1. AS Media Studies: Foundation Production – Thriller Opening
Audience Research
For your coursework folder you will need to complete some audience research. This is an essential
part of your production, and is set in the marking criteria for this unit.
Audience research should be completed in three stages:
• General questionnaire;
• Specific questionnaire;
• One-to-one interviews.
General questionnaire
For this you are exploring the audiences relationship with films and developing an audience profile.
Do people of different genders/ages etc like different films? What films do they like, and why?
Which audience types go to the cinema more often? Rent DVDs? Download films etc . . .?
It is essential that you analyse the results; what have you learnt from this? And how will it
help you in your production?
Specific Questionnaire
For this questionnaire you are asking questions specifically about the thriller genre. You also have
the opportunity to include questions about you own ideas for your production, and evaluate any
positive/negative feedback.
It is essential that you analyse the results; what have you learnt from this? And how will it
help you in your production?
One-to-one Interviews
For this you will sit down with a couple (two is enough) members of your target audience and ask
much more detailed questions about thrillers, and importantly, your specific production. You should
be looking to get detailed responses, for which you must supply a transcript.

2. AS Media Studies: Foundation Production – Thriller Opening
Similar Text Research
Your first point of research must be to understand the conventions of thriller films and the
conventions of opening sequences of films. Good place to start: http://www.artofthetitle.com/
What are the conventions of thriller films? This can be a group task (to research this, use the
list of websites I have given you as a starting point)
You must, individually, analyse at least three thriller film openings. This is an essential part of your
production, and is set in the marking criteria for this unit.
What you will need to analyse:
• Mise-en-scene;
• Use of soundtrack;
• Use of diegetic sound;
• Editing;
• Camera shot, movement and position;
• Use of special effects.
You will also have to consider:
• How does the opening engage/create interest for the audience?
• Does it establish characters? How?
• Does the opening introduce themes, or story/narrative? How?
• How are the opening titles displayed?
• How is enigma established?

3. AS Media Studies: Foundation Production – Thriller Opening
Finally, you should individually or as a group, conduct a CASE STUDY on either a director of
your choice, or a thriller sub-genre of your choice. For Example:
Choice of director might include:
Alfred Hicthcock: Psycho, North by Northwest, Vertigo
David Fincher: Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room
Quentin Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown
Michael Mann: Heat, Collateral
Chan-wook Park: Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK
Choice of thriller sub-genres might include:
Action thrillers: James Bond films, the Bourne films
Horror thrillers: The Silence of the Lambs, 28 Days later, Psycho
See website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre) to explore the many sub-genres
and hybrids that exist within the thriller genre.