Thriller Conventions

Camera Shots

- Establishing shots- to show location
- Mid shots- so you can get introduced to the characters
- Close ups- disorientation

Key Props
Framing creates suspense
High and low angle shots to show power and status
1st person creates empathy

Editing

Dual narrative shows complex narrative/tension
Straight cuts- pace = Tension
-Flashbacks - key moments, connections

Conventions

- Drama, tensions
- Use of music
- Titles -> Name of film- cast/directors, company ideas
- Confusing- questions?
- Not much story- one significant event
- Atmosphere

Sound

- Use ambient sounds -> Music/noises - fade in/out = atmosphere
- Voice over to create backstory
- Avoid dialogue

Mise-en-scene

- Setting -> realistic, isolated
- Costume -> realism
- Cast -> Males- protagonists + antagonists - Females-> Victims?
Weapons- realism
Low key lighting- shadows

Narratives

Disorientating- starts half way through
Chronological? Flashbacks?
Introduce main characters

Sub-genres

-Actions
-Crime
-Phsychological
-Conspiracy
-Religious
-Disasters
-Eco Thriller
-Dystopia
-Medical

Analysis on No Country For Old Men

 This shot shows an establishing shot which practically sets the scene. Showing where it's set and gives us a western feeling to our first impressions.

 This is a medium-long shot of someone being put into a police car. Telling us that this is the person the film will be about and that we are about to hear his story about him.

 This strange close up gives us a feel to the film so far. It makes us start to ask questions: Why has he got an oxygen tank with him? It shows us the object of importance in the film. It is something to keep an eye out for.

 This mid shot shows the killer in the shadow. We know he is the villain because he has been put in the back. The killers face hasn't yet been revealed which gives us a sense of mystery.

 This shows a long shot of the long road ahead. Makes us wonder why this mysterious man has been walking out in the middle of no where.

 Shows a mid shot slightly to the right so we can see the killer standing up. It builds up tension. With the police man thinking he has everything under control when there is us knowing things are going to get very bad for him.

 This shows a floor shot of the police man being killed. We can see that there is a clear struggle between the two.

 This shows a birds eye view of the killing. This is the killers first proper appearance. We can see the awful face that he is pulling and how it looks like that he actually enjoys it. We see just from this shot that he isn't a normal character.

 This is a close up of the character's face straight after he kills the cop. This is the face clear look we get from him. We have now established what kind of person he is and why he may have been put in there in the first place. It is very clear to us that he is the villain.

 This is another birds eye view of him, but this time he is cleaning his hands in which he cut when he was killing the police officer. There is a clear link to suggest that he doesn't even care. It also tells us that he has done it many times before. It also supports the fact that he is a strange character because he would go through so much pain, just to kill someone.

Yet again this is another birds eye on what the struggle of the cop has resulted in. Shows how bad he was actually struggling and how much he wanted for the one breath. It gives us many implications and makes us wonder, what is he going to do next?

Analysis of Se7en

 This first shot is a close up of the telling table. This tells us different things. The objects on the table include and notebook, a knife, a pen, a police badge and a gun. So the first thing we know about this person is he is a police detective. It gives us the idea that this person has done it all before, he is experienced and most definitely organised. However, the editing on this shot comes to be very dark even though we can see by the reflection of the table that it is light.

 This next shot sets up the typical thriller genre. It gives us the simple mystery feeling. We don't know whats going on so it makes the audience think that we may have to solve it our self rather than the film giving it to us in our faces? The shot is clearly a mid shot, not showing all of his body but still giving us a clear glance of what has happened to him but still keeping the intense amount of tension and mystery.

 There isn't much to say about this shot apart from the fact that it is still dark, it is raining all of the time to show sadness or giving us an idea that something bad is going to happen. This is a mid-long shot.

 This shot shows a different person. He looks a lot more laid back than the more organised character. He seems to be quite naive and in experienced. It seems as though he doesn't really know what he has got himself into. This is more mid shot to show what his wearing as well as giving a clear show of his face and his facial expressions.

 The main character here is in the dark, once again and shows another mid shot. It shows that he is completely different to the other character because of how serious he looks.

 This is the first shot of them seen together. We now know that they are going to be working together. Having said that, they are in the same shot, we do know that they will be working together but they don't look like they are particularly connected to each other. They don't look like they're kind of the couple that will get on together which will then result in no brilliant team work.

 This is a close up of a metronome. This gives us further establishment of the character. Stating the obvious that he finds it difficult to sleep. But also suggests that he isn't happy. The ticking of the metronome also builds up tension with the sudden stop. It's one of the only quiet parts of the film. Suggesting that he doesn't get much silence.

 The titles are simple looking at the killers records of what he;s doing and how he's doing it. We see what's happened which then gives us a bit more knowledge on what seems to be going on. Again, it's dark and black. Although we get information from it, we don't give us enough so it still leaves us with questions.

 This is an established shot showing us when and where it is actually being set. Quite far into the opening and we are only just getting answers now. With it being in a city centre with huge buildings with only small alley-ways, there could be connotations to there being little secrets and mysteries too.

 This is a close of what is on the floor. The camera work here is only making us see what the detectives can see. Adding a lot more mystery and giving us a lot more questions to ask. Because it's a floor shot, it becomes a bit more clear to what is there.

 This mid shot doesn't really tell us much, only making us more confused. How has he got here? What has he done to die? However, the food and the victim being quite large links back to the title of 'Se7en' which could suggest about the Seven Deadly Sins.... Greed.

 This is a close up of Somerset showing his emotional side. It also shows the concern that he has of having this job. It tells us that being a detective is quite a dangerous person to be.

 This close up is on the torch light showing the victims hands tide up together under the table. It gives us that 'running commentary' feel. It's like someone's telling us what's happening in chronological order in this particular scene.

This is a mid shot on Somerset doing his job. His facial expressions tell us that he doesn't like his job. He is just doing it because he has to. When analysing the opening of this film I found that all Somerset wants to do is just get the work done and go home, back tracking to the metronome helping him sleep because there is so much going on in his life.

Prelim Evaluation

Media Studies- The Evaluation

Before we created the actual thriller piece, we were to carry out a preliminary (prelim) task. The task given was that we made a one minute clip on a short conversation of some sort. It can be in any situation as long as we kept to 180 degree rule. This is where we have to keep to one side of the action. If we do have to go the other side then we would have to make it clear to the audience that this is what we are doing. For this we would have to have a shot of panning around the other side of the action. We also have to remember about shot reverse shot which is where you have in a conversation; the shot would go to whoever is talking. It can also be an over the shoulder shot.

Kidnap

This is one of the freeze frames we used to introduce the characters in the short clip. We thought this was one of the best ‘movie style’ ways to show it the names. We thought that a medium shot from the character would be appropriate so the audience can see what sort of clothes he’s wearing to give the audience first impressions on what this will be about. For example: whether it is formal or informal. With the shirt and tie it is suggesting that it will be formal.
We also gave each character a different colour on each freeze frame to add a bit of personality and variety so it separates them from each other.

In this shot, the camera zooms right into the watch in that scene and then zooms out of a different watch in a different setting with another character.
The first thing I notice in this screen shot is the lighting on the hand. One side of the watch is dark and the other is clearly visible so when doing my thriller I would have to think about this.
Camera shot wise this is going from a close up to an extreme close up to a close up to a medium shot over the shoulder.
This now gives us the impression than two characters have some sort of meeting, gradually bringing up tension as the camera shots are quite quick. Also being with the girl brings the mystery up a bit more.

This shot shows one character pulling another along the corridor. It is a cross between a long shot and a medium shot to showing the majority of their bodies and the corridor.
The lighting in the shot makes it clear to us what’s happening. The lights in the corridor also add effect as it looks like it goes on forever.

We thought a CCTV camera look would be appropriate for this kind of scene as it gets straight to the action and you would expect action to be taken from CCTV. This shot is the first bit of important that is given to us telling what’s going on. We used a long shot so it gets both of the characters in as well as the setting.

Over all I think we used a variety of shots. We used a lot of medium shots and which changed in between each other especially when the female and male characters were walking up the corridor. Taking in feedback from our class mates who reviewed it, we were told that at one point the 180 degree rule was broken when the male character worked into the meeting room. After having a closer look we did see the problem so this would be something to look out for when creating the thriller clip. But in context on shots, we did use medium shots, long shots, close ups, extreme close ups, over-the-shoulder shots and we also had shot reverse shot which was one of the elements we had to include. As well as the type of shots, we also used a varied amount of angles, from in the middle to high angled shots. However, there wasn’t any from the floor facing up wards so we should think on that in our thriller as this would show more authority over characters. We also used match on action when we switched from looking at the watch, zooming out of the watch in the different room. We thought that zooming into it and out was very effective because as an audience, we wouldn’t expect it. I thought our titles were also quite effective, very film like, because we made the shot freeze whilst we read the titles so we didn’t miss anything. Also at the end, we thought that when we were closing the extract, the music started before the credits started.

We didn’t have too many problems with the lighting over the shots because they were simply natural lights. However we could have had a bit more neutral lighting on the characters when they are talking. Maybe stage lanterns would be the most appropriate at about 50%. This would just add a little bit more clarity and effect. Also, we should check shadows on the little things for example, the watch shot where half of the hand was dark.

I have learnt many things doing this preliminary task. I have learnt all about match on action and shot reverse shot. I also knew nothing about the 180 degree rule. The prelim gave us a chance to explore lots of different shots than what we knew about. It also made us think about how much planning is necessary so we know what we’re doing on the day where we start filming. Planning meaning not just story line but sound, camera angles and shots.

I think the main things I will need to improve on for the thriller is keeping an eye on the 180 degree rule, using more shot reverse shot and add a bit more lighting to where is needed just to create that extra effectiveness. 

Kidnap Prelim

AS Media Assesment- Physco

Media AS Assessment

The Shower Scene- Psycho

The shower scene in the film, Psycho is referred as one of the scariest clips of the film. With its high and low camera shots and its 45 degree angled shots making it one of the most looked at scenes throughout the film. It becomes clear to us watching this one clip of how this is a thriller due to the typical character being closed in and killed by some kind of amateur person that we don’t know anything about. We notice throughout the sequence that lighting stays the same through the quiet parts. The only time when it changes is when the deed is being done. When the victim is being killed. Sound wise: The majority of the sound from this clip is non-diegetic. This includes, her screaming, the knife sounds, the violins, the sounds of her taking off her clothes and the sound of simply putting an object down. Something that ties into mise-en-scene as well as sound is the shower itself. Throughout all of the clip we can hear the shower running. Whether it’s loud or quiet. Overall, the speed of the editing are clearly slow when nothing is really happening. But when the stabbing does take place, it’s a fast paced, very jumpy and within each shot have a very quick timing.

The clip starts off with lower shots of the woman going into the shower with slow transitions between each shot. . She is also naked and in her home alone, going in the shower gives us the idea that she is vulnerable and defenceless. Then as she gets into the shower, it shows 2 or 3 shots of the shower ‘head’ to try and drag it out a bit more to create more tension to the audience. The lighting in the room is all very bright, to show vulnerability. She is also naked and in her home alone, going in the shower gives us the idea that she is vulnerable and defenceless.

 

As the clip carries on, the camera gets higher and higher until we see her face when she washes herself. We then see the camera facing the shower curtain, slowly turning to the left side so we can see the killer creeping through the door. All we can hear as an audience is the loud noise of the shower running to show that she wouldn’t be able to hear anyone coming in her home or creeping in. This tracks back to the woman’s vulnerability and the fact that she can’t do anything about what may or may not happen.

The killer then opens the shower curtain, and stabs the woman several times until her death comes. This part of the extract would only actually last a few seconds, however the editor would have made it last a bit longer to keep it going for the audience’s entertainment. With it’s very fast, moving shots and the loud violins playing in the back ground. At this point when the killer makes an appearance, the lighting state changes from bright, to darker… It is not clear who the killer is as the light is only coming from the back of her this time. Mainly mid-shots are used at this point to show the character’s facial expressions and to show what is actually happening.

After her death, a shot is shown swirling around the centre of her eye with an extreme close up turning into a mid-shot of her face. This represents silence and peace. Supporting this statement would be the quiet noise in the background and the bright lights in the room resumed as normal and there is no sound what so ever so the audience simply know that the ‘silence has come’ and that is the end of her life.