The Boardwalk Empire Opening Credits

http://youtu.be/A9DCLv_6e5c

At the very beginning we see a full screen HBO logo clearly crediting the whole movie to HBO as the main producers in this film which puts a well known film brand name onto the film. The opening credits of Boardwalk Empire credit the personnel starting with the main character and scaling down through supporting roles. This is done to show off the names of the main characters in the film right away at the beginning of it so the audience can begin getting interested even during the title sequence. After all the actors have been credited in this way all the directors and producers are then credited in ascending order of importance, this allows the audience to start to think about the film they are about to see and wonder what style of film it may be. The credits show a man standing at the seaside wearing traditional early 20^th century American gangster clothing which instantly establishes the film into that era. The bottles of alcohol that litter the sea during this along with the classic American gangster clothing reinforce the film into an American prohibition era. This all matched along with the slightly unnatural colours in the scene make me think the film is going to be a noir style film. The American rock music adds to the character in the scenes rebellious image and also helps to set up location as an American seaside city. As does the shot of the city and the title saying Boardwalk Empire which is in typical American Broadway lights.  

Target Audiences

 The primary target audience for this film is 15-24 year olds, however there is a secondary audience of fans of leonardo dicaprio which would be a predominately female audience and could range in age from women in their 30's who grew up with Leonardo in films such as Romeo and Juiliet or Titantic 17 years ago. We can tell that the film attracts a global audience almost purely from the fact that it is a paramount produced film. With a hollywood conglomerate producing the film they will use the huge funding they have to carry on the formulaic type film that appeals to a global audience and draws in the best rates of return. An example of this with in the film is the director Martin Scorsese who is famous for directing films like Mean Streets 1973, Taxi Driver 1976, Raging Bull 1980 and Goodfellas 1990. This creates another audience for fans of Martin Scorsese cineastees who appreciate the work of Scorsese and are fans of him as an auteer who'd watch the film.

Thrillers

Audiences enjoy thrillers because thrillers create excitement and drama that thrill people and let them experience the action. The target audience for 'The Butterfly Effect' is a younger audience because some concepts are unrealistic and there is a lot of excitement and pace throughout. Also the main character is played by Aston Kutcher which clearly appeals to a younger audience. The target audience for this film is probably about 13 - 19. 'The Silence of the Lambs' targets an older audience as it is more graphic and realistic. The target audience is about late teens onwards. 'Seven' again targets an older audience because of its graphic content and the complexity of the plot.

This is the trailer for 'The Butterfly Effect'. It is a psychological thriller which is made up of false endings but ultimately ends with a compromised ending. It represents a thriller through the key feature of an ever sense of dread that the audience cannot prevent. The pace is also raised extremely high at points and exictement is created through the choices made by the protaganist that we follow. Its target audience would be roughly 14-19 because of the choice of actor as the protaganist and the less realistic themes within the film

This is the trailer for the film 'Seven', a psychological thriller that finishes with a compromised ending. The target audience is a bit older for this thriller as the plot is more complex and its more graphic. However the actor Brad Pitt has been chosen partly due to his appeal to women and so this widens the age range but i would say its roughly 15 onwards.

The Secret In Their Eyes analysis

The trailer creates an enigma that interests the audience about the 'Morales Case', this also categorizes the film into a dectective style film. Within the trailer there is a viewing of a man shooting guns which makes the film seem more action based. The words 'Unwritten Ending' that are displayed within the trailer strengthen the constant theme of mystery of the film. It is a foreign language film which alienates a lot of people who speak a different first language and targets a more art house niche audience.

Thriller Examples

This is a poster for the film Seven. We can tell its a thriller firstly because of the colour scheme, the red writing signifies blood which connotes the gorey themes of this thriller. The black background shows the darkness the film is shrouded in mixed with the lit up faces, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, it connotes a misguided conception which is a key feature of thrillers.



This is the silence of the lambs poster. The colour scheme signifies that this is a thriller through the darkness enshrouding the face. The red eyes connote unaturalistic ideas within the film, possibly signifying that it is a pyschological thriller.

This is the thriller The butterfly effect. The imagery in this poster signifies death through the use of skulls which in turn connotes key features of a thriller to us. It also uses dark blues as its colour scheme which conforms to our expectations of a thriller, as does the catch phrase. The poster is enshrouded with shadows which represents the mystery and danger, again a key feature in thrillers. The poster is centred round a character which connotes him as the protaganist. The poster subverts our expectations as a regular scene from everyday life which signifies it as a psychological thriller.

Defining Thrillers

Thrillers are generally about the battle for justice. A defining characteristic about them is that here is normally a downside to the finish of the storyline.You can often define them by the point of view they are set in :-
Detective story - The characters solving the crime.
Caper - The characters sustaining the crime.
Film Noir - The strong characters point of view.
Pyschodrama - the view of a psycotherapist.
Court Room Drama - Prosecuters/Lawyers.
Each main character of these types of drama can have both main and lesser roles and a mirror. For example in Se7en Brad Pitt, being major role, and his wife, a minor role and the opposites Kevin Spacey, opposite to Brad Pitt in Se7en.

Defining Thrillers

The film seven is an example of a psychological drama and a detective drama.
The caper in this film is kevin spacey because he is doing the crimes.
The conspirator is an example of a court room drama.
Silence of the Lambs would be an example of a Psychodrama.
Sin City is an example of Film Noir.