Convertions of a thriller

Mise-en-scene

Setting: The setting for a thriller movie can depend on which sub-genre the film is, for instance a psychological thriller would be set somewhere quiet and isolated, where as an action thriller would be set somewhere familiar and realistic to the audience.

Props: anticipate at the plot line. Knives & guns may mean you anticipate a fight

Gender: males-authority/killer/hero/power

Females: damsel in distress/femme fatal though  

The setting for 'Se7en' works really well as it is dark and mysterious. It works well in the thriller setting as the audience never really see where they are therefore it creates tension.

Camera Work

Shot types: They tend to be close up and mid shots, this is because it creates a claustrophobic atmosphere and allows us to see the actors emotion. A long shot would be used to show a large sequence of action.

Camera angles: these are used to show who is the more dominant within the shot and can also create a perspective of the actors surroundings.

The camera work for 'V for Vendetta' follows the conventions of a thriller really well as the shots are very close up and make the audience feel like they are in the action. Because of the effective use of camera work we as the audience know who is 'in charge' in specific sense and shots.  

Editing

Typical transactions

Dissolve- This links events throughout the movie

Fade to black/white: these represent flashbacks

Quick cuts: create tension and thrill

The editing for 'Golden Eye' is extremely fast paced, it uses really quick short shots to create an atmosphere. This atmosphere puts the audience on the endge of their seats and allows them to get excited by the stunts and jumps 'James' is performing.

Thriller Opening

Credits, actors, producers, title of the film, film company and directors.

Should introduce the key characters and create the atmosphere. What would be unsettling?

Sound

Music can create atmosphere is used correctly, it can also enhance the plot to. Not often complete songs, more like quick clips from it.

Best to avoid dialogue, if you must, use a voice over as they are more effective.

Narrative

Revenge/justice & crime/psychological/action/dual narrative

Sub-genres

Techno, super natural, religious, crime, action, film noir, sci-fi, disaster, conspiracy, medical, mystery, political, romance and spy.

 

How is ‘Gender’ represented to us in ‘Shallow Grave’?

Danny Boyle represents gender in Shallow Grave really well using the four key aspects of media, mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography and sound. He uses cinematography really well and uses a wide variety of shot angles to represent that females can be strong, powerful and dominant. This is shown by the POV angle to show that Alex is submissive to Juliet and that she is the more dominant character, the low angle makes Juliet cower above him making her out to be powerful as well. This represents the female gender differently to how we would usually expect to see it, breaking the stereo type that woman are vulnerable and do as they are told. This position is also very sexual and shows how Juliet wants to be in charge when though she isn’t with Alex.

Often in shots where there are men and woman together the men is angled and position higher then the woman, but in most of these shots they are at an equal height, showing that they are equal to one another. This represents the females becoming more socially accepted in society and that they don’t always need to be ‘seen and not heard’ the change in equality towards women is positive and shows how times and gender equality have changed.

The diegetic sound from the this scene represents the male characters as very aggressive, they do this by having David shouting and swearing loudly. Swearing alone can be seen as very masculine as well as the fact he is clearly making a scene in front of everyone. This display of masculinity contrasts well with the low angled shots making men seem weaker. This is a normal representation of men as they are normally seen as big and aggressive.

Alex also threatens Cameron making him seem even more aggressive.  When the diegetic music is playing it makes the scene feel uplifting and happy, the atmosphere is good and the characters are having a great time with each other, but when David begins to shout and swear he almost drowns the music out. This represents his character as short tempered and makes everyone feel uncomfortable, even David shows he feels uncomfortable about his out burst because he stutters mildly afterwards.

Editing is another good way for gender to be represented, as it cuts quickly to and from Juliet and Alex dancing and David sat on his own, this represents gender well as Alex appears to be having a lot more fun with Juliet, showing that females are fun and free while David sat on his own looks dull and bored. The fast paced editing is a great way to show that contrast between the three characters.

Mise-en-scene has been used very well to show how gender is represented in this scene. The different props have all been used for a reason and play a big part in how we see gender. When Alex puffs on his cigar it can be seen as a dominant action and smoking often gives connotations of being powerful. Where as Cameron is carrying a large bouquet of roses that not only carry the connotations of love but are also seen as feminine. The two props give us a good idea on how gender can be represented differently between two characters even if they are of the same sex.

The costume aspect of mise-en-scene is also shows us how gender can be different within the same sex. For instance Alex’s bow tie and shirt are undone and he looks lazy and relaxed. But Cameron’s costume is neat and tidy and he seems to have made an effort the occasion and taken time in getting ready. Spending a lot of time getting ready is often associated with the female gender again showing us how little things like costume can tell us a lot about different characters and they way Boyle wanted to represent them. As well as Alex’s clothes looking a mess his hair also appears unkempt and long whereas David’s hair is neat and well looked after.

Juliet’s costume again represents her differently to how other women are portrayed in the scene, her dress is tight, slimming, quite low cut and black, this gives her a strong and sexual allure which indicates that she maybe feminine but doesn’t want to be represented as weak. This idea is backed up by her actions as well during the scene.

The lighting used in this scene also represents how women are becoming more dominant because when Juliet is standing over Alex it becomes a lot darker and she looks quite menacing which isn’t how we expect to see women. We expect them to be dainty and wear feminine clothes. Stereotypes tend to tell us that they should look like this and behave in certain way, Shallow Grave does a good job of breaking these stereotypes and representing gender differently to how people of that era may expect them to be represented.

How does Thompson create an atmosphere of threat in the ‘School Yard’ scene?

Thompson creates a threatening atmosphere in the School yard scene by using lots of different techniques. For instance, the  use of lighting is very effective in this scene, because even though it is very sunny outside when Nancy Bowden gets into her mothers car her face is completely covered by shadow and so is a large proportion of her chest, the fact her face is obscured form view means we are unable to she her expression and could also foreshadow the darkness awaiting her. And because her chest is covered to its almost as if she’s trying to cover herself up even though she is fully clothed.  

A sense of threat is given when we first see Max Cady, this is because we see him at the end of the street, he walks down the street and is near enough in the center of the street, people are walking in front of him and so are cars, obscuring him from ours and Nancy’s view, making us feel uncomfortable about where we might see him. All of the other pedestrians are walking away from her in the car, this is threatening because it makes us see that she is being abandoned and all on her own.

The use of diegetic sound is really effective as well because when he walks past the fountain it hisses like a snake this symbolizes danger and could even be linked back to the devil, indicating that he is pure evil and dark.

The darkness of Cady is shown when he uses a prop, a cigar as a sexual innuendo. The way he looks at her and smokes his cigar is threatening and away for him to say what he will do to her if he gets his hands on her.

The was this scene is set up and the cinematography used also shows us how sinister and threatening Cady is in this scene there. There lots of close ups of Nancy’s face showing us the innocence in her face and how terrified she is. There are also a lot of close ups of Cady’s pelvis signifying a sexual tension. There is also a low angle shot when Cady grabs Nancy, the effect of this shot makes Cady look big and threatening while Nancy looks small and feeble. When we see Cady outside the school gates he appears to be behind bars reminding us that he is a criminal and sinister. But when we see Nancy behind the school bars we get the impression that she is young innocent and trapped. The bars are also shaped like phalluses which is also threatening because they are part of the school gates, where children should feel safe and secure which is the opposite too how Nancy is feeling.

Again diegetic sound is used to show threat because even the way Cady walks is threatening, his steps are robotic and inhumane, they are equal in pace and are threatening in contrast to Nancy’s clumsy and light foot steps. Because she is so clumsy we feel sorry for her and that she has no chance of getting away from him. When she is crying it makes us feel sorry for her too because we see how vulnerable she is and how young and scared she is.

The non-diegetic music creates a threatening atmosphere because it is chromatic and speeds up and gets louder as Cady approaches the car. It is also staccato, making the scene feel jumpy and us as an audience are put on edge because the music makes us feel unnerved and worried for Nancy’s safety. The non diegetic sound track blocks out the sound of the diegetic music on the radio. This music was comforting to Nancy but when Cady gets close he ruins this for her making her panic and feel threatened. 

Nancy feels threatened when she is chased into the basement of her school. The mise-en-scene of the scene is threatening and create atmosphere. This is well portrayed when she is forced to run around the lockers, they look very claustrophobic and maze like, almost as if she is trapped again. Again we feel sympathy for her because she is crying and whimpering to herself. Through out this scene she is made to look small sweet and innocent where as Cady looks big threatening and dangerous.

In conclusion, threat is portrayed well in this scene and the juxtaposition of the devil and angel, Nancy Bowden and Max Cady works really well. These two characters are polar opposites and their actions fit them. Threat is clearly seen all over this scene, from the sound of the fountains to the way Cady smoked his cigar. Everything he does is meant to be hinting to a threat and make Nancy feel small and threatened.

Sound track samples:

1.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4

This is the ‘Jaws’ theme song, this song is the perfect example of a thriller song. This song creates tension and suspense straight away and follows all the basic conventions of a thriller theme soundtrack. This track is mainly played on strings as well, and follows the staccato (up and down scales) sound that is familiar with thriller songs.

 

2.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZwsK36BzcY

This is the ‘Kill Bill Whistle song’ and is another extremely good example of a thriller song. I think that this works really well because the woman whistling throughout is it is extremely high pitched and almost threatening. The strings and percussive sounds go really well the whistling and add to its eeriness. Again it is good because is follows a lot of the main expectations of a thriller song. Its high pitched, gets louder and incorporates the diegetic sounds of the scene well, such as foot steps and thunder. It is also good because at first it sounds really happy but quickly sounds sinister.

  

3.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waW6gnA2t-I

For my third choice I have chosen ‘The Pirates Of The Caribbean’ theme song, this is because I feel it creates tension and mood with its use of strings. At the beginning it is also staccato which is a common thing to have in a thriller song. The music also builds up to a huge climax of sound which is over powering. It is also good because the music speeds up and become frantic before dying off and then building up again by doing this it creates suspense.   

How does Wilder portray the characters and their relationship in the penultimate scene in ‘double indemnity’?

Wilder portrays his characters as sly and untrustworthy with lots of secrets in the penultimate scene of ‘Double Indemnity’ He also portrays Walter as the more dominant character throughout the scene. He does this by having the room very dark and shadowy. For instance, when we first see Walter in this scene he enters the room and his face is covered in shadow and we can hardly see him, the fact his face is obscured could foreshadow that his character is very secretive and very shady, not one to be trusted and that he may be hiding an alternative darker motive to his visit. We find this to be true when he shoots Phyllis later on in the scene.

Earlier on in the scene Walter goes over to an open window and closes is and in doing so he darkens the room and shuts the music off from outside. In doing this he also makes the room very secluded and closes him self and Phyllis off from the outside world. Signifying both their possible deaths.

Walter is portrayed as very dominant over Phyllis in the penultimate scene. The dominance is shown by her always looking up to him while he towers over her and when she sits in her chair he towers over her again as she sits in his shadow. Also when Walter is standing over her he places his hands near her neck, almost as if he is about to strangle her. This is a violent and threating position and shows his character to be strong, violent and dominant.

Phyllis’s character, the femme fatale, maybe portrayed as quite weak in this scene. This is unusual because usually the femme fatale is a liberated and strong sexual woman. But we know she is weak because when she goes to shoot Walter she can only fire one shot which she knows won’t be enough to kill him. Even after Walter taunts her and tells her to shoot him again. This again shows that she is weaker than him because she has fallen for him. Whereas Walter fires two shots after one another to kill Phyllis. The significance of Walters second shot further backs up his dominant male role as he is more than willing to shoot Phyllis twice without regret or a second thought whereas Phyllis was to weak to fire again and actually kill Walter.

Having Phyllis’s late husband’s chair sitting in the corner of the room shows us that she is weak as well. It also represents absences and presence all at the same time. The absence of her husband and the presence of death. Ultimately Phyllis’s death.  It shows Phyllis isn’t able to let go of her husband even after she was part of his murder, and she isn’t ready to let him go yet. It could also show that she feels some regret towards what she has done and that she is soon to be reunited with him again.

The relationships between Phyllis and Walter change a lot during this scene. At the beginning their relationship is based on murder and cheating, and they feel they must stay together to cover each other’s backs for the murder, but you can quickly see this relationship fall apart during the penultimate scene. For instance Walter tells Phyllis that he doesn’t even want to be associated to the murder anymore, meaning he doesn’t want anything to do with Phyllis either, this is a negative impact on their relationship and again shows us that Walter is the leading and most dominant character.

When Walter places himself above Phyllis it makes him seem even more big and violent, this is one way Wilder chooses to represent gender. This also makes Phyllis feel small and possibly frightened. It shows a huge gap in the way men and women are treated and shows us their relationship falling apart even more and becoming a dangerous and fearful relationship on Phyllis’s part.

The biggest change in their relationship is when the shooting happens. It shows that the relationship has completely broken down and there is no way it can be fixed. The scene’s title ‘End of the Line’ can also foreshadow the end of the relationship and the end of one of the characters life. It also refers to the trolley metaphor that Walter uses while vaguely explain why he is going to kill Phyllis, although at the time I don’t think Phyllis released that the trolley metaphor meant she was going to die. The use of this complicated metaphor could even be used to show that men are seen as smarter and more intelligent while the female gender is seen as naïve and not as intelligent.

So in conclusion, both characters are sly and use each other to cover their own backs. But in the end we see their true colour’s, Walter turns out to be even more heartless then we may have already though whereas Phyllis is shown to be weak, this weakness and vulnerability is a strange characteristic for a femme fatale so makes the scene more intense and unique. 

Word count: 866

 

Film Noir Moodboard

How does Hitchcock use cinematography to create tension in The Parlour Scene in Psycho?

How does Hitchcock use cinematography to create tension in The Parlour Scene in Psycho?

Hitchcock uses cinematography really well in the Parlour scene to create tension. One technique that is very effective is the way the two characters are never in the same shot together. This is effective and creates tension because we cant see the other persons face so we don’t know what they are doing. We are also unable to tell how close they are sitting, this creates tension because usually threat can be portrayed by how close someone is to another person, being up close and in someone’s face maybe seen as threatening, but because we cant see the distance the level of threat is never quite known to us thus creating tension.

The composition of each shot has been done very cleverly and again makes the scene feel very threatening. The treat is often created by the placement of the birds in the scene, the birds appear to be baring down on Marion in a very threatening way, they almost seem to be attacking her as if she was their pray. A lot of the shots are also composed so that the angles of the birds are always angled towards Marion, again creating threat and tension in the scene as if the birds are waiting to attack her. In one shot there is also a big black stuffed raven which screams out death and warnings, its faces directly towards her head clearly foreshadowing Marion’s death.

The use of shadow creates tension by hiding the people’s faces. Shadows are cast across Norman’s face when he talks about the ‘mad house’ this could imply that this is a dark topic and he is hiding a lot form Marion. As well as the fact Normans face is covered by dark shadows when the topic of the mad house is brought up, there is a close up shot of Norman’s face, this close up allows us to clearly see the expression on his face and linking back to what I said earlier about distance relating to threat because he is close us he is in away getting closer to us as an audience, almost as if he is getting in our faces and threatening us.

The light source in this scene is also a good indicator to the characters background and way of life. The main light source is a lamp behind Marion, showing us she is modern and more open minded. Whereas Norman is shown to be old fashioned with sturdy family values, this clash in culture and way of life causes tension and reminds the audience that Norman isn’t as social sophisticated as Marion. The poor lighting seems to also blur the background out slightly, this causes a feeling of tension because we cant see who or what could be hiding away in the shadows. The fact that even the room is being ‘hidden’ by the blurredness of the room could further imply threat, lies and build even more tension.

As well as having the light sources behind Norman and Marion the other props placed in the scene are used to represent the characters personalities. Marion’s personality is depicted using rounded and elegant shaped props, such as the lamp and the jug of milk, these props are curved and feminine, telling us she is a feminine character and a smooth character who can do know wrong, ironic though as she has just stolen forty thousand dollars off her boss, but because Norman doesn’t know this his view on her would be that she is kind and elegant and as a well rounded person, so it makes sense for her to be depicted in this way while she is in his room,  and being seen through his eyes. Contrasting to this Norman is composed as a sharp character with defined lines and sharp angled props, even the shadows cast upon him are sharp looking. And the way the photo frames seem to be titled slightly could suggest to us that his state of mind isn’t the best and he could flip and any second again creating alot of tension, we are almost expecting and waiting for him to flip and get angry. 

When Norman refers to Marion as ‘eating like a bird’ this comes across threatening because clearly Norman enjoys killing and stuffing birds. Because he has said this we get the impression that sooner or later Marion is going to die, the reference in its self isn’t actually threatening but because of who is saying it and the situation it is being said in this simple phrase clearly foreshadows death. 

Word count: 776