Analysis of thriller films
Don’t Look Now, a psychological thriller, deals with premonitions and danger. This film is based upon a couple whose daughter drowned, therefore they move to Venice. The death of their daughter occurs at the beginning of the film, and is a typical thriller convention. In Venice they meet a pair of elderly ladies, one of whom claims to be psychic and brings them news of their young daughter who passed away. When the couple meet the elderly ladies there is much suspense and heightened tension as one of the ladies receives psychic visions. Throughout the film murders and deaths occur in and around Venice, which is a well known central topic for a thriller.
There are two man locations through the film, the first is the family home in England. The family home is shown in the opening sequence of the film. The main characters are featured in the first couple of minutes, whilst the titles run. The mother and father are filmed reading in the house, whilst their two children play outside. In the first couple of minutes the little girl, pictured in a red coat accidentally throws her toy into a valley at the bottom of their garden. During this scene the camera shots are varied, and are zoomed in on the little girl. When the girl tries to collect her toy from the valley she falls into the valley. At this moment in time her father has a premonition and races out to the garden to check on the children, however he is too late as the little girl has drowned. The use of a young child is very emotive; therefore having a great effect on the viewers, particularly parents who have may have young children. The opening sequence of the film is very gloomy; therefore the weather is pouring rain and approaching evening. This sequence sets the mood for the film, yet does not give too much away, despite the loss of a character which is a thriller convention.
The second location is Venice, during the climaxes of the film, many shots are of images of a red coat similar to the little girls coat, in dark alleys. Although Venice is a beautiful location, as a wide range of the shots are filmed in back streets and alleys, its scenery is not used.
At the end of the film we are exposed to a red herring, as the audience has been mislead to believe that the images shown of a red coat are the young daughter, however this is false. A red herring, along with cliff hangers are usually evident in thrillers to create a twist, in order for the audience to be unable to predict the ending.
The Italian Job, considered as an action/crime/thriller contains car chases, violence, explosions, and murders, all of which are conventions of a thriller film. The 2003 film is a re-make of the 1969 ‘The Italian Job’ modernised. The plot of the film is for a gang of thieves planning to steal gold from previous associates in Venice. The locations in the film include Venice, where the gold is stolen from, Italy, and Los Angeles. All three locations are very wealthy and expected for a film of this genre.
The main characters include a father, of around sixty, who organises robberies and is the power behind the team, his associate, who is also very powerful but not as well respected, the fathers daughter, who later in the film becomes a main character, and four others who specialise in driving, explosives, computing, and the final gang member who betrays the others, by stealing the gold from them, and shooting the father who was in charge of the robbery. This is one of the twists of the film, during which there is frequent fast- pacing action and violence, as with the majority of thriller films.
There are many thriller conventions throughout the film, including the characters costumes during the robbery, as they are dressed in all black, wearing leather gloves, beanie hats, and leather jackets. During the chase following the robbery, the gang use guns to protect themselves. A gun is a weapon frequently featured in thriller film, as are knives. Another convention featured in the film is after the original gang have defeated the villain, they are all filmed smoking cigars. Cigar or cigarette smoking is usually always featured in a crime film, which relates to its genre.
The opening sequence of the film shows the titles, and images of Venice and a map, from different camera angles. The images shown do not fill the screen, as they are similar to key hole snap shots, by doing this, the opening sequence entices the audience.
Another film that deals with the crime thriller genre is Matchpoint, a psychological drama based in London. The main character is a tennis coach who falls in love with his soon to-be brother in laws girlfriend. The role of the girlfriend is similar to that of a femme fatale, as she uses her sexuality to lure him in. However, as the affair between the characters grows stronger, it becomes apparent that he had got his brother in laws girlfriend pregnant. Due to this he has to take action as he does not want to lose his partner, therefore he commits a crime. During the climax of the film, classical music is played to heighten the tension and suspense. A gun is used to shoot two characters, a commonly used weapon in thriller films. Whilst the crime is committed the character is wearing all black, along with black leather gloves, to disable his finger prints from being uncovered. After the crime had been committed, detectives try to uncover why and how the characters have been shot. The detectives manage to unravel the event however are then led to believe they are making false accusations. This adds a twist to the film, as the viewers expect that the main character will be caught.
Throughout the film there are many conventions commonly featured in a thriller film, including characters, the plot, weapons, and the location. However, the opening sequence of the film is unlike most crime thriller openings. It is located at a tennis club in London, as the main character narrates, although there is a twist to what the narrator states, as he says “…it is scary to think how much is out of ones control” which foreshadows his actions further in the film when he deals with an awkward situation by murdering the femme fatale character. This hidden twist is told at the beginning of the film, whilst a game of tennis is filmed. In comparison with the majority of thriller opening sequences, ‘Matchpoint’ does not appear to include usual conventions of a crime film.
Don’t Look Now, a psychological thriller, deals with premonitions and danger. This film is based upon a couple whose daughter drowned, therefore they move to Venice. The death of their daughter occurs at the beginning of the film, and is a typical thriller convention. In Venice they meet a pair of elderly ladies, one of whom claims to be psychic and brings them news of their young daughter who passed away. When the couple meet the elderly ladies there is much suspense and heightened tension as one of the ladies receives psychic visions. Throughout the film murders and deaths occur in and around Venice, which is a well known central topic for a thriller.
There are two man locations through the film, the first is the family home in England. The family home is shown in the opening sequence of the film. The main characters are featured in the first couple of minutes, whilst the titles run. The mother and father are filmed reading in the house, whilst their two children play outside. In the first couple of minutes the little girl, pictured in a red coat accidentally throws her toy into a valley at the bottom of their garden. During this scene the camera shots are varied, and are zoomed in on the little girl. When the girl tries to collect her toy from the valley she falls into the valley. At this moment in time her father has a premonition and races out to the garden to check on the children, however he is too late as the little girl has drowned. The use of a young child is very emotive; therefore having a great effect on the viewers, particularly parents who have may have young children. The opening sequence of the film is very gloomy; therefore the weather is pouring rain and approaching evening. This sequence sets the mood for the film, yet does not give too much away, despite the loss of a character which is a thriller convention.
The second location is Venice, during the climaxes of the film, many shots are of images of a red coat similar to the little girls coat, in dark alleys. Although Venice is a beautiful location, as a wide range of the shots are filmed in back streets and alleys, its scenery is not used.
At the end of the film we are exposed to a red herring, as the audience has been mislead to believe that the images shown of a red coat are the young daughter, however this is false. A red herring, along with cliff hangers are usually evident in thrillers to create a twist, in order for the audience to be unable to predict the ending.
The Italian Job, considered as an action/crime/thriller contains car chases, violence, explosions, and murders, all of which are conventions of a thriller film. The 2003 film is a re-make of the 1969 ‘The Italian Job’ modernised. The plot of the film is for a gang of thieves planning to steal gold from previous associates in Venice. The locations in the film include Venice, where the gold is stolen from, Italy, and Los Angeles. All three locations are very wealthy and expected for a film of this genre.
The main characters include a father, of around sixty, who organises robberies and is the power behind the team, his associate, who is also very powerful but not as well respected, the fathers daughter, who later in the film becomes a main character, and four others who specialise in driving, explosives, computing, and the final gang member who betrays the others, by stealing the gold from them, and shooting the father who was in charge of the robbery. This is one of the twists of the film, during which there is frequent fast- pacing action and violence, as with the majority of thriller films.
There are many thriller conventions throughout the film, including the characters costumes during the robbery, as they are dressed in all black, wearing leather gloves, beanie hats, and leather jackets. During the chase following the robbery, the gang use guns to protect themselves. A gun is a weapon frequently featured in thriller film, as are knives. Another convention featured in the film is after the original gang have defeated the villain, they are all filmed smoking cigars. Cigar or cigarette smoking is usually always featured in a crime film, which relates to its genre.
The opening sequence of the film shows the titles, and images of Venice and a map, from different camera angles. The images shown do not fill the screen, as they are similar to key hole snap shots, by doing this, the opening sequence entices the audience.
Another film that deals with the crime thriller genre is Matchpoint, a psychological drama based in London. The main character is a tennis coach who falls in love with his soon to-be brother in laws girlfriend. The role of the girlfriend is similar to that of a femme fatale, as she uses her sexuality to lure him in. However, as the affair between the characters grows stronger, it becomes apparent that he had got his brother in laws girlfriend pregnant. Due to this he has to take action as he does not want to lose his partner, therefore he commits a crime. During the climax of the film, classical music is played to heighten the tension and suspense. A gun is used to shoot two characters, a commonly used weapon in thriller films. Whilst the crime is committed the character is wearing all black, along with black leather gloves, to disable his finger prints from being uncovered. After the crime had been committed, detectives try to uncover why and how the characters have been shot. The detectives manage to unravel the event however are then led to believe they are making false accusations. This adds a twist to the film, as the viewers expect that the main character will be caught.
Throughout the film there are many conventions commonly featured in a thriller film, including characters, the plot, weapons, and the location. However, the opening sequence of the film is unlike most crime thriller openings. It is located at a tennis club in London, as the main character narrates, although there is a twist to what the narrator states, as he says “…it is scary to think how much is out of ones control” which foreshadows his actions further in the film when he deals with an awkward situation by murdering the femme fatale character. This hidden twist is told at the beginning of the film, whilst a game of tennis is filmed. In comparison with the majority of thriller opening sequences, ‘Matchpoint’ does not appear to include usual conventions of a crime film.
No comments:
Post a Comment