My research into real media for my AS production coursework

1. Thriller Movie Analysis’
By Jaymes

2. The Silence of The Lambs

3. This is one of the first
frames of the film. As we
can see it is an eery scene
that contains foggy/misty
forest - focusing on a
barren tree. This shot
follows the rule of thirds
allowing a greater view of
the fog
This already gives the film
a creepy, more importantly
thriller, feel to it. This is
because a misty forest is
almost a tradition in order
to create tension and
suspense.

4. In this frame of the opening
sequence we see the
introduction of the main
protagonist in a shallow
focus.
The fact we are introduced
to her in this setting and
manner tells us/the
audience a lot. Primarily
that she is a strong
character and is used to
this type of eery setting.

5. In this frame of the opening
sequence we see a blurry
close up of the
protagonists foot whilst she
is running
This frame is highlighting
running - a fast, physically
tiring movement. It is
typical of thrillers to include
fast paced scenes. The
zoom in on the foot draws
attention to the key feature
and suggests that there will
be some sort of chase in
the film

6. In this frame we see the
protagonist climbing a rope
wall hurdle.
This frame is not only
portraying her strength,
however this is likely to
convey a struggle between
the protagonist and
antagonist

7. Se7en

8. This is one of the very first
frames of the film. With in it
is a close up of a book and
what appears to be the
shadowy outline of a
figure's head.
The fact that the we cannot
tell what the shadow is
conveys to the audience
that we do not know and
adds mystery, tension and
slight suspense.

9. This directly follows the
book frames as a fade. It
too helps to build the
thriller identity of the film.
This is achieved by the
dark background - showing
evil, scariness etc -
contrasting with the bright
white text.
The text itself is written in a
jagged hand style font -
suggesting a rush and
insanity perhaps. The
shaky motion of “An” and
“Production” add to this.

10. This frame contains a pair
of deformed hands on a
notebook style pad. The
fact chiaroscuro lighting is
used signifies its
importance and adds to the
creeper thriller feel.
This infers that the
antagonist is psychopathic
and looks at medial
conditions etc which may
inspire his killings.

11. This frame is mostly red.
The colour red suggests
blood and danger - telling
the audience that murder
and death will highly be the
basis of the film.

12. Inception

13. This is the very first frame
of the film. Here we are
introduced, by a short take
to the main protagonist -
played by Leonardo Di
Caprio.
The expression on his face
is one of shock, fear and
trauma. These are
common emotions for
thrillers as the main
character is usually put
through a series of draining
events.

14. In this frame we see an
extreme close up of the
protagonists watch.
This shows that time is
*usually* of the essence in
thrillers and that many
things can change the
course of the film if the
wrong thing happens at the
wrong time

15. In these consecutive
frames we see how quickly
the mood/pace of a film
can change in thrillers
through short takes.
This is done by contrasting
two scenes, in this case
one being a possible terror
attack and the other the
protagonist calm on a train.

16. In this scene we get a close up of
the safe which is hiding what
Cobb (DiCaprio) needs to
access.
The safe represents the mind,
and its contents the dreams. This
is mise-en-scene using a safe as
a metaphor for the stories plot.

17. The Bourne Identity

18. This is how the film begins.
A quick, bright flash of
lightning on a stormy night.
The visual effects suggest
that something dangerous
has occurred.
There is no fade into the
storm - instead it is a quick
jump from the universal
opening pictures to this.
The fact there is no cut
highlights that this is very
dramatic and sets the tone
for a thriller film.

19. In this scene that follows
the dialogue, we hear the
first dialogue of the film.
However, it is in a foreign
language (Italian). This
means the audience has
no idea what they are
saying, and leaves us
clueless as to whether they
are good or bad characters
- adding a sense of
mystery.

20. These frames are linked
through cross-cutting. This
is in order to show that
these events are
happening at the same
time and builds tension as
the audience wonders
what will happen when the
characters meet.

21. The floating body also
gives us a basic plotline
and what the film will
entail. This is through the
use of a low-angle shot
which shows the character
as small and week.
Also, this is a slight loose
frame - highlighting that the
character is alone and is
likely to remain so
throughout the film.

22. This POV (Point Of View)
shot shows that the body
has been spotted by the
fisherman and makes the
audience wonder what’s
going to happen to the
body, and how will the
characters react to one
another?

23. The way the title of the film
appear in a jumbled up,
code style fashion
indicates a lot about the
film.
The randomness of the
order of letters suggests
that the main character has
to solve something.
The code style font relates
to the FBI, hacking etc.