Analysing a genre of film with examples THRILLER

Unit 10 Analysing The stylistic and narrative codes and conventions of fictional films and genres

What is Thriller?

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous sub genres. Thrillers are characterised and defined by the moods. they give the viewers feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety and Stylistic Film styles. A thriller usually consists of a battle between the protagonist character and the antagonist, when there is a disruption in the equilibrium. Then the story shows a chain of bad events building tension and suspense for the climax. The aim of the protagonist is to restore justice, while the antagonist seeks to destroy it.

Thriller Narratives

The thriller is a kind of fiction that uses the suspense, the tension and the excitement as principal elements of the plot. It is very diffused in literature, cinema and television. A thriller, to define him such, must provoke to the audience strong emotions, particularly suspense and tension. Thriller is a massive genre so it has a lot of sub genres, such as: Psychological Thriller horror and Action.

Narrative themes in Horror

The aim of thriller is to create suspense and excitement for the audience.

Movies typically begin with equilibrium and through the course of the film, the equilibrium is disrupted and then restored by the protagonist. Thrillers often begin with an unjust society, which the protagonist works against. The storyline will be designed so the audience will think that it can happen to them, which will make them feel scared. The primary elements of thriller include; The protagonist faces the danger of the death, his/her or of somebody else; The strength of the antagonist initially has to be great of that of the protagonist; The principal plot assembles himself on a mystery that must have resolved; The two principal themes of the thriller are the desire of justice and the morality of the characters. Violence is often a key theme within thriller films.

Why genre is important for audiences

Mystery and thrillers all deal with suspense, the difference normally being in the pace and action components, and the audience’s privilege of knowing or not knowing the antagonist before the hero does. Note also that psychological thrillers can be slightly different from other sub-genres such as action, spy or other thrillers.

Characters

Main characters need side-kicks, supporting cast or even another hero in partnership. Even James Bond, who can be thought of as a solitary adventure hero, still needed partner and others to occasionally talk to. Villains don’t necessary need accompanying characters, they can often operate completely alone.  If they do have henchmen. The villain must be equally matched with the hero, somebody as smart, resourceful and determined as the hero. The antagonist must challenge the protagonist over and over again.

The proxemics of characters are often used in a way that establishes a sense of fear amongst certain characters. The protagonist is often who has good intentions who seeks to restore the equilibrium. The antagonist will have a hidden identity that the audience will uncover as the film progresses. Often the antagonist goes out for revenge from a past event.

Mise en Scene, Lighting and Locations

Shadows and low-lightning are used in psychological thrillers to give a sense of mystery and danger in the scene.The shadows are used to let the audience understand that there is a villain in the scene. Often, there is the use of dark lighting to enhance the danger that characters appear to be in. The setting is often a place which is isolated from a people populated area. High angle shots are often used to show how weak certain characters are, which can help to heighten tension.Thrillers often utilise long shots which closely links with the mise en scene. These shots can help to show certain characters are distant from any means of safety. Tilt shots are disorientating angles which create discomfort within the viewer as well as close-ups of the protagonist. High angle shots to show the a character's dominance over another character, usually the antagonist over the protagonist. The location is important for the film because it help the audience establish the theme. Lighting is often low key.

Costumes and props

The most popular costumes worn are smart dress and typically not dirty. The antagonist would normally wear smart or dark clothing. Protagonist will be in ordinary everyday clothes. Depending on the tone of the film, the costumes can change.Knives are commonly used to indicate danger. They are often linked to blood, violence, pain and brutality. The most famous example of the use of knives is in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Mirrors are often used in psychological thrillers to suggest the character in front of the mirror has a “dark side”.

Colours 

The colours used in psychological thrillers are predominantly red, black and white. Red and black show danger. Red shows violence, blood, evil and mystery. They are also linked to the horror genre. A dark background creates unsettling atmosphere, building tension.

Sound

It is common in psychological thrillers to use eerie and tense music to build up tension to the audience. Often in many thrillers there is the clever use of silence to create mystery.

Soundtracks are produced in order to create a sense of uncertainty. Diegetic sounds are also often heavily exaggerated to help emphasise certain noises to create the desired effect. For example, a door creaking open. Music is essential in any film to understand the mood of the characters and hint at a significant part in the film. In a thriller it adds suspense. It will often start at a slow pace and the then build up to make the shots more dramatic for the audience.

Cinematography

There will be a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the protagonist character, this is often to show their emotions, also it can be used to focus on props to aid the narrative. The shots of the antagonistic character will be cut quickly and will aim to hide their identity, e.g. A shot of the back of them, a low key shot, the silhouette, or shadow of the character

Analysing Fight Club

Settings

The setting is in a city, in an apartment and office, all neat and designed from Ikea furniture. The main body part of the film later on, is centred around the house in the photo on this slide, it’s a dirty, worn down, abandoned building no one would ever attempt to live in , this again reflects the main characters state of mind throughout the film as he moves to a place that fits him better mentally.

Characters

Characterisation in fight club features three characters in the film, who all fit into Stereotypes. For example, Tyler, being the strong man stereotype. Alternatively the narrators character has a bit of a twist in character as it progresses through the film, at the beginning he is seen as a man set in his ordinary boring job, as the film moves on, he becomes gradually more violent, of course this is when it’s still unknown that Tyler is in his imagination, This shows in a way that Tyler is the man he wants to be. And gradually that’s who he becomes. Marla’s character is a distant woman, her character is seen to be emotionally damaged and interacts with Tyler most of the film. The voice used as the narrator is monotone and sad, this affects the audience greatly and sets the scene well. They don’t have any outstanding accents and all stick to the ‘typical’ American on.

Iconography

Characters are often placed with hidden meanings behind the situation to add more depth to the connotations of the film. The camera placement and movements also provide additional information about certain who characters are the atmosphere they are in. For example this specific scene displayed below in the skyscraper near the end of the film places Tyler directly in the middle of the shot implying he is centre of attention as well as providing an almost symmetrical like view. The shadow of the character in the background is specifically placed in the darkness to represent the villain with malicious intentions.

Cinematography

Lighting and colour 

A slightly blue/green tinge is used throughout the film, these colours are often associate and portray sadness which links to the storyline. Streetlights are commonly used which shows the film is mostly done at night, which is often associated with criminal activity. Throughout the whole movie the low key lighting is used to enhance the intensity of the shadows and to represent the theme of the narrative. The colours are saturated and vivid in scenes of Tyler. The use of harsh lighting emphasises the excessive violence in his intensive lifestyle of fighting and crime, which also implies the danger of the film.

Mise en scene, Costume and props

The use of costume in Fight Club imminently indicated the persona of the character such as personality, social status, culture and occupation. The atmosphere of the film is represented as cluttered combined with dark and rustic furnishings to present a dingy view of Tyler's lifestyle and representing what type of person he is. Props are used as evidence within a setting to reinsure that’s what's going on within the scene. The briefcase shows he comes from a work environment, this contradicted his personality as he isn’t the business type of character. Tyler's costume is basic and practical, representing him as a normal working class citizen. His look is portrayed as scruffy which also reflects his state of mind as he gets better as it goes on. Marla the female character is dressed in mostly dark colours and glasses, she doesn’t care for her appearance in the slightest and views emotional state higher than how she looks, her ruined makeup and messy hair shows she likes the attention that comes with being sad or distressed. Tyler is dressed in very flamboyant clothing, something you’d get out of a charity shop in the 90’s, it’s surprisingly fancy and confident clothing which furthers the idea of the main character wanting to be Tyler (as we find out later in the film that Tyler is a figment of his imagination).

Camera angles

A variety of interesting camera angles are used in Fight Club to provide different perspectives of the characters and setting. they’re all based generally on making the audience feel as if they're involved within the film. There are a few long and establishing shots used in the film, especially to establish the scene or after a fight to show the aftermath of what has just happened. Often birds eye view shots are use to set an overview and establish a broader scene so we can look down on the satiation and assess all the details. Many close ups of facial expressions are used to express emotions and concentrate on a specific character. There’s close ups to seemingly irrelevant things such as coffee, these just further the idea of how boring the workplace is. Many of the physical fighting scenes use high angle shots to display the screen as if we were involved in the fight used as an inclusive aspect of the audience to engage them in what they are viewing. Low angle shots are included to establish dominance to see who strongest and who is inferior.

Sound

The main use of sound in this movie is the narration of protagonist Tyler stating his thoughts feelings and experiences to connect directly with the audience.

Non diegetic music is used to compliment the action aspect and to enhance the dramatic effect.

The composure of music was chosen by David Fincher sets an appropriate sense of sound to the visuals. One of the songs most associated with Fight Club is the sound track ‘Where Is My Mind’ by The Pixies connoting a deeper connection to the narrative. Sound effects are also used to Exaggerate the impact of certain situations such as the fighting so that it appears more brutal and violent to the public therefore adds dramatic effect.

Themes

The themes in this film are psychological thriller, drama and mystery. Including physical violence, mental illness and self improvement. Another reoccurring theme is the search for his true self. Tyler is the evidence and the goal who the narrator wants to be. As implied by the title ‘Fight Club’ the movie features intense scenes of strong violence. Flash scenes of death, injury and hardcore action is presented strongly suggesting that this film is for 18+ and mostly aimed at the male target audience as stereotypically men find violence and action more entertaining than women. Another theme is isolation. Jack is represented as lonely throughout the film as of his dissatisfaction with his life and the world he lives in, he learn that he is mentally ill with society to blame. The moral of the story is that fight club is the idea that many peoples original life goals get distracted by irrelevant fears, which means they settle for something less than their goal, put simply, things don’t turn out how they're expected too. Anti-materialism is a part of the message of the film, it delves into the idea that we shouldn’t become and buy into what we’re told in the media, For example within the film, when the narrator buys furniture from Ikea which reflects his plain and simple personality.

Gone Girl analysis

Settings

Nick and Amy move from New York into a mostly vacant development full of gaping dark houses in North Carthage, described as a "quaint little 1950s town that bloated itself into a basic mid sized suburb and dubbed it progress”. With huge epidemics of crime and homelessness. Nick quotes "This whole town is overrun with unemployed people” which adds an eerie feeling to the dark events of the film. North Carthage provides a symbolic portrait of what Nick and Amy's marriage has become. Nick and Amy fight a lot. Nick has an affair and Amy plots her revenge. Therefore, a city marked by economic devastation during a time of financial hardship makes a pretty good place to set a story about a failing relationship.

Characters

Growing up in the spotlight of her famous parent authors. Amy is portrayed as perfect but is a malicious manipulator faking her own death for vengeance. So that her husband could face capital punishment after finding out he had an affair. She Black mails, persuades, and even commits murder to convince the public she’s innocent.

Nick is a sensitive and violent people pleaser. He is also family orientated, Nick has a very close relationship with his sister Margo. Not having a relationship with his father growing up, he wants to prove that he could be a better father, choosing to stay with her at the end which left the audience horrified. it is clear that their relationship is dead as he does not seem really moved at the disappearance of his wife giving the audience the assumption that he killed her. 

The film starts with protagonist Nick. He is established as the male protagonist in the beginning shot showing him alone in front of his house. He is the primary storyteller but Amy and her Diary are also important narrators. The voice over diary entries show emotion in her voice, she tells us that the diary is fake, meaning her emotions are falsely created to for sympathy. Amy begs pity and empathy from the audience so she can blame her husband for her death. Nick and Amy’s characters both have conflict, Nick cheated on his wife and Amy wanting revenge shows the audience they are both flawed characters. Nick at the end realises that they are as just as mad as each other.

Cinematography

Light

The opening scene takes place in the early hours of the morning, right before dawn. The dark tones and dull lighting puts emphasis on a very moody atmosphere. The titles are dark creating a dull visual. Usually the early morning period is calm and relaxed, since the world is asleep, meaning nothing suspicious is happening. The low key lighting could be a metaphor in relation to the characters thoughts, feelings and actions. In the beginning their lives are quite dull and strategic then it develops into hatred and separation because a terrible event is about to occur that will awaken them which compares to the idea of dawn. The use of dark and shadowy shots creates mystery which intrigues the audience and metaphorically shows relation to the plot.

Colour is used in Gone Girl to portray the mood of the film. The colour scheme used is mainly neutrals, pale blues and greys. This cold theme represents the lack of emotion in the film, emphasising the mystery in Amy's disappearance. The lack of 'black or white' within the film may demonstrate to the audience how there is no clear hero or villain in perspective of the investigation. This justifies to the audience the detective's and character's confusion as it shows how blurred the narrative becomes.

Camera angles

Close up shots are mostly used in the film to bring the expression of a character to the forefront of the scene. This brings the individual’s emotions to the forefront of the viewers mind, reading their body language and facial expressions. Close ups have heightened the emotion portrayed by the character to the point where the audience will adopt a similar viewpoint of the situation. An extreme Close Up is used to present a photo of  Amy to the audience which is integral to the plot line as well as showing its importance. Over the Shoulder Shot is used to showcase the protagonists interaction with either another character or a location, associated to the plot line. In a scene, Nick consoles his crying wife. his hands touching her face. This use of the over the shoulder shot leads us to believe that the two maintain a physical relationship but the look on the female characters face makes the audience question whether she fears the physical capabilities of her husband. Establishing shots present the environment where the majority of the plot of the film will unfold. Such as the urban city environment which is recognisable by the inclusion of a bridge and cars. Nick’s silhouette is emphasised through the use of a long shot, this exaggerates his size and imposing walk makes the character appear as someone to be feared. Low Angle Shot can show the character is of greater importance in the film. 

Costumes and props

The costume and setting within the film shows the class and status of the characters. The characters are shown to be average middle class people, this allows the audience to relate to the narrative more as they would typically be of the same social class. By showing the characters to be of the same class and having similarities to the audience it may hook the viewers as they would pity the characters and question how they would overcome the problems.

Sound

The non diegetic music used with visual effects, makes the opening of the film eerie and tense

To show the build up in scenes, the sound usually becomings loud and intense to match the characters actions.

For instance, when Amy was about to kill her high school admirer. The volume of the sound increased and was repetitive to make the audience feel uncomfortable and shocked as it wasn’t expected. The sounds were intensified which makes the audience feel no sympathy for Amy Dunn's character as she brutally murdered her lover.

Themes 

Most family orientated films are realistic, repetitive and fairly common but this film has a twist. The main characters come across as the perfect family, wealthy, big home, married, “in-love”, but behind closed doors their hidden relationship is unknown to the rest of the world. 

Their dissatisfaction, lies, deceit, manipulation and eventually revenge are all keys themes in this film. There are many themes used in gone girl such as crime and murder, The suspicious husband who is having an affair is thought to be a suspect the the case but ends up being the victim.