2. CODES AND CONVENTIONS
“Thriller” is a term which many types of films/novels can be categorised in.
Crime thriller, action thriller, erotic thriller and super natural thriller are just some
examples. These films all have features which give them the label of a thriller. A
typical thriller film is one that leaves the audience in suspense, anticipating what
will happen next, they usually do this by using techniques like extreme close ups,
quick jump cuts. Thrillers are usually set in places that exaggerate the audience
fears for example in „The Orphanage‟, where they live in the middle of nowhere, or
in „The Panic Room‟, where the panic room amplifies the audience fears because
they are able to identify the dangers associated with the room. Usually we follow
the protagonists single minded pursuit of a goal and the obstacles that the
antagonist puts in their way. For example in „The Orphanage‟ Simon‟s mother is
trying to find him, and her imagination, which puts her through all the obstacles,
prevents her from doing so. We, as the audience, empathise with the protagonist
and want them to reach their goal. Therefore, anything that goes wrong for the
protagonist also effects us.
3. THE ORPHANAGE
This is an low angle
establishing shot of the
house. The low angle shot
makes the audience seem
vulnerable and the house
seem powerful, thrillers do
this to make the audience
worry.
The sound in this shot is diagetic sound. It is
very quiet and all that can be heard is the gate In the shot we can also see a gate of some
creaking. The creak of the gate makes the sort, this is covering half of the house
audience feel uneasy, this is usually used in which implies that there is something more
thrillers to make the audience get in a certain to the house than what sees eye. This tells
mood so what happens next can have full us that there is something we are going to
effect. find out, this is a typical feature of a thriller.
4. THE ORPHANAGE
This long shot shows the protagonist Laura and a loved one of hers leaving their house in a
rush while it is raining. This shows that what they are doing is important or else they would not
be outside.
The darkness of the shot foreshadows that something bad will be happening in the near future of the
film and the lack of clothing to protect them from the rain connotes that there will be nothing to
shelter them when it happens, this makes the audience also feel unprotected.
5. THE ORPHANAGE
Pathetic fallacy is used in this shot to foreshadow the dark
and gloominess of the future. This is a typical feature in
thriller films because the mise-en-scene often reflects the
protagonist‟s mood at given times.
This is a low angle shot showing us the The non-diagetic music that is played in
moon and some clouds. the audience the background of this shot is low
feel as though they are looking up, as if tempo music. This makes the audience
they were asking for help or looking for worry because it foreshadows the bad
guide. events that are to occur.
6. THE ORPHANAGE
The out of focus shot on the
door makes us focus on In this scene there is a shot reverse
Simon and what he is doing. shot back and forth between Simon
The doors however, restrain and Laura. These cuts are used to
us from seeing if there is build up tension.
anything else happening in
the room. The close up of Laura‟s face gives off her
expressions and emotions, this helps the
Simon is unaware of Laura watching audience empathise with the protagonist.
him this creates dramatic irony.
7. THE ORPHANAGE
We are revealed to what
Simon was drawing later on
in the scene. This is a usual
thing to do; children drawing
their imaginary friends.
However, Laura makes the
situation into something
huge, she shouts at Simon
for drawing this and makes
him explain everything. This The camera zooms in on
emphasises how thrillers take Thomas, this exaggerates
ordinary settings and turn how important he is in the
them into extraordinary
situations. film.
8. THE ORPHANAGE
There are many door ways
in the corridor that she is Laura repeatedly
running down, this shows screaming Simon‟s name
that there are many places and the word “darling”
that Simon could be and shows she is in distress
she is unlikely to find him. and how important it is for
her to find him soon.
The little light that is given
off from the two doors The fact that Laura is running tells us that time is
shows that there is some little time for her to find Simon, this ties in with the
hope for the protagonist. non-diagetic sound of the music. Thrillers often
Although, the fact that
there is only two doors out
use music to either show the mood of the
of all of them gives off characters or to build up tension.
the impression that there
is not much of it.
9. THE ORPHANAGE
The shot reverse shot
shows what both the
characters are seeing. This
helps the audience feel as The mise-en-scene jumps
though they are going from a dark surrounding
through the situation with (the corridor) to a light one
the characters because we (the bathroom). The
can see what is going on darkness connotes how
through both of their dangerous Thomas is and
perspectives. that Laura is the innocent
one in this scene. Thrillers
The diagetic sound of the do this to emphasise the
whistle used by Thomas is a roles of the characters.
shock to the audience and to
Laura because we expect her
to see Simon when she turns
around, Laura knows it is
Thomas but still tries to
make herself believe it is
Simon, hoping for her own
safety.
10. THE ORPHANAGE
The diagetic sound of
Laura knocking on the The silence of the
wall and playing the scene builds up
game gives limited tension because it
dialogue to show how makes the audience
desperate she is. focus more on the
sound and when we
hear the door open it
shocks us.
The camera pans across
the room, hand held from
Laura‟s perspective. This
emphasises Laura‟s fear in The dark and
the situation and also later silhouetted setting
show us how close the gives hidden identity.
children get to her.
11. FATAL ATTRACTION
The close up of the eye in the mirror hides identity, this makes us think about
which one of the characters is in the mirror rather than revealing it all at once.
The use of the close up hides what else is in the room which leaves the
audience in suspense.
The use of mise-en-scene with the make up emphasises how hurt Beth is, this
could be another reason the close up was used.
12. FATAL ATTRACTION
The over the shoulder point of view shot is a direct contrast from the shot on
slide 11 because it reveals what is in the room. It shows the audience just how
close Beth is to danger.
13. FATAL ATTRACTION
The long shot of Alex shows her body language as being shy and
innocent, this is hugely contrasted by the knife in her hand which gives
off the impression that she is going to cause some sort of danger.
14. FATAL ATTRACTION
The white colour of the clothes connotes pureness and innocence , this is juxtaposed
with the red of the blood which suggests danger and violence. However the red also
connotes passion, this could show that the passion that Alex had for Beth‟s husband was
dangerous.
15. FATAL ATTRACTION
The diagetic sound of the
kettle boiling muffles out
Beth‟s screams which makes
the audience feel the danger
The close up of the for Beth because nobody can
kettle shows just how hear her and therefore
important the item is. nobody can help her. It
causes dramatic irony as the
audience know she is in
trouble but her husband
doesn‟t. Dramatic irony is
used regularly in thrillers as it
makes the audience feel
useless because they know
what is going on however,
they are unable to provide
any help for the character.
The jump cuts to and from the women fighting and the kettle show us
that there was a link between the two, the reasoning for the kettle was
purely to cover up Beth‟s screams. The fact that Dan could have waited
five minutes to put the kettle on shows that the fight could have been
prevented because he would have heard the screams.
16. FATAL ATTRACTION
This shot is accompanied by Dan‟s
panting. He is panting because he just
struggled with Alex and now has
potentially killed her. This relieves the
audience because the person who is seen
to be as the antagonist has died and
there is no way she can hurt the
antagonist anymore.
The close up of the knife under water makes us think that the violence is over.
The element of surprise is used after this shot by Director Adrian Lyne to
shock the audience when Beth comes out of the bath and tries to kill Dan as it
was not something that they were expecting.
17. CONCLUSION
Analysing different thriller films has helped me understand what techniques I
need to use in my film. Features I would like to take on are things such as
non-diagetic music to build up tension within the audience. An establishing
shot will also be used in the opening of my film to set the scene and show the
viewers where my film is set this idea was taken from the opening of „The
Orphanage‟. Another camera shot I would like to use is close-ups in characters
faces and/or objects because I liked the use of them in „Fatal Attraction‟ as
they either hid or revealed things in a way that created suspense. Jump cuts
will also be considered because they have been used effectively in most of the
thrillers that I have watched and I believe that if I could use them well then it
would make a huge impact in my thriller.
