A Thriller is a very difficult genre to define as there are so many sub-genres which branch out from it such as Crime/Thriller or Psychological Thrillers. I think my Thriller definitely contains many psychological aspects for example using two cameras created a divide between real life and the flashbacks which also added a psychological feel to it.
The first 5 minutes of a thriller should aim to grab the attention of the viewer in order to keep them concentrated throughout the film. I researched on the internet the conventions of a Thriller opening to again create a Wordle showing the main conventions of a Thriller opening.
Certain conventions which many thrillers use are;
- Establishing shots, Close up shots, reaction shots and wide angle- environment introducing shots.
- Enticing sounds to attract audience, sounds to create suspense. Both diegetic and non- diegetic sounds are often used in thriller openings.
- A suitable Mise-en-scene to show the audience exactly where they are, or a suitable Mise-en-scene so the audience does not know where they are or what they are looking at.
- Editing is important so everything is attractive and appropriately pitched.
All of the above, is done correctly will give an effective narrative within the opening which should keep the veiwers attentative for the duration of the film.
Proof that my thriller opening conventions match the general trend of thriller opening conventions;
Camera Shots;
- Establishing shot-
This pan shot is shown after the drug is taken to emphasise the feelings and visuals the characters are feelings, so this clearly establishes a different frame of mind to the viewer.- Close up shot-
This close up shot effectively expresses the worried emotion of the character, this shot could also be classified as a reaction shot as the worried face is a reaction to being pressured to take a drug.- Wide angle – environmental shot-
This wide pan shot clearly introduces the viewer to the surrounding environment (a woodland lake).- High angle shot-
Our Thriller opening also contains a high angle shot which clearly shows the struggle which takes place. High angle shots were not mentioned in the convention of an average Thriller so this shot type possible challenges the conventions a real media production.
Sound;
- Eerie piano gives a thrilling introduction emphasises something other than a standard fishing lake and gives negative connotations.
- When the second pan shot is shown (after the drug is taken) a deep growling sound is put in to add further effect to the differentiation of the sober and drugged characters.
- A lighting strike is included when Steven is working in the office/study to give hints of darkness. Although at the time we thought this was a good idea, looking back on it now it does seem slightly 'cheesy'.
Mise en scene;
- Fishing equipment was used to emphasise the 'fishing scene'.
- In office/study scenes; books, pens and other general stationary was added to further improve the mise-en-scene.
Mise en scene us critically important when introducing the veiwer as they will want to know what they are looking at which is why confusing mis-en-scenes can often have a hooking effect; as the veiwe wants to find out what they have just seen. Our mise en scene is clear but has confusing hints which keeps the veiwer hooked.
Editing;
- There was a huge amount of editing done in order to create this production such as cropping, positioning, editing the contrast and sound and i will talk further about this in the technologies section.
Our Thriller contains many effective shot-types such as high angle, low angle and moving shots. Combining dim shots and high saturation shots has a huge impact on the viewer as the viewer’s eyes have to quickly adjust, this gives a true divide between real time and past tense.
Here is a video of a member of our target audience commenting on the conventions we used;
Our Thriller combines many extreme feelings when taken seriously (not viewed by friend etc…) feelings that are felt are of darkness, depression, sorrow for Ryan’s situation, confusion, euphoria and tension in the ‘peak points’.
I am now going to compare the conventions we used with conventions of The Happening (another film in the same genre with similar conventions);
Tension can often fluctuate in thrillers and the conventions representing this tension are similar to those of other Thrillers such as The Happening. Unusual lighting and a different contrast is used in both of these shots but we have used a high-angle shot and the producers of the happening have used a close up.
Both of the shots above intend to clearly show the depressive, worried faces of the characters. The conventions used to do this in both shots is the use of close-ups. Close ups are an effective convention to present emotions as there is nothing else to look at other than that emotion.
The feelings felt in our Thriller are very similar to the feelings you would feel from many other famous Thrillers such as Memento and The Happening this shows we were effective at matching the Thriller genre with our conventions. These thrillers also have psychological hints to them as with my product, memento also shares different time scales which has a huge impact on the viewer. The main feelings felt in both my product, Memento and The Happening are confusion, tension, depression and darkness.
