Nura Abdul-Razak 12Q

Thriller Research

WHAT IS A THRILLER?

A thriller is a genre where it has an exciting plot to start off a film or

book, which is typically involving crime , murders and unexpected events,

as these are the main elements, which makes the audience jump at the

edge of there seats. Thriller is a very suspense, as this causes tension for

the audience, as this is where it makes the audience to be all jumpy and

scared , mostly in thrillers there is always a protagonist and a antagonist

where there is a good side of the film and a bad side , but within the film

or book you would know what roles they have , there are all different

types of thrillers such as political, religious, historical and much more, as

all these aspects makes the audience breathless.

WHAT IS A THRILLER?violence

atmospheric

Unexpected plot twist

Unexpected events

Mysterious characters

Revealing shots

This shows all the codes and conventions of a thriller , without these codes and conventions the film will not a thriller without these , as the film doesn’t meet the codes and conventions.

Codes and Conventions of a thriller genre

Name: The Orphanage

Main Characters: Belén Rueda , Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona

Year: 2007

This is a close up shot of Simon in his house talking with his mother. His expression and what he says “they’re outside. Listen” makes us feel sympathy as we know his mother dose not believe him however he is certain of what he hears.

THE ORPHANAGE

The diegetic sound of the rain in this scene along with the dialogue creates an airy, yet calm atmosphere.

In this shot is an over shoulder shot of the social worker, meeting and greeting the mother Laura, furthermore this is a shot reverse shot to suggest they are having a conversation, this relates back to the audience for the audience to understand what is happening.

THE ORPHANAGE

This is a full body shot of Laura walking in her back yard to go to the shed she heard a noise come from; her body language and the way she walks shows she is very frightened and scared.

THE ORPHANAGE

She is wearing her normal/everyday clothes which suggests she has had no sleep and was maybe expecting something to happen.

This close up shot of Simons drawing . This creates suspense to the audience as the drawing is of characters he believes to be his friends however know one can see them. This is the first time where the audience as well as his mother start to believe maybe he is telling the truth and can actually see people. The main focus in this picture is of the third character who has no facial expression as he has what seems to be a mask over his head. This character (Thomas) plays a big roll in Simons imagination and at one point in the movie leaves us on our seats as we see him meet Laura.

THE ORPHANAGE

Juan Antonio Bayona uses shot reverse shot to emphasize how close Thomas is getting towards the mother this connects with the audience with how close Thomas is getting furthermore I can add that the sounds Thomas makes is very creepy , to make Laura scared and the audience to be scared too.

THE ORPHANAGE

This is a shot of Laura screaming as Thomas slams her fingers in door,

In the background of this shot, it shows a fire extinguisher which suggests that they are prepared for danger.

THE ORPHANAGE

Long shot is used during this screen shot, and background added at the back, this shot of the character is called Simon, as this character is a protagonist, as his is really the main action of this film and shot, he is wearing ordinary clothing but from a long far distance, this shot looks like a thriller because where it is set, and because he is all alone and this would make the audience fell sympathy for him.

THE ORPHANAGE

This all connects altogether with thriller , as she has turned into a mad person, she is a more antagonist within this film, as more of her bad side has turned up, and because of her role.

In this shot it is very descriptive shot with what is going on, as Laura is in a long shot and zooms in after of a mid shot of her.

Laura is a very friendly character, but here she looks like she is going mad, with babies all around her, also her clothing that she is wearing is Victorian times.

THE ORPHANAGE

Laura is in a close up shot here, as she is knocking on the wall with using a camera shot of hand held and panning, from Laura’s perspective, whilst she is doing this there is a dark lighting during this shot, however the tension is naturally built up, this hooks in with thriller, as when scenes are naturally built, it gives the audience a better effect towards them.

THE ORPHANAGE

On the other hand Laura is wearing Victorian times clothing to connect with thriller with the audiences people in the Victorian times wear scary clothing, furthermore Simon in this shot is wrapped around with clothing and face not showing to not show his identity, as Laura doesn’t want no one to take him or let him run away again.

Within this shot it is a close up of Simon and Laura, as it shows loads of emotions and facial expressions towards their face, as the protagonist and antagonist come together.

THE ORPHANAGE

Name: Fatal Attraction

Main Characters:Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer

Director: Adrian Lyne

Year: 1987

Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions

CONCLUSION

Overall I have learnt how effective thriller is and how many different ways you can make a film into a thriller and how much different skills that have been used , however what I am going to use in the future is the techniques to make a thriller, and all the effective ways it is a thriller, furthermore these shots have help me to understand what a thriller is, by the way the special techniques and codes and conventions used, and spread out.