ANALYSING BURIED OF THE ANALYSING BURIED OF THE THRILLER/HORROR GENRETHRILLER/HORROR GENRE

By Samantha RecknellBy Samantha Recknell

The plotThe plot

Waking groggy in pitch darkness, Paul Conroy, an American truck driver working as a contractor in Iraq in 2006, slowly realizes he is trapped inside a wooden coffin, buried alive. With his cigarette lighter, he can see the trap he is in, and he quickly realizes that there's not enough air for him to live long. He finds within the coffin a working cell phone, which allows him contact with the outside world. But the outside world proves not to be very helpful at finding a man buried in a box in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Paul must rely on his best resource--himself.

Description of the filmDescription of the film

• Paul is a U.S. contractor working in Iraq. After an attack, he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.

SoundsSounds

• knife slashes are used through the editing of jump cuts noises which also creates apprehension and tension as it has a creepily effect of slashing which is used commonly in thrillers.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONSFACIAL EXPRESSIONSI really like this shot of his face from buried as its shows his fear and pain as there is no escape from the coffin. It is a semi close up which allows us to see enough of his facial expressions as well as his surroundings of nothing but 4 walls. This makes the audience feel very tense.

This is again a close up shot of the victims face as it allows us to see his frustration of wanting to escape. We can also see the blood that’s on his face which shows his pain and the audience feel that they want to help him escape. After looking at several of these close up shots, when making our opening sequence we will make sure we use close ups.

Again this two close up shows a connection with the audience as it shows his concentration and that he is a strong fighter and never gives up. This makes the audience want to help him. So when making a film, it is important to thin about facial expressions for the characters.

In this shot we see her facial expression of nervousness, the lighting used highlights his face and concerned emotions to the audience.

Many of these facial expressions are fairly the same as again it shows his concentration for wanting to escape. The light against his face shows its the only light he has and that its burning away and also that he is running out of time to escape. This creates a lot of tension and anxiety as we don’t know if he gets out or not.

TITLESTITLESWhen making our own film opening sequences, we will have to think about different fonts that will fit our genre and whether we are going to have the stereotypical features. These titles were used out of the films and I think they are effective because by using the colors black, white and red. They all stand out as well all have the connotations of gloomy, mysterious and red suggests danger/blood suiting the genre of thriller perfectly.

This character title is very dramatic with a contrast created with the black and white despite this being a color film. The bold type also creates more focus in the viewer.

This shot is very effective of the mobile phone and a close up stereotypically of an innocent vulnerable women needs help. It makes the audience feel for her pain and again, she goes to a male for help.

This close up of his injured hand adds tension to this film as well because it slides down the table which suggests he has given up and the audience don’t know if he will survive or not. The fact that he has blood all over his hand suggests he has been through some pain.

Other screen shots Other screen shots

This shot I also think is very effective as the light is burning away which gives the audience the impression that time is running out for him to escape as well as rescue his wife. This creates suspense when watching. This is also contrasts against the fact that candles are meant to be a sign of hope whereas in this thriller film, it is used as a time destruction.

This close up of his watch again suggests that he is under timed conditions and that if he doesn’t get out, he will not survive adding drama and nervousness to the film which suits the genre well as it keeps the audience under anticipation.

This is a good shot as it is used predictably to add tension as it suggests that his phone as surprisingly died and that he has no way of contacting the outside world which adds a sense of hopelessness and that his chances of survival are minimal.

Many of these shots are also in a dark background which adds mystery as we cant see anything apart from the characters face. This is very effective as it means that the audience is purely focused on the character keeping them enticed throughout the film as they want to know what happens next.