The title: Retribution

The font itself is con sans which is modern and masculine, representing the protagonist. It is big, blocky and packed together, therefore, it gives a subliminal message of a city. The tops of the letters are different sizes and widths which reminds us of towers and blocks that may be built in a city. The white title on the black background reminds us of light in a dark tunnel. The title is white and thin. White represents hope and innocence suggesting that the characters had a thin tad of hope. Black is a masculine colour, however, it also creates a melancholic atmosphere because black typically associates with death, sadness and pessimism.

The title we chose for our film is retribution which means revenge. This reflects the protagonist because at the end of the opening, we obtain an impression that he will look for the robber and get his revenge on him. This fits the thriller genre because a lot of thrillers obtain the theme of revenge.

Setting/Location: AlleywayThe garages on the side create shadows which form an creepy and mysterious atmosphere, engaging the audience and making them curious of what could be sneaking in the shadows. The sun peeking through the shadows signifies the couple’s false sense of safety because they do not yet know what is hiding in the darkness. We chose to film in the alleyway/back lane because it is a small and enclosed space that creates a claustrophobic and eerie atmosphere. This makes the audience feel on edge as it is not a safe place, creating suspense and thrill. Alleyways are typical thriller locations because they are isolated, walled in and scary. They are also stereotyped as being a common place to commit crime in. this fits the thriller genre due to the theme of crime and suspense.

Costumes: The robberThe robber was wearing all black clothes, foreshadowing death and crime, which are both very big themes of thriller movies. Black clothes are also stereotypically associated with criminals as they are an easy disguise.

He was wearing a hood on his head, to create an enigma about his identity, making the audience curious of who he is and why did he do it. Hoods are stereotypically associated with young criminals, therefore, this fits the stereotype. The robber was wearing a bandana to hide his identity. The bandana is a typical piece of costume in thriller movies because inner-city robbers use bandanas or balaclavas to hide their identities.

Costumes: The Couple

The boyfriend is wearing dark clothing which fits the sad tone of the opening.Due to the film taking place in winter, he is dressed in typical winter clothing.He looks smart and wealthy which may be why the robber wanted to mug him and his girlfriend.

The girlfriend is dressed fully in black, foreshadowing her death. Her clothes also fit the atmosphere of the movie because they are dark. She is wearing a fur coat which is typically associated with success and wealth which may be the reason why the robber chose to rob her and her boyfriend.

PropsThe gun is a typical thriller prop, used in many thriller movies. It represents crime, death and intimidation which are typical thriller themes. The gun is black which signifies death and foreshadows that one of the characters will die. This makes the audience scared for the characters and puts them on edge.

The police badge creates a plot-twist in the film as at this point we are rooting for the protagonist, wishing that he will catch the criminal. We hope that he will catch her and revenge her. It gives the audience hope. The police badge is associated with police, crime and mystery which are all typical thriller themes. It transforms the character as it turns an innocent victim into a figure of authority.

Camerawork & Editing

We shot the boyfriend in a high angle medium close up to make him look small and vulnerable and make the audience sympathise with him. The medium close-up shot allows us to see his emotions and him wiping his tears with his hand making the audience feel sad because not only it is a countertype for a man to cry, but the close up makes the audience sync with his emotions. We made this scene into a long take to give the audience time to sympathise with the character more.

We decided to do the chase scene in fast paced editing to create tension and to make the audience wonder if the boyfriend will catch the robber. Fast cutting also creates panic and chaos making the audience on edge but engaged at the same time.

Camerawork& Editing

Credit Font & StyleThe three main characters names are written in the same type of writing as the title of the film because we want the characters to focus more on the actors names. They are also in white so they can stand out on the black background.

The other credits are written in the same font, but in black because even though they are important, they are not the main characters so we do not need to focus on them as much. Also, if the titles were written in white we would not be able to see them due to the background.

Camerawork & Editing

This over the shoulder shot creates suspense and tension because the audience cant see the robber’s face and emotions, therefore, they can not predict his actions. This shot also makes the audience more involved in the film because they feel like they are there due to the hand held camera. They feel like they are the ones walking behind the robber. For the editing, we made the stalking scene slow paced editing to build up the tension and suspense.

How is the narrative set up throughout the opening?Our opening is supposed to present innocent victims, and how they are not always hopeless. For example, even though the couple are innocent victims, the boyfriend turns out to be a policeman, meaning that he will try to catch the robber. This creates the theme of revenge which is also a big theme in thriller movies. The boyfriend seems scared and intimidated at the beginning, even though he is protecting his girlfriend, but later on we see his character change as he chases the robber. He becomes more powerful, brave and determined to get revenge. We focused on the theme of crime because in our opinions, crime is one of the biggest themes in thriller movies. We wanted to show how easy it is to be attacked/robbed and warn people. Also, crime is a big social issue nowadays, consequently making our film seem more realistic.

How does the opening suggest the genre?Our opening is evidently supposed to fit the thriller genre, so we used the genre’s forms and conventions. For example, the first non-diegetic soundtrack playing before the girlfriend gets shot creates suspenseful and anxious atmosphere as it is slow paced. We were inspired to have slow, tense music by the opening of Leon The Professional. We also used specific props like the police badge and the gun that relate to the convention of crime and danger. The idea of robbery relates to films like Batman, Taken and Get Carter which are all very successful films, so we thought that this theme was very interesting and engaging for the audience.

How are the characters introduced?We first meet the characters in a long shot of them walking down the alleyway. The shot turns into a long take, as we meet the robber that comes out of nowhere and stalks the couple. This instantly puts the characters in danger and makes the audience worry for them as they are innocent and the stereotypes in our head tells us that the robber is going to do something bad to them (even though we do not know that he is a robber at the time). The first impression we make of the couple is that they look smart and wealthy. We know that they are a couple because they are holding hands. We naturally do not like the robber because he is the antagonist. He attacks the innocent couple then ends up killing the girl, which makes us think of his as a ruthless, heartless and horrible criminal.

Special effects

We felt that we did not need many special effects in our thriller because we wanted to give it a very serious and realistic tone. However, when we were creating the titles we made them fade out. This creates a mysterious atmosphere, hence the black background. It could symbolise the couple’s hope fading away.