4. Thriller
Captain Phillips falls into the thriller genre.
There is a narrative plot which reveals the
conclusion at the end which makes the viewer
carry on watching.
The story line is constantly keeping the
audience asking questions: “is he going to
die?”, “are the crew going to survive?”.
5. Codes and Conventions of
Thrillers
Quick shots/ obtrusive editing/ jumps cuts
Low key lighting (shadows)
Dark setting
Constantly on the edge of your seat
Particular narrative which keeps the audience
watching until the end
Antagonist/protagonist/victim/messenger…
Contain major plot twists which shock the
audience
Well known thriller directors: Edgar Wright (Hot
Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim: comedy thrillers)
6. Deconstruction of film cover
The cover itself is fairly dark
The facial expression from Tom Hanks is that of concern,
making the audience question what he is concerned about
The man in the background has eyes that are staring
directly at Hanks, suggesting that he is obsessed with this
person or just needs him, or as he looks slightly scary, is
supposed to scare the audience. (Narrative enigma)
The use of “The Bourne Ultimatum” at the top of the poster
allows audiences familiar with this genre to associate the
successful Bourne trilogy with Captain Phillips, “oh it’s that
guy, it must be good”
“In 2009, Captain Phillips was taken hostage by Somali
pirates. This is his incredible story of survival”. This
immediately shows that the story will be incredibly tense,
because the audience is aware of the threat that Somalian
Pirates hold against ships in that particular sea.
There is what looks like a gun which is blurred out, and is
the object that Hanks is focusing on, suggesting he’s
scared or concerned for his own safety. (Narrative enigma)
The use of the red might suggest blood/violence/anger.
7.
8. Screenshot examples: Thriller
This shows the Somali
pirate in the
background glaring at
Hanks as if he is a
threat or that he is
trying to intimidate him
Hanks has a
concerned, scared
expression on his face,
suggesting the tension
of the scene
The camera blurs out
the pirates to focus on
Hanks, his expression
is capturing all the
emotions that he is
feeling in the scene
9. The camera has
blurred out Phillips
in order to focus on
the intense face
that the pirate is
pulling, the eyes in
particular being
intimidating, and it
makes the
audience scared or
tense, which helps
in building up the
tension in the
narrative.
10. The guns are symbols that
represent violence, death
and war. As the two guns
are pointing at Phillips, it
deepens the tension built in
this scene
The pirates are wearing
yellow and red, red being a
colour of blood and war (as
well as this, the character
is the cruellest), yellow
being important in this
scene as it shows he is the
leader, as well as the fact
that he is pointing and he is
the one who is talking
11. Theorists
Vladimir Propp: analysed folk tales, who came
up with 32 character types.
Captain Phillips features some of these
characters:
1. Hero
2. Villain
Tzervtan Todorov: narratives begin with a state
of equilibrium, where there is harmony and
balance between characters and their
environment/situation. Then comes some form
of disruption which sets in motion a train of
events.
