pushed in the prop of a wheelchair. This connotes dependency and vulnerability as he is reliant on others and the slow movement makes the audience sympathise this character.	-High angle shot of wealthy costume -Arc camera movement -prop of wheelchair
Setting up Plot	-The long shot of the town including the opera house and children playing connotes liveliness and realism. The anchorage from the use of children laughing and car horns signifies the daily life of these characters and establishes the equilibrium (Todorov).	-Long shot of the town/opera house showing children playing. -Diegetic sounds of children laughing and car horns
Pace and rhythm Editing/mise en scene/camera shots	Editing is slow at the begging from the fade in from black showing a medium close up of a candle prop. This connotes eeriness and intrigue as we want to know the significance of this candle to the plot. Fast paced straight cuts with the action code of a man arriving and walking to opera house. Heightens the enigma and creates excitement for the audience. Fast paced straight-cuts between close up of a man and close up of a women. This connotes mystery and recognition as these characters appear too recognise each others from their happy and surprised facial expression, making the audience curious of these characters.	-Fade in from black -medium close up of candle -fast paced straight cuts of man walking -fast paced straight cuts between man and women.
Mood and tone (non diegetic music)	First, a mysterious mood is created when a non-diegetic sound bridge of choir music is used as anchorage alongside a zoom-in (camera movement of a candle flickering. This denotes ghosts as the central positioning of the candle connotes isolation, until the audience hears parallel singing and a candle flickering. A remorseful mood is also created from a close up of an old man positioned alone, centrally, with a sad facial expression whilst a non-diegetic voice over sings “every detail exactly how she said”. This creates empathy from the audience as “she said” connotes the theme of longing as he seems mournful/regretful from his saddened tone of voice and loneliness from his isolated positioning.	-Non-diegetic parallel sound bridge of choir music -zoom in of candle flickering -prop of monkey music box -non diegetic voice over singing: “every detail exactly how she said”. -close up of old man’s sad facial expression.

The video for the machinist (psychological thriller)- what I analysed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVZNctCcAKE The video does not come up, so i'm embedding the trailer.

These are the overall codes and conventions I found for this film:

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual Evidence
Stock Settings	Again, typically dark and fairly isolated locations.	-countryside -river -Low key lighting to signify night time -apartment -cityscape
Stock Characters	-Villain -victims i.e. corpses -law/police	-low key lighting on villain dehumanizes him as you can’t see his face, denotes that he is a monster. This connotes fear and sin.
Themes	-Death -Fear -Cautiousness -Mystery -Calmness	-Prop of a corpse connotes death -Mystery is shown through the enigma, hence the eerie non diegetic music.
Narrative	A machinist suffering from insomnia, which means he hasn’t slept in a year, begins doubting his own sanity when mysterious incidents begin to occur.
Iconography	-Corpse -Cigarette -Torch -Car -Machines in factory -Blood	-props of these objects

Here is the analysis of the film opening as well:

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual Evidence
Creation of enigma.	Zoom in from long shot of countryside at night time centres our attention to the car. Alongside the contrapuntal non-diegetic music of an out of tune piano, this connotes suspense and intrigue as it hints to the audience that there is something odd about the car, building the enigma and making the audience feel uneasy.	Camera movement of zoom in to car Non diegetic sound bridge, out of tune piano
Introduction to characters	High angle shot of a corpse rolling down from the man’s perspective. This alongside the eerie, high pitched sound effect (non-diegetic music) establishes the man as the villain (Propp) as the slain corpse connotes sin and criminality, signifying him as a murderer. Medium close up of man in a hunched over gesture wearing casual costume of a hoodie (mise en scene). With the diegetic sound of speech: “who are you?” and high key lighting glorifying/revealing this innocent looking man, this builds the enigma as the man looks like an ordinary civilian, but the speech intimidates this character as it makes the audience curious of his true persona and his own morality.	High angle shot of a corpse rolling down -high pitched sound effect -medium close up of hunched man -mise en scene of casual costume -diegetic speech “who are you?” -high key lighting
Setting up Plot	Close up of man’s half reflection in window looking at city. This introduces the binary opposites of safety vs danger as the city connotes reality and peace, establishing the equilibrium. In comparison, the low key lighting on the man’s distorted face and the gesture of him smoking a cigarette could be foreshadowing the disruption in Todorov’s narrative theory as it denotes him setting the city on fire. Handheld camera movement whilst man is carrying a corpse to denote the mental burden he carries as a murder as well as the physical weight of a body. This is furthered through the use of diegetic parallel sound of the man making a struggling sound while he carries the body to establish the recognition of the disruption as the man may have just become aware of the severity of his crimes, connoting realism.	-close up of man’s reflection -gesture of smoking a cigarette -handheld camera movement -diegetic sound of man struggling/crying out in pain.
Pace and rhythm Editing/mise en scene/camera shots	Motif of fast straight cuts during the action code during a medium close up of the man carrying a dead body when a prop of a flashlight is seen. This connotes panic and desperation from the close up of his worried facial expression as the man is trying to quickly hide the corpse before the stranger catches him.	-fast straight cuts -close up of man carrying corpse
Mood and tone (non-diegetic music)	The atmosphere is intensified from the non-diegetic music of high-pitched violins. This connotes fear with the anchorage of low key lighting on a close up of a man’s distorted reflection as the fact that the audience can’t see his face dehumanizes him and signifies that he could have a dark personality as only a fraction of his face is in light, whilst the rest is engulfed in darkness.	-Non diegetic, high pitched violin music -low key lighting

UPDATE: I have now decided that I wish to create a film opening in the romantic thriller genre. I have analysed two more openings, both in this genre:

The mask of Zorro

Code and Conventions	Findings	Textual Evidence
Creation of enigma.	Diegetic sound of drumming is used to denote a heartbeat, which connotes fear and excitement to the audience. When combined with the camera movement of tracking on two children running, this connotes the theme of danger by making the audience worried about the boys’ safety, heightening the enigma as they want to know what will happen.	Diegetic sound of drumming Camera movement- tracking on boys as they run to the end of the building.
Introduction to characters	A close up camera shot of two boys with close character positioning in the frame and scared facial expressions connotes their fear and vulnerability, signifying their vulnerability. Also, the combination of the mise en secene of costume (brown and scruffy tops) connotes dirt and filth and this signifies that they’re princesses in Propp’s characer theory. Another character of propp’s character theory is established: the hero, from the use of costume. He wears a black mask to connote mystery and secrecy (disguising identitiy), with his black cape connoting heroism. The diegeic parralell sound used of voices cheering futhers this idea by connoting hope and support to signify that he’s a saviour of the public.	-boys princesses, two person shot with worried facial expressions, costume (mise en scene) brown and scruffy, denotes dirt and filth (low class) , connoting hopelessness. -Hero, black mask- mysterious, secretive, whilst cape connotes heroinism. Diegetic parallel sound of cheering, connotes hope and support, signifies that he’s a saviour of the people.
Setting up Plot	Lighting is used efficiently to set up the narrative. A long camera shot of the hero on a horse, with a sunset setting and backlighting around him. This glorifies this character, aswell as forshadowing the reistatement of the equilibrium (Todorov’s narrative theory).	-long shot of sunset, connotes escapism and victory. Backlighting glorifies him. Foreshadows the reinstatement of the equilibrium.
Pace and rhythm Editing/mise en scene/camera shots	There were lots of fast-paces straight cuts when the action code of swordfighting was used. This connotes panic and excitement of the battle and builds the enigma. The significance of using a prop of a sword is that it connotes danger and rivalry between the hero and the villains. This signifies the contrast between the binary opposites of good and bad.	-editing of straight cuts during action code of fighting, builds enigma. -prop of sword
Mood and tone (non diegetic music)	High pitched non-diegetic music, anchorage with low angle shot of angle statue (iconography) falling, fast paced straight cuts. This intensifies the enigma as the audience fear the statue falling on the characters. High angle shot on people jumping and clapping, sound bridge of fanfare string music, connotes triumph, mood victorious and accomplished.	-Non diegetic music, high pitched -Low angle shot showing iconography of angel statue -High angle shot of characters jumping and clapping

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta opening scene (guy fawkes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIIay5EqqeY
Again, this is the trailer as this and the machinist video wont come up for some reason...

Code and Conventions	Findings		Textual Evidence
Creation of enigma.	Low-key lighting, man gestured holding lantern and close up of his cautious facial expression, heightens enigma by creating a suspenseful atmosphere. Handheld camera movement, connotes the intensity of his fear as denotes shaking/quivering.	-Low-key lighting -close up of anxious facial expression -Handheld camera movement
Introduction to characters	Non-diegetic voice over “love” and close up of female crying whilst watching man being executed. Connotes vulnerability and fear, establishing her as the princess in Propp’s character theory.	-Non-diegetic voice over says “love” -Close up of female crying, sad facial expression.
Setting up Plot	Camera movement, pedastall (camera moved down) across iconography of man being hanged, signifying death and punishment. Combined with the high pitched non-diegetic string sound bridge, this creates empathy from the audience and highlights the disruption of the equilibriuim (Todorov’s narrative theory) by contrasting Strauss’s binary opposites of peace and chaos.	-Pedastall camera movement -Non-diegetic sound bridge of string instruments
Pace and rhythm Editing/mise en scene/camera shots	Fast straight cuts during fight scene (action code of sword fighting) with low key lighting. This connotes hatred and denotes conflict, further building the enigma.	-Fast paced straight cuts of fighting -Low-key lighting
Mood and tone (non-diegetic music)	-Non diegetic voice over “I’ve seen people kill in the name of them”, signifies anchorage from setting of gallows and Mise en scene costume of guards wearing silver armour to signify power and authority. This makes the other character look inferior and creates an empathetic mood for audience as it hints for the disruption of this character’s death (Todorov’s narrative theory).	-Non-diegetic voice over -Setting of gallows -Mise en scene of costume, armour

So, I have fully analysed 4 openings and I hope that this will give me an insight in to some of the typical conventions of the Romantic Thriller genre and will also help me to practise analysing texts for my evaluation.