What elements make a good British thriller?

[Media.21]

For our A level Media Studies Coursework we are to produce our own British film trailer and would like to know what elements of British cinema make a good thriller?

ANY responses or opinions on British cinema will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[batman]

Do you mean you are creating a trailer for a non-existent film from scratch ...... or are you creating a trailer using clips from old films?

[Media.21]

For a non existant film from scratch =]

[Steve Crook]

name='Media.21']What elements make a good British thriller?

Well the real answer is a good story, characters with some depth that you can become interested in, and a good script.



But how you then show all of that in a trailer, I have no idea



Steve

[theuofc]

name='Media.21']For our A level Media Studies Coursework we are to produce our own British film trailer and would like to know what elements of British cinema make a good thriller?

ANY responses or opinions on British cinema will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Seems you have at the least three areas you are considering: 1) the elements of a good thriller, 2) a good -British- thriller, and 3) an effective trailer for a British thriller.



Since your assignment is, as you say, to make a trailer, focus on that because making a good trailer is a different challenge than a good film because of (a) the time constraints and (b) the main purpose of the trailer which is to make people want to plunk down their money and see the film itself but without giving the whole show away.



How long (in time) can your trailer be?



Barbara

[ringsider]

Although thrillers come in many guises, I would have thought that one essential element in a trailer would be to show some of the menace posed by the 'baddies', the more violent the better. A trailer would be too short to show much subtlety.



Regards - Bernard

[fluddite]

1) Thrillers thrive on narrative twists - which you don't want to give away in your trailer! (Imagine, say, a trailer for The Usual Suspects that gave away the identity of Keyser Söze....) Instead, it seems to me that you want to hint at what might happen to your protagonist(s)....



2) Whether you foreground violence in the trailer will depend to a large extent not only on generic conventions/expectations, but also on your assumptions about intended audience(s). Allegedly, male viewers like screen violence and female viewers dislike it; ditto (equally allegedly) for younger vs. older audiences. Any 18-certificated trailer will fail to reach audiences much below that age in cinemas. Also (from the PoV of the violence afficionado), if you put all the "best bits" (i.e. your most visceral set-pieces) in the trailer, you're going to leave them disappointed when they shell out for a ticket (or a DVD). As with narrative disclosures, a good rule of thumb for effective use of violence in trailers is: a) hint rather than overpower; b) Less Is More.



3) What often makes for distinctive "British" thrillers (even if directed by - say - Americans) is a clear sense of specific (often geographically confined) setting (e.g. Brighton in Brighton Rock, Newcastle in Get Carter, Venice in Don't Look Now - if, indeed, these are all "thrillers"....). Better still is a sensitivity to nuances of social context - think how characters dress, speak, move, articulate their personalities. Money (and arguably social status) is often at least as important in good Brit thrillers as guns or car-chases.



Hope this helps.