Best Of All Time; The Silence Of The Lambs

The Silence Of The Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American thriller film that blends elements of the crime and horror genres. Directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, and Scott Glenn.

In the film, Clarice Starling, a young U.S. FBI trainee, looks or advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer, known as "Buffalo Bill".

The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and earned $272.7 million worldwide. It won Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor,Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing. It is also the first Best Picture winner widely considered to be a thriller film, and only the second such film to be nominated in the category, after The Exorcist in 1973.The film is considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by theU.S. Library of Congress and was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry in 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_(film)

Best Of All Time; Inception

Inception

Inception is a 2010 British-American science fiction heist thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars a large group of cast. It includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe,Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. 

Its about a professional thief who commits corporate intelligence by accessing the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance of retrieval as payment for a task considered to be impossible. "Inception", the attitude of another person's idea into a target's subconscious is the reason why this film is call Inception.

Inception's premiere was held in London on July 8, 2010. A box office success, Inception has earned over $800 million worldwide becoming the 39th-highest film of all time. The home video market also had strong results, with $68 million in DVD sales. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects, and was also nominated four more; Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Screenplay. This shows how good the film actually is as it has won so many awards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception

Best Of All Time; Psycho

Psycho

Psycho is a 1960 American tension and suspense horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins,Vera Miles, Jack Gavin and Janet Leigh. 

The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who ends up at a isolated motel after taking a lot money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates(Anthony Perkins), and its consequences. Psycho originally received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted second thought which led to overwhelming four Academy Award nominations, which included Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and Best Director for Hitchcock.

It is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and praised as a work of cinematic art by international film critics and film scholars. Psycho was ranked one of the greatest films of all time. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Psycho_(1960_film)

Best Of All Time; Seven (Se7en)

Seven

Seven (Se7en) is a 1995 American psychological thriller film written by Andrew Kevin Walker and directed by David Fincher. The film stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.

Newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt) and the soon-to-retire William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) are homicide detectives who become deeply involved in the case of a sadistic 

The serial killer whose suspiciously planned murders work together to the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy.

The film was released in the United States on September 22, 1995. Earning $327 million at the box office globally, Seven was a commercial success, and got positive reviews from lots of different sources. 

Rotten Tomato which is a reviewing website had a vote that 84% of the reviews thought it was a very good film. Also on the IMDb website it has an average score of 8.7 of of 10. From this research we can see that this was a very popular film and has become very successful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_(film)

What Thriller are considered 'Best Of All Time'?

There are many films that are very popular within this genre.

I have picked four films that I have researched that have been voted best of all time.

The four films that I am going to talk about are;

• Seven
• Psycho
• Inception
• The Silence of the Lambs

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie has become quite well associated with thriller films.  Jolie who is the daughter of actor Jon Voight became the leading lady in the 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' films and won an Oscar and several Golden Globe Awards.  

Angelina Jolie is an Oscar-winning actress who has become popular by taking on the title role in the "Lara Croft" series of blockbuster movies. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press.

In her earliest years, Angelina began to take interest the acting from her parents - her father is the Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and her mother is Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg, her parents where very influential people which gave her motivation to become successful. At age 11, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, from the help of her mother. She undertook some film studies at New York University. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos. 

In the 1990s, Jolie appeared in numerous small films where she got good publicity for; such as Hackers in 1995 and Foxfire in 1996. Angelina Jolie's status increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia in 1998. Jolie's performance in Gia in 1998 again garnered a Golden Globe Award.

In 2000, Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Jolie portray the action adventure Lara Croft. .

In 2004, Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2005 with co-star Brad Pitt. The film became a major box office success. 


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001401/bio

Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig

Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor, best known for playing British secret agent James Bond since 2006. Craig is an post-graduate of the National Youth Theatre and then graduated from the Guildhall School of music and drama in London, beginning his career on stage. Daniel starred in Casino Royale as James Bond, this was classed as a Action Thriller Film. 

Daniel Craig, one of British theatre's most famous faces who was waiting tables as a struggling teenage actor with the National Youth Theatre, went on to star as "James Bond" in Casino Royale in 2006, Quantum of Solace two years later and then Skyfall in 2012.

He was born Daniel Wroughton Craig on March 2, 1968, at 41 Liverpool Road, Chester, Cheshire, England. His father, Tim Craig, was a merchant seaman turned steel erector. His mother, Carol Olivia Craig, was an art teacher. His parents sadly split up in 1972, and young Daniel Craig was raised with his older sister, Lea, in Liverpool. His interest in acting was encouraged by visits to the Liverpool Everyman Theatre arranged by his mother. From there, at age of 6, Craig started acting in school plays, making his debut in Primary School production of "Oliver!". The first Bond movie he ever saw at the cinema was Roger Moore's Live And Let Die in 1973.

When he was a struggling actor with the Nation Youth Theatre, he was working in restaurant kitchens and as a waiter as well as performing with NYT on tours to Valencia, Spain, and to Moscow, Russia, under the leadership of director Edward Wilson, this made his career start. However, he failed at repeated auditions at the Guildhall, but eventually his stamina paid off, and in 1988, he entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the Barbican. He then worked with Ewan McGregor and Alistair McGowan, then later Damian Lewis and Joseph Fiennes, and others. He graduated in 1991, after a three-year course under the coaching of Colin McCormack, the actor from the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

From 1992-1994, he was married to Scottish actress Fiona Loudon, their daughter, named Ella Craig, was born in 1992. Daniel Craig made his film debut in The Power of One in 1992. His film career continued on television, notably the BBC2 serial Our Friends in the North in 1996. He finally became international famous after playing roles in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001 and Road to Perdition in 2002. He was then nominated for his performances in the leading role in Layer Cake in 2004, and received other awards and nominations. Daniel Craig was named as the sixth actor to portray "James Bond", in October of 2005 where he started to film the 3 James Bond films.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0185819/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio  is an American actor and film producer. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards and ten Golden Globe Awards. He starred in Shutter Island which is a very popular thriller film.

Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor whose portrayal of destroyed suitor Jack Dawson in Titanic in 1997 which made him a generation's definition of a heartthrob and probably one of the most popular celebrities in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Throughout his career, DiCaprio has  show a high standard of acting, from his film role as a mentally-challenged teenager in What's Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993, through his work with Martin Scorsese in Gangs of New York in 2002 and The Departed in 2006. More recently, DiCaprio earned critical notice for his starring roles in Christopher Nolan's Inception in 2010 and J. Edgar in 2011, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.

Leonardo DiCaprio was born in 11 November, 1974 in Los Angeles, California. His father is of Italian and German descent, and his mother, who is German-born. His parents signed him with a talent agent when he was a child, and DiCaprio began appearing on a number of television adverts and educational shows. Although the actor had small roles, this started off his career.

In 1992, DiCaprio joined what became the final season of Growing Pains in 1985. The sitcom's cancellation corresponded with an new chance in his career, including the starring role in Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries in 1995 and his high status portrayal of Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996. Although DiCaprio's Romeo raised his profile with audiences, his status grew even bigger in Titanic in 1997 and graduated the actor to A-list status.

In addition to a lot  collaborations with Scorsese, DiCaprio has also starred in films directed by Steven Spielberg Catch Me If You Can in 2002, Ridley Scott Body of Lies in 2008 and Sam Mendes in Revolutionary Road in 2008, in roles that involve a wide emotional and dramatic scenes. This then continued, as in his upcoming film appearances as a mustache-twirling villain in Django Unchained in 2012, which was then followed by  his performance in The Great Gatsby in 2013.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000138/bio

Who are some of the most popular and well- know actors associated with this genre?

There are a lot of actors and actresses who are associated with Thriller Films.

Here are a few that I am going to talk about that I think are the most successful and well- known:

• Leonardo Di Caprio
• Daniel Craig
• Angelina Jolie

Martin Scorese

Martin Scorese

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942, in New York City, to Italian-American parents Catherine and Charles Scorsese. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later provided the inspiration for several of his films that he made himself. Scorsese earned a degree in film communications in 1964, followed by an M.A. in the same field in 1966 at New York University's School of Film. During this time of hum being at University, he made a few prize-winning short films such as The Big Shave in 1968, and directed his first feature film, Who's That Knocking at My Door in 1967.

He started as a assistant director and an editor of the documentary Woodstock in 1970 and Mean Streets in 1973, which first paired him with actor (and now colleague) Robert De Niro that he did a lot of work with. In 1976, Scorsese's Taxi Driver, also starring De Niro, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and he then followed that film with New York, New York soon after in 1977 and The Last Waltz in 1978. Martin Scorsese directed De Niro to an Oscar-winning performance as boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull in 1980, which received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and is hailed as one of the masterpieces of modern cinema. Scorsese went on to then direct The Color of Money in 1986, The Last Temptation of Christ 1988, Goodfellas 1990, Cape Fear 1991, The Age of Innocence in 1993, Casino soon after in 1994, and Kundun three years later, among other films. As you can see, he did a lot of rapid work in the 1980's and 1990's.

His long and hard working project, Gangs of New York in 2002, earned numerous critical honors, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Director . Also another film of his called The Aviator in 2004 won five Academy Awards, and additionally to the won the Golden Globe award and  a BAFTA awards for Best Picture. Scorsese then went of to win another Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed in 2006, which was also given the Director's Guild of America, Golden Globe, New York Film Critics, National Board of Review and Critic's Choice awards for Best Director, in addition to four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Moreover, Martin Scorsese's documentary of the Rolling Stones in concert called Shine a Light in 2008, followed, with the successful thriller Shutter Island in 2010 two years later. Scorsese received his seventh Academy Award nomination for Best Director, as well as a Golden Globe win, for Hugo in 2011, which went on to win five Academy Awards.

Martin is a very influential man as he has worked very hard to get to where he is now. He is known as probably one of the best directors of all time.

This thriller film is a drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding nearby.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000217/bio

David Lynch

David Lynch

David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American film director, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor . The surreal, and in many cases, violent, elements contained within his films have been known to "disturb, offend or mystify" audiences. Lost Highway is one of David Lynch's thriller films. 

In 1965, he attended art college in Philadelphia, a city that he enjoyed living and working in. After graduating, he found an interest in filming and directing and he made some animated film work and soon entered film school.

His first film to have a commercial impact was 'Eraserhead', a film that he started developing in 1972 and which was released in 1976.

Films that followed this were the 'Elephant Man' in 1980 and 'Blue Velvet' in 1986. Both of these films are characterised by their darkness and beauty and had very good reviews.

Then David Lynch directed a television series 'Twin Peaks', in the late 1980's, it brought Lynch's work to a far larger audience,  this was strange and original work for television. In 1992, 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me' was released in the cinema.This made his career even more successful and made him more well known.

In 1999 the release of 'The Straight Story' and then'Mullholland Drive' won Lynch the Best Director award at Cannes in 2001.

'Wild At Heart', starring Nicolas Cage, won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990. His first film of the late 1990's, 'Lost Highway' which was a well- known thriller film.

As well as making films, David Lynch has made some music videos and adverts. Although most famous for his work with a film camera. However, he has consistently made and did work as a sculptor and painter, and also makes furniture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch

http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/david-lynch.html

Stephen Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and business manger. In a career of more than 40 years, Spielberg's films have covered many genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio.

 He was born in Amerca in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1946. He went to California State University Long Beach, but dropped out to reach to his dream in some sort of entertainment career. He gained status as an uncredited assistant editor on the classic western Wagon Train (1957). Among his early directing efforts were Battle Squad (1961). He also directed Escape to Nowhere(1961), which featured children as World War Two soldiers, including his sister Anne Spielberg.  After this, he directed The Last Gun (1959), a western genre film. All of these films that I have just mentioned were short films. 

The next couple of years, Spielberg directed a couple of movies that would help his future career in movies that were longer and more likely to become successful. In 1964, he directed Firelight in 1964, a movie about aliens invading a small town. In 1967, he then directed Slipstream in 1967, which was not completed. However, in 1968, he directed Amblin' in 1968. Amblin' also became the name of his production company. Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project. In the early 1970s, Spielberg was also working on TV, directing among others such series as Rod Serling's Rod Serling's Night Gallery in 1969.   All of his work in television and especially short films, as well as his directing projects, were just a hint of the amazing talent that 

would dazzle audiences all over the world.

Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List in 1993and Saving Private Ryan in 1998. Three of Spielberg's films—Jaws in 1975, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982, and Jurassic Park in 1993 all achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted mass of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Spielberg's estimated wealth is at $3.3 billion.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/bio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director and producer.

Alfred Hitchcock was the son of East End greengrocer William Hitchcock and his wife, Emma Jane (Whelan). His parents were both of half English and half Irish. He was raised as a strict Catholic and attending Saint Ignatius College, Hitchcock had very much of a regular upbringing as to everyone else. His first job outside of the family business was in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. He became interested in movies at around this time, frequently visiting the cinema and reading US trade journals.

In 1920, Hitch learned that Lasky were opening a studio in London and managed to get a secure a job as a title designer. He designed the titles for all the movies made at the studio for the next two years. In 1923, he got his first chance at directing when the director of Always Tell Your Wife (1923) became very ill and Alfred Hitchcock completed the movie. His work was very impressed with what he did with this film so studio chiefs gave him his first directing assignment on Number 13 (1922). However, before it could be finished, the studio closed its British operation. Hitchcock then had to find some new work, and he was then hired by Michael Balcon to work as an assistant director for the company later to be known as Gainsborough Pictures. However, Alfred Hitchcock worked very hard and he did more than this as he worked as a writer, title designer and art director. After several films that he helped for the company, Hitchcock was given the chance to direct a British/German co-production called The Pleasure Garden (1925). Hitchcock's career as a director then began. 


Hitchcock went on to become one of the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema and produced films for over 50 years.


Psycho was one of the most popular thriller films. It is a 1960 American suspense thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins,Vera Miles ,John Gavin, and Janet Leigh. 







http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock

Who are some of the most popular and well known directors associated with this genre?

There are uncountable amount of thriller directors and it was tough to only pick out a few.

These are the directors that I am going to talk about;

• Alfred Hitchcock
• Stephen Spielberg
• David Lynch
• Martin Scorese 

Crime Thrillers

This a very well known thriller called Psycho and it is a good example of a crime thriller.

Crime films are films that focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime-thriller

Romantic Thrillers

This is a Romantic Thriller called Save Haven. This was voted the most popular romantic thriller in 2013.

Romantic thriller is different from established and historically specific cinema movements like Gothic horrors. A romantic thriller is a part of the genre of romantic suspense and deal largely with crime, fraud, scandal, verging on scaring or thrilling the audience/reader. The two individuals engage in a battle with the villain, fight for their lives and through it all, fall in love. There is a double amount of suspense because not only is there romantic suspense but there is plot suspense too.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6713051_difference-romantic-suspense-romantic-thriller.html#ixzz2rJJnEvGF

Horror Thrillers

This is the trailer from Saw.

Horror thriller, in which conflict between the main characters is mental, emotional, and physical. What sets the Horror Thriller apart is the main element of fear throughout the story. The main characters are not only up against a superior force in the form of a character or characters, but they are or will soon become the victims themselves and directly feel the fear that comes by attracting the characters attention. Within Horror Thrillers there can be element of supernatural features which could fall into the supernatural thriller genre. These films normally have the most suspense and anticipation as they are scary as well as exciting.




http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_thriller_movie_and_a_horror_movie?#slide=11

Psychological Thrillers

Psychological thriller is a fictional thriller story which emphasises the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states in terms of classification, the category is a sub- genre of the broader ranging thriller category. Psychological thrillers often have elements of mystery, drama, and horror, particularly psychological horror. They are usually books or films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Spy thrillers

This is a good example of a Spy Thriller. This Film is James Bonds, Casino Royale.

Spy thrillers in which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or terrorists.

Spy fiction, a genre of literature involving spying as an important context or plot device, emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. Spy thrillers are similar to action adventure films, however I think they are more intense and exciting.

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_thrillers}

Action Thrillers

This is the trailer from Taken which came out in 2008.

Action thrillers, which often feature a race against the clock, lots of violence and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain a large amount of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and crime films, but these elements take a backseat to action.

Sub genres of Thriller Films

There are a lot of different types of sub- genres within Thriller Films and here are some examples that I am going to talk about.

• Spy Thrillers
• Action Thrillers
• Psychological Thrillers
• Horror Thrillers
• Romantic Thrillers
• Crime Thrillers

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

This was the first time that I had filmed and edited a clip. I found it very useful and will help me when I film my thriller opening scene

1) Long Shot
CUT
2) Close up
CUT
3) Mid Shot
CUT
4) Two shot
CUT
5) Long shot
CUT
6) Over the shoulder 
CUT
7) Over the shoulder 
CUT
8) Over the shoulder 
CUT
9) Over the shoulder 
CUT
10) Over the shoulder
CUT 
11) Over the shoulder 
BLACKOUT