Thriller Films Opening Analysis

Drag me to hell

Drag me to hell rated 15 it is a horror/ thriller film. It is about a loan officer who evicts an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse. She becomes  Desperate to get rid of the curse, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

The opening to this film starts with credits on a green background with white writing. This is clear to the audience and stands out making it seem important information for them to read. The first shot is a high shot of the traffic in a city. This sets the scene and the audience are now aware that it is based in the city. The audience is then introduced to one of the main characters, Alison Lohman who plays the loan officer. The audience then see her living her everyday live, driving to work and then at her work place. This show normality making everything seems realistic. At this point there is a sound track in the background whilst there is dialogue in the scenes. The sound track in the background is quiet; this builds tensions as it feels as if it is building up to something. The dynamics get louder when the old woman starts to beg. This creates a sense of mystery as the audience wonder what she is going to do next. At this point in the film there is high key lighting

After the introduction to the main two characters the narrative starts to reveal slowly bit by bit. There is fast cut editing from different scenes showing what happens, this engages the audience as they don’t want to miss out on anything. There is more low key lighting now that the old woman has made her appearance, there is loud and intense music this builds tension and thrill, shadows appear, all these features and techniques meet the expectation to a thriller film. When this happen the audience feel a sense of excitement and satisfaction when the get scared.

I am legend

I am legend is also rated 15 and it is a thriller, drama and sci-fi. It was released in the UK 26^th December. It is about will smith the main character a plague that kills most of humanity and transforms the rest of the survivors into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.

The opening to this film starts with credits on a green background with white writing. This is clear to the audience and stands out making it seem important information for them to read. The first thing the audience hear is verisimilitude and then a voice over of Will Smith’s voice saying “nothing happened the way it was supposed to happen” while the audience hear this there is a high shot of will smith and his dog in the bath tub together in the dark, meanwhile the camera is zooming into them. This gives the audience a feel of the story. This shot could have an effect on the audience differently to how thrillers usually portray emotion the beginning of this film could portray sadness.

The lighting at the moment is all low key, all the sound that the audience can hear is non-dialect. The editing is very fast; this conforms to the expectations to a thriller film, once again engaging the audience. After being shown the first part of the story and what is happening, the music fits with what is being shown. It shows the disruption to the city while watching this the music gets louder and faster. After the first half the audience start to get the feel of the thriller part of the film.

It then goes quiet and pans across the destroyed city. Credits come across the screen while you can hear a voice over of Will Smith’s voice explaining what has happened. The end bit of the trailer is really affective and this is what could make the audience want to watch the film. What make it affective are the sound track the naturalistic sounds (Will Smiths breathing) and the low key lighting.

Case 39

Case 39 is certificate 15. It is a horror, mystory and thriller put together. It is about A social worker fights to save a girl from her abusive parents, only to discover that the situation is more dangerous than she ever expected. The story is misleading but that is the whole point of his genre, to get the audience engaged and thinking what is going to happen next. Its starts similarly to the other two soundtrack and view of the city, so that the audience know where it all takes place. The start the lighting is bright. Straight away the audience is introduced to the main character the social worker. The footage shows a naturalistic life style making everything seem normal. The sound changes when the guy puts that case 39 on the social workers table giving the audience the impression that this is the case that will be the problem. This is the point where it all gets miss leading and the music turns mysterious. There is a pitch black flash and the little girls say “I’m scared” in a whisper, whispering in a thriller fill is a common technique that is used to thrill the audience and create suspense. After this there is fast cut editing commonly used in thriller films to engage the audience and keep them entertained and feel on edge. It is showing the child’s parents going mad trying every way possible to kill her. There is screaming loud music.

The music changes as the little girl has been taken away from her parents. The lighting in now bright and there are two shots of the social worker and child showing the audience that they have created a bond and a relationship. The extreme close up are to emphasize something for example the extreme close up of the bolts on the parents door showing what they done to get away from their child, this image gets the audience thinking why did they have suck big bolts on their doors. Shadows, blood, dangerous weapons stormy weather all help to create a suspicious atmosphere.

Conventions of a Thriller Film

A thriller is a genre that follows specific conventions in order to build an effect on the audience. When the film has an effect on the audience this means that the film has been successful and has achieved its goal, as within a thriller film the audience expect to be thriller so therefore the expectations have been met.

A thriller film will often have a few main characters this engages the audience and creates different story lines to follow. The characters create the narrative. With any film there is a beginning, middle and end. The aim of a thriller film is to get the audience thinking of the ending and a solution to the disrupted equilibrium. A thriller film has many different plots in a thriller film this will create suspense.

The editing in thriller films are usually fast past this it to keep the audience engaged as there is always something happening, this also builds up tension and suspense. Once again this meets the conventions and the expectations in thriller films. Low-key lighting is usually used to engage the audience so they can focuses on what is going to happen next. Contrast is often used this gives off the same effect.

The main colours used in thriller films are black and use contrast. This creates shadows building on suspense and tension, as the audience doesn’t know what is going to happen next seeing as it is dark.  The shadows exaggerate the contrast creating mystery

Wide ranges of camera angles are used in thriller films.  Close ups are often used to show the characters facial expressions and emotions. A wide shot is commonly used so that the audience can see the surroundings and what its going on in the scene. Over the shoulder shot is effective as the audience feel as if they are a part of the action and can see it from the characters point of view.  All these camera angles alongside a lot more are all used to have an effect on the audience and make the film more interesting.

The music that is used has a big effect on the audience. Most of the time the music is non-dialect. The sound effect build on tension and mystery. There are times when the volume of the sound track increase this often makes the audience jump. When this happens the audience feel a sense of satisfaction, as this is what they expect in a thriller film.  The music can also create the atmosphere.