Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Conventions Of Thriller Films
A thriller film will always have the same conventions or traditions to create suspense and have an effect on the audience. The thriller genre uses unpredictability, surprise, and excitement to get to the audience. There are many times of thriller sub genres, such as crime, love, action these are just the main ones. Thrillers tend to be quite fast paced so they can get the audience engaged and thinking.
The key concepts of a thriller movie will be the mise-en-scene so everything within the frame cosutme, location, props, lighting and camera angles. Representation of social groups also comes in to this as well as ideology so the views and messages behind the film, maybe there is a moral to the story that the director is trying to get across to the audience. The audience is also a very important factor so they who the target market is and who it is aimed at.
Thriller genre has many different characters that will have to play different play roles to get the audience confused and thinking what is happening and what is going to happen. The camera movement involved in thrillers are normally tracking and pan this is done so it shows the audience know who is involved and the main characters in the movie. Jump cuts are commonly in most thriller movies, this is because a number of things are happening that we are unaware of and the jump cuts fill us in and let us know about certain characters and what the story will be about. Dark colours are also used in thrillers to create an edgy feeling and a tense atmosphere this giving the film a thrill.
Music and sound (mostly non-digetic) are almost used in thriller majority thriller films. Sound and music is a key convention to the thriller genre as without it the right atmosphere will not be created. In the beginning of a thriller, music tends to be slow paced and will be used to build up suspense or get you into the film however during a thriller film silence is also another technique used in a thriller. Silence is used because it means the audience can put all there main focus on the character instead of allowing the music to create the atmosphere for them.
In conclusion there are many key aspects and key conventions in a thriller movie and if you meet them all you will have a good movie, which will attract a wide audience and will be big hit.
Thriller Films Opening Analysis
Limitless: Limitless is a film about a writer who takes a drug which allows his brain to fully function 100% he then has the power and authority to do anything the drug gives him super human abilities. The opening of Limitless is very quick and has a lot of swift transactions. They firstly introduce the main character by zooming on to him this is showing us that the story is based on him. This is a typical thriller movie as it keeps you at edge and wants you to know more. The fast paced music and beat also goes with the thriller convention genre of fast paced music which makes you think that something is going to happen. Lighting used in the trailer is natural light as he is in his office or outside which the sun is giving. This does not give you the image of a dark gloomy place, it makes you think that everything is calm and nothing is going to happen. But as it goes on a number of camera angles are used such as zoom in, mid shot, long shot these are used to show expressions, props and setting of the film. It moves on from place to place and scene to scene to make it more dramatic. The title "Limitless" fades out. This then leads to the credits coming in and every credit enlarges a little bit before disappearing.
Snatch: Snatch is a film about people who have no morals by promoting bare knuckle fighting, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond. This film has it all and is a good thriller movie, it opens up with a black screen then white font comes into it telling us who the producer is and who the distributor is. This hits the audience straight away as it is in bold lettering. The camera movement is very minimal at first but then close up are used to show people faces, this is like a mug shot and links in with the characters profile of being a thug. The camera pans back and forth when it is on the CCTV camera and then moves on to the next one. Over the shoulder shot is used when the men are talking this is showing us that they are having a conversation, it could be between a police officer and a robber in the station. Zoom in is used when they are showing us the very expensive diamond gleaming showing us that is worth money. Props are mainly suits, guns as the characters involved are wealthy and have to look classy with power. The soundtrack is faced paced and has the thriller edge to it, so the audience if left at suspense.
Inception: Is a action thriller which revolves around the world of dreams and people performing actions in them like another world. When the film starts off a black background is used and white font is used to show the audience who is starring and who the film is distributed. The use of sound is good as it has an impact on the audience and allows them to take in the detail and the scope of the environment which helps to build the area up as somewhere new and unexplored. The close up camera angle is used to show expression on the characters face this shows them how the character is feeling, the man is laying down on the floor and you can tell that he is baffled and does not know where he is or how he got there, its almost like that he is unaware of his surroundings, this creates tension and gets the audience thinking what is going to happen next. The male character is wearing plain and simple clothing where as the children are wearing bright clothes to make them stand out more. A low angle is used when the protagonist is then seen by a person in uniform, he uses his gun to nudge him to see if he is alive, this is showing us that the man in uniform has authority and is higher than the man. This leaves it at a cliff hanger ending, so the audience carry on watching and wanting to no more.
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