Analysis of Thrillers
Layer Cake (2004)
Written by J.J Connolly.
Directed by Mathew Vaughn.
Layer Cake is set in modern day London and features a smooth-talking drug dealer, who's plan is to quietly roll in money. Operating under the polish veneer of a business, his main aim is to keep a low profile and run a tight operation.
This film is a British gangster thriller. The main character Daniel Craig narrates the film, he is deliberately unnamed throughout. This is not showing identity therefore a convention of a thriller film.
The opening of Layer Cake starts with white on black credits, while these are showing, the film is silent; creates mystery and shows it is serious.
Following this, there is a black and white scene with an explosion, this emphasises the explosion. The audience at this point gather this scene is from a past, or future event from the black and white effect, and wonder what is happening.
Throughout the opening we already see twister thriller conventions.
The camera shots focus on the expressions on the main character Daniel Craig, like as if he is talking to us directly, and we are trying to read his mind.
Layer Cake (2004)
Written by J.J Connolly.
Directed by Mathew Vaughn.
Layer Cake is set in modern day London and features a smooth-talking drug dealer, who's plan is to quietly roll in money. Operating under the polish veneer of a business, his main aim is to keep a low profile and run a tight operation.
This film is a British gangster thriller. The main character Daniel Craig narrates the film, he is deliberately unnamed throughout. This is not showing identity therefore a convention of a thriller film.
The opening of Layer Cake starts with white on black credits, while these are showing, the film is silent; creates mystery and shows it is serious.
Following this, there is a black and white scene with an explosion, this emphasises the explosion. The audience at this point gather this scene is from a past, or future event from the black and white effect, and wonder what is happening.
Throughout the opening we already see twister thriller conventions.
The camera shots focus on the expressions on the main character Daniel Craig, like as if he is talking to us directly, and we are trying to read his mind.
The camera shots are also mid -close ups e.g to emphasis the explosion and make sure our eyes are focused on that.
V for Vendetta;
The thriller conventions in V for Vendetta create a effective atmosphere to the story; intense action throughout the entire film.
The main crime in the narrative is the government becoming a dictatorship and holding control over the nation. There are also many little crimes that come into the main story line.
The storyline is very complex and although it doesn't lead you towards any false paths like most thrillers do, it is very secretive. The main character also wears the mask which stops the audience from identifying him, which creates mystery and questions of what he looks like from the audience, these are also both thriller conventions, keeping the audience on their toes!
Paranormal activity;
Written and directed by Oren Peli.
It is a haunted house thriller.
Paranormal activity is one of those movies which slowly build up into a hard-hitting climax.
This film stars a couple who have recently moved into a house together, Michah a day trade and Katie a student.
Character development is seen through playful and suggestive dialogue, filmed and acted as natural as anyone’s home movies would be. Unexplained events have been happening in their home so
Michah decides to set up a camcorder and try capture whatever the evil thing is that is haunting Katie and waking them every night.
He teasingly suspects they are haunted and wants to catch a ghost on film. Each evening the camera is set up on a tripod in their bedroom with a full view of the room, capturing the two sleeping. It is here the horror gets worse. We know something is going to happen and must be an escalation of the previous night.
The anticipation of this certainty is the simple and thrilling aspect of this supernatural thriller.
We learn Katie has been having paranormal experiences most of her life. A brief history of the ghost’s possible source is given although never fully explained. This is the mystery key to the film and keeps the audience thinking.
The film became a sensation because of its simplicity. The movie is styled in a way that the entire film is presented in a viewpoint of the video camera;the sensation that the real terror is lingering just off the frame of your screen. Without smooth transactions, cool fades outs and effects, this film connects the audience as if you were experiencing what these two couples are, also the audio on the tape captures the door slamming, floorboard creak, footsteps up the stairs, groans screams and gusts of winds enter in the silence of the night. These digetic sounds are really powerful, as through the night everything is silent, so the noises really stand out and make the audience jump!
You never see the 'evil spirit', only shadows on the white door as it enters, you also see foot prints of it entering the room, but never leaving. This is one of the most popular conventions of the thriller genre;never showing any identification of the villain.
You are left with your own imagination running wild to picture the horror that's occurring. It builds up tension and anticipation throughout the entire film with its alarming ending; bloodcurdling screams and a very chilling conclusion.
Throughout the film, there are mirrors all around the house and closed doors, which gives the effect of the audience assuming you will see the ghost, but we never do.
The Number 23
This films is about a man named Walter Sparrow, and amiable dog-catcher, who one day was bitten by a dog making him late home to greet his wife. Whilst his wife was waiting for him she browsed in a book store, finding a blood-red-covered novel which she gives him as a present. He becomes captivated with the story and obsessed with the number 23, finding many coincidences with his own life, and he decides to find the author, believing the story is about him. His further investigation discloses a mysterious situation that makes Walther paranoid.
The photography is frequently dark and threatening, which fits the plot, the sets have a big impact on the audience, and the climax is perfect by making the audience shocked from the misleading storyline, and has you guessing until the end where everything makes sense.
Lucky Number sleven
Director: Paul McGuiganRelease
Date: 24 February 2006
Josh Hartnett plays Slevin, he is a man who's got fired from his job, lost his apartment, and has caught his girlfriend cheating on him one morning. As a result he decides to visit his friend who lives in New York to get away from these problems, but his friend was not in and slevin is taken as being as a mistake in which they think he is his friend, who owes money to two powerful bosses of that town. He is ordered by 'The Boss' to kill the son of 'The Rabbi', as revenge act for the death of The Boss's son.
Nick's next door neighbor Lindsay; she works in a morgue, tries to help Slevin and in the end they fall in love for each other.
Mr. Goodkat is mysteriously helping both bosses.
Towards the end of the film, the story starts to reveal itself and things begin to make sense, leaving the audience in shock.
The story of 'Max' from the beginning is revealed as that of Slevin's father. Brikowski gets a phone call and learns that "Lucky Number Slevin" was the name of horse Max bet on at the very beginning of the movie.
Max's bookie included Max's bet in a race meant for the Boss and the Rabbi.
Once they had found out someone else was apart of the deal, they killed Max, his wife, his son.
Goodkat had been hired to murder Max's son, this was revealed to be Slevin, because no one else would take the job. However, meeting the young Slevin, Goodkat couldn't kill him, and took him under his wing as little child.
Slevin realises that both the Boss and the Rabbi were responsible for his father and mothers death.
As revenge Slevin puts plastic bags over both the Boss's and Rabbi's heads and kills them the same way his father was killed by them.
I think this story line is really powerful at the end when everything is being reveled, leaving the audience is shock, and amazed by the twist. I hope to have this effect on the audience watching the opening to my thriller film, i would love to use a story line like this, but i don't think i could show this as well in the two minuets we have with such a complicated storyline.
Thriller conventions used;
-The film closes with a short flashback which reveals already a complicated story line in which the audience has been anticipating over.
-There are deliberately misleading flashbacks.
-The location of this mise en scene, is outside a penthouse building in a busy city life. It is quite a dirty run down setting.
- Lots of brutal twists thrown in the audiences faces.
-The film has a effective, dark unexpected turn.
-The sets, the colours, dynamic camera effects
-Audio; music is either slow and soft, or big and dramatic. Both build up lots of tension
V for Vendetta;
The thriller conventions in V for Vendetta create a effective atmosphere to the story; intense action throughout the entire film.
The main crime in the narrative is the government becoming a dictatorship and holding control over the nation. There are also many little crimes that come into the main story line.
The storyline is very complex and although it doesn't lead you towards any false paths like most thrillers do, it is very secretive. The main character also wears the mask which stops the audience from identifying him, which creates mystery and questions of what he looks like from the audience, these are also both thriller conventions, keeping the audience on their toes!
Paranormal activity;
Written and directed by Oren Peli.
It is a haunted house thriller.
Paranormal activity is one of those movies which slowly build up into a hard-hitting climax.
This film stars a couple who have recently moved into a house together, Michah a day trade and Katie a student.
Character development is seen through playful and suggestive dialogue, filmed and acted as natural as anyone’s home movies would be. Unexplained events have been happening in their home so
Michah decides to set up a camcorder and try capture whatever the evil thing is that is haunting Katie and waking them every night.
He teasingly suspects they are haunted and wants to catch a ghost on film. Each evening the camera is set up on a tripod in their bedroom with a full view of the room, capturing the two sleeping. It is here the horror gets worse. We know something is going to happen and must be an escalation of the previous night.
The anticipation of this certainty is the simple and thrilling aspect of this supernatural thriller.
We learn Katie has been having paranormal experiences most of her life. A brief history of the ghost’s possible source is given although never fully explained. This is the mystery key to the film and keeps the audience thinking.
The film became a sensation because of its simplicity. The movie is styled in a way that the entire film is presented in a viewpoint of the video camera;the sensation that the real terror is lingering just off the frame of your screen. Without smooth transactions, cool fades outs and effects, this film connects the audience as if you were experiencing what these two couples are, also the audio on the tape captures the door slamming, floorboard creak, footsteps up the stairs, groans screams and gusts of winds enter in the silence of the night. These digetic sounds are really powerful, as through the night everything is silent, so the noises really stand out and make the audience jump!
You never see the 'evil spirit', only shadows on the white door as it enters, you also see foot prints of it entering the room, but never leaving. This is one of the most popular conventions of the thriller genre;never showing any identification of the villain.
You are left with your own imagination running wild to picture the horror that's occurring. It builds up tension and anticipation throughout the entire film with its alarming ending; bloodcurdling screams and a very chilling conclusion.
Throughout the film, there are mirrors all around the house and closed doors, which gives the effect of the audience assuming you will see the ghost, but we never do.
The Number 23
This films is about a man named Walter Sparrow, and amiable dog-catcher, who one day was bitten by a dog making him late home to greet his wife. Whilst his wife was waiting for him she browsed in a book store, finding a blood-red-covered novel which she gives him as a present. He becomes captivated with the story and obsessed with the number 23, finding many coincidences with his own life, and he decides to find the author, believing the story is about him. His further investigation discloses a mysterious situation that makes Walther paranoid.
The photography is frequently dark and threatening, which fits the plot, the sets have a big impact on the audience, and the climax is perfect by making the audience shocked from the misleading storyline, and has you guessing until the end where everything makes sense.
Lucky Number sleven
Director: Paul McGuiganRelease
Date: 24 February 2006
Josh Hartnett plays Slevin, he is a man who's got fired from his job, lost his apartment, and has caught his girlfriend cheating on him one morning. As a result he decides to visit his friend who lives in New York to get away from these problems, but his friend was not in and slevin is taken as being as a mistake in which they think he is his friend, who owes money to two powerful bosses of that town. He is ordered by 'The Boss' to kill the son of 'The Rabbi', as revenge act for the death of The Boss's son.
Nick's next door neighbor Lindsay; she works in a morgue, tries to help Slevin and in the end they fall in love for each other.
Mr. Goodkat is mysteriously helping both bosses.
Towards the end of the film, the story starts to reveal itself and things begin to make sense, leaving the audience in shock.
The story of 'Max' from the beginning is revealed as that of Slevin's father. Brikowski gets a phone call and learns that "Lucky Number Slevin" was the name of horse Max bet on at the very beginning of the movie.
Max's bookie included Max's bet in a race meant for the Boss and the Rabbi.
Once they had found out someone else was apart of the deal, they killed Max, his wife, his son.
Goodkat had been hired to murder Max's son, this was revealed to be Slevin, because no one else would take the job. However, meeting the young Slevin, Goodkat couldn't kill him, and took him under his wing as little child.
Slevin realises that both the Boss and the Rabbi were responsible for his father and mothers death.
As revenge Slevin puts plastic bags over both the Boss's and Rabbi's heads and kills them the same way his father was killed by them.
I think this story line is really powerful at the end when everything is being reveled, leaving the audience is shock, and amazed by the twist. I hope to have this effect on the audience watching the opening to my thriller film, i would love to use a story line like this, but i don't think i could show this as well in the two minuets we have with such a complicated storyline.
Thriller conventions used;
-The film closes with a short flashback which reveals already a complicated story line in which the audience has been anticipating over.
-There are deliberately misleading flashbacks.
-The location of this mise en scene, is outside a penthouse building in a busy city life. It is quite a dirty run down setting.
- Lots of brutal twists thrown in the audiences faces.
-The film has a effective, dark unexpected turn.
-The sets, the colours, dynamic camera effects
-Audio; music is either slow and soft, or big and dramatic. Both build up lots of tension
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