Product research of the thriller Side Effects

1. SIDE EFFECTS
Amirah Bari

2. Movie
Information
• Side Effects (2013)- Written by Scott Z. Burns, Directed by Steven Soderbergh
• When a prescribed drug is given to a young woman by her psychiatrist, the world around her alters and
unravels when the drug leads to some side effects.
• Cast (Main)
-Rooney Mara
-Channing Tatum
-Jude Law
-Catherine Zeta-Jones
• It is a sub-genre as it is a Psychological Thriller.

3. Mise-En-Scene of the Opening Sequence
What can be seen at
first is a clear skyline
of a city area.
Main focus being the
building.
How you can tell it
is the main focus
is the high key
light casting itself
against it.
It can be guessed
that the building
is an institution of
a sort with the
way the building
is structured.
There is also the
contrast between
light and dark as the
camera zooms in. It
is easy to detect the
psychological
elements by going

4. Mise-En-Scene
Continued
The close up of the chair
(excluding the blood), can
suggest a careless act has
been done and with the
blood, it gives off the idea
that the act was
somewhat sinister.
The light is quite
soft compared to
the visual setting
of the shot.
(Camera Angle aspects)
The camera then
tracks the trail of
blood in the shape
of a foot. This
could present the
idea that a
character is maybe
disturbed.
The sequence finishes off with
a close up shot of a boat,
perhaps a gift to go with the
bowed present beside it.
The boat could represent a
characters love of the sea or
maybe a sense of loss as boats
sometimes represent journeys
Sound/Music
Soundtrack composed
and conducted by
Thomas Newman.
There’s a sense of
juxtaposition as the
soundtrack for the main
title, is quite tranquil
and calming however
the title of the track is
called ‘Very Sick Girl’
and put together with
the various shots, it
creates suspense in the
viewers perspective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO4K
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