A thriller is a movie that grabs the audience's attention
from the word go, they often use suspense, tension and red herrings to keep the
viewers and guessing what could happen. An example of a thriller could be
Limitless or James Bond. A thriller is usually adrenalin rushing and fast
paced. A thriller provides the audience
with sudden rushes of emotions. Often the viewers get involved with the movie
to an extent that they do not realise there is many small plots but often there
is something bigger and much more important happening. Sometimes this is not
realised until the end of the movie, some movies you have to watch it a few
times to understand them.
Actors / Roles - in a stereotypical thriller there would be
a villain and someone that needs saving. There is also a hero to save them and
as the movie unravels there is always somebody to try and stop the hero from
'saving the day' as it were. A lot of the time in a thriller the main character
is often a male character that is well presented and educated. This could be
someone that is working in an office, for example, in Limitless the main
characters are all male and there are more male characters than female. But if
you then consider James Bond they have made the female character 'M' to look
more dominant via different shots, props and positioning.
Narratives - this is all the things that can happen in the
movie, as it is a thriller we are talking about it could be things such as
shock, suspension, mystery to make the audience stay on edge and involved in
the movie.
Setting - often the setting of a movie is a big clue to what
genre it could be, for example if the movie was set in a graveyard or church
you would think that it was a religious movie. In this case a thriller could be
set in an office or around a work environment. The main place for a thriller to
be set is in a suburban area / cities. Sometimes thrillers are set in other
places such as foreign countries,
high-seas or in the desert.
Props - In a thriller props vary, this means that in many
thrillers props are different and it depends which you are watching. For
example in Limitless the props consist of many things from scene to scene. the
main prop being the drug that enhancing his mental performance.
Plot - the usual plot consist of a neutral start to get to
know the characters, then an issue starts to occur and you are able to identify
the main character and as the story goes on it gets to a climax. A thriller
will then drop down again and discover a red herring which leads to the bigger
climax. This is then resolved most of the time.
Editing - film editing is used to make sure the producers
can get there exact vision / plan. Editing is when you tweak your original footage to emphasise the
message you are trying to get across. An example of this would be a scene
fading out to show time passing before going onto another scene.
Sounds - sounds are a massive part of all genre of movies.
In a thriller and all other genres diegetic
sounds are use to hear what a character is saying or general background noises,
this could be a traffic jam in a city in a thriller. Non diegetic sounds are
sounds that have been added in, for example if a character was using a fake
gun, you are able to add in a 'bang' to make the scene seem much more
realistic.
The camera in this shot is angled below the eye contact of the actors, this
gives the impression of important and authority to the audience due to them
being positioned in a high stance. The two men in the back are both wearing sunglasses,
blacking off the eye contact they have with the camera. The actor stood in the
foreground is looking directly into the camera. This shows he has authority
over the men behind him and demands the audience's attention. The background is
also blurred, suggesting that everything in the foreground is the main
importance of the shot. The clothing worn by the main character suggests wealth
within a business profession. Although the other men are wearing suits, they
are not seen as clearly and their suits are shown to be slightly creased,
giving the impression that they work for the man in front of them.
This is a close up camera shot of the main character, he has
just jumped off a high cliff into the water, this would suggest he is not
scared. This still shows him in the water, yet he is wearing normal clothes
which make you think that he does not care. He is also in the middle of the
ocean, showing he is free. There is also a clear background which could
represent a clear mind set of the character.
This shot is again of the main character, you
can see that character is in minimal lighting, showing that he is
underachieving, scruffy and in a dark place. The surrounding area is also a big
part of this shot; it again is light around the edges, yet darker around him,
showing he is in a dark place and needs help. The characters hair is scruffy
which shows that he is not bothered about his personal appearance as he
potentially having difficulty in his mind; this is reinforced by his unshaven
face.
The lighting on the characters forehead could suggest hope
for his future. The moment he picks up the pill, his face is lit up; this tells
us that it could his only way out of the dark place. Although the same bar is
shown, it looks a brighter, friendlier place to have a drink in, in comparison
to the previous shot. The expression on his face is read as a slight smile,
making us believe it could help him.
This shot shows the editing which has gone
into the film. The letters of the keyboard have appeared to come to life,
suggest his growing intelligence whilst using his computer. All the lights in
the background are on highlighting the amount of energy occurring within the
room. Although he looks the same physically, he is shown to be doing well in
comparison to the previous shots. His expression shows shock, giving us the
idea of him being in disbelief of his own intelligence.
