Section 2: Research into Examples of Comparable Media Products.

Over the last week in media we have watched the opening sequence of a variety of differen't thrillers and analysed them using the grid sheets in the same way we did 'Se7en'. This was to help give us a clear idea of what makes a good opening to a thriller and give us ideas of the different ways things can be done to make it good.

'JAWS'

Narrative Structure.
The narrative structure is linear because it all flows, there is a clear beginning and there is equilibrium. Teenagers having a party on the beach and there is something in the sea where it belongs. Everything is as it should be.
It then moves to disequilibrium, the girl goes in the water and we already know there is something in the water and so we know something bad is going to happen. This leads the audience to carry on watching to find out what was in the water.

Thriller Codes and Conventions.
The Transformed city is used as we would generally assume that a beach is a normal safe place to be.
We see partial vision to tell us about the creature in the water without telling us what it is. Also Protraction and Concealment, we don’t know what the creature in the sea is and we don’t know what the teenagers are going to do in the water.
The Question and Answer model is used throughout. The audience is left asking questions such as ’where are they?’ ’what is in the water?’ ’will she die?’ ’why are they on the beach?’ etc.

Camera Work.
It opens with a point of view shot which aligns us with the creature. It is unsettling for the audience because they don’t know who / what they are or where they are going. The camera is also panning / tracking through the reef / unknown place. It then jumps to a midshot of teenagers on the beach having a party while the camera tracks, this is to align us with the characters and make us feel like we are part of the party. There are some over the shoulder shots which make us feel as though we are peering into what is happening, this could make us feel as though we should not be there, maybe signifying that neither should they. The camera then stops and gives a close up of the two main focuses and then a high angle shot of the teenagers, making them look vulnerable at this ’safe’ place.
Then the two main characters move into the shot and there is more tracking, following them. We see a low angle shot of the boy as he falls and then a long shot of the girl as she enters the water. We see an extreme long shot of her to show how far out she is and a low angle point of view shot of her, making her look vulnerable as she is unaware. We see close up shots of her being dragged under the water, this is distressing to the audience.

Mise-en-scene.
Set on a beach somewhere which is a general place we assume would be safe and happy. There are teenagers on a beach moving slowly and calmly around the campfire. The two main characters move with a sense of urgency as they go towards the water.
It is quite dark throughout which could make the audience panicky as they cannot see the characters or what is going on properly therefore neither can the characters.
The characters are all wearing normal teenage clothing.

Sound.
It starts with the now iconic Jaws theme tune which is used to build up suspense when following the creature underwater. Non digetic music at the beginning leads the audience to feel a certain way.
Then when on the beach we hear digetic sound of the actors and what is within the narrative such as the crackling of the fire, dialogue, the guitar and the boy playing the harmonica.
Then when the character is going in the water we hear the digetic sound of the bell in the background which signifies danger to the audience. Then when she is dead all we hear is the bell, showing it is over.

Editing.
At the beginning there is a long take under water and on the beach scene. This builds up tension as the audience expects something to change. Also, this is not very often used in film in case something goes wrong. Using a cross cut we go from one piece of action, the creature under the sea, to a completely different piece, the teenagers on the beach. Also shot reverse shot is used building up the sexual tension between the two main characters.

Graphics.
The first thing shown on the screen is the Production company, this is very big and in your face. As is the director ‘Steven Spielberg’ who is a famous credible director. All of the font is big, bold, white and central, this is quite in your face. Also the font looks maritime which relates to the theme of the film.

'American Psycho'


Narrative structure.
The narrative structure is linear. It is a clear beginning, we see the day after the night before. We are introduced to a character, and straight away aligned to the killer and his daily life. It shows us how he prepares for the day and his roles in life which is unusual. Nothing is concealed, we know it is the killer because he talks about killing the girl in the bar.

Thriller codes and conventions.
The transformed city is used as although some people would say night clubs are dangerous they are a general place that should be safe. Also in a way the character can be exotic as he is in a city where we would expect him to be normal and like everybody else but he isn’t he is odd and different.
The Question and Answer model is used throughout, as the audience we find ourselves asking questions like: ‘who is he?’ ‘is he really going to kill the girl?’ etc.
We also see elements of concealment and protraction, we are not shown everything about him, we do not know anything about his background, and it is too obvious he is the killer so we think something is hidden.

Camera work.
First an overhead shot shows us a packed overcrowded nightclub. We then see an over the shoulder shot as he is served at the bar, as though we are peering into the conversation to see what’s going on. A tracking shot through his apartment is used, making it as though we are walking through his apartment. There are a range of close ups used throughout including a close up of him grabbing the things he uses in the shower, these close ups highlight the aspects of his lifestyle. We also see a few midshots of him in the shower and doing yoga.
Mise-en-scene
We see a contrast between the characters normal life and the life he wants us to see. We see him in a dark ‘seedy’ night club which gives us a dark / bad impression then we see him in his apartment and it is all white and minimalist and he moves very slowly and purposefully giving us the impression of good and purity. There is no hiding of the killer, he takes of a facial mask which signifies he is not hiding.

Sound.
There is digetic sound at the beginning, 80’s music playing in the night club tells us something about the time period or that they were in an 80’s night club. Also there is dialogue when he is at the bar ‘I would like to kill you and play with your blood’
In his apartment we hear a piano playing soft posh music, we are unclear weather this is supposed to be digetic or non digetic. There is non digetic sound, from the narration of the man and his lifestyle, he tells us a little bit about what is going on.

Editing.
The editing is all slow paced and in time with the piano music, especially in his apartment, this drags the narrative out. A shot reverse shot in the bar scene makes us see the two characters having a conversation, at this point we are not sure who we are supposed to be aligned with, the man or the girl. Also the editing tends to highlight his obsessive routine, for example as we see closely the cleansers he uses.

Graphics.
The graphics are all white and small but in capital letters. Three different contrasting fonts are used this shows the character is a contrasting person.

'Silence Of The Lambs'

Narrative Structure.
The narrative structure is linear and there is equilibrium. Some woman is running somewhere, we are unclear where she is running, she could be running to something or away from something. When an FBI man comes and tells her she is wanted in someone’s office we assume she has done something wrong. We also realise she works for the FBI. In the FBI building she seems to be then only woman, in a mans world. She goes into a room and at first something is hidden from us, she is looking at something that we cannot see and it seems to be something big. Eventually we see what she is looking at but her boss appears and we are still unsure what is going on.

Thriller codes and conventions.
The Question and Answer model is used throughout, we are continuously asking questions such as ‘who is she?’ ‘where is she running?’ ‘why is she running?’ ‘why is she wanted?’ ‘what is on the wall?’
The transformed city is used as it is set in a forest / police station which is a general place. Also she could be considered as the exotic as she is a woman in a mans world. She looks small and sort of out of place, which is made clear when she is stood in a lift with all the men. The Enigma code is used, we don’t know what is going on, who she is or why she is important. Also there are elements of partial vision, when we follow her we don’t know is we’re supposed to be somebody watching her and we don’t know what is on the wall when she is in the building.

Camera Work.
At the beginning there is a crane shot as we see her move into the shot and there are a lot of pans so we fell like we are following her through the forest. Quite a few midshots are used to emphasise her height and make her look vulnerable. A lot of different shots we used such as a publishing shot to show the FBI building and over the shoulder shots used when she is talking to the FBI man.
Mise-en-scene.
It is set in the woods, and then moves into a building. She is made to look very small when in the lift with all the men, she is the only one wearing grey. This makes her look out of place and almost as if nobody notices she is there.
Some things are kept from us to build suspense and make us think something is going to happen or to prepare us for something that will happen later on. We are given a clue when we see what’s on the wall but we still don’t know the significance of it or her or why she is there.

Sound
We hear the digetic natural sounds of her feet on the crunching leaves as she runs through the forest and her breathing which is quite scary. Also as these sounds get louder she gets faster.
We also hear non digetic music. The type of music leads the audience to believe she is in a bad place.
There is very little dialogue included, the dialogue that is used is all very official and comes towards the end as she talks a little to the people in the building.

Editing.
The editing is slow paced, this builds up tension as we are waiting for something to happen. We see a match on action when we follow her through the forest, we know she is the main character as we are always watching her. Also an eye line match is used, when she is looking at something we see it from her height.

Graphics.
The graphics are all in black and white, this gives a the impression of bad / danger. They are in capital letters and are very bold and central, sometimes we could not see properly what was in the background as they were in the way, this links with the idea of partial vision. They were also prolonged and left on the screen for a while.