Question 1Thriller Evaluation

By Jessica Doran

Location• We specifically used one location for our thriller

opening. This added to the feeling of claustrophobia and being held captive, which we intended to use for our concept upon domestic abuse. Because the opening doesn’t escape from the confined space of the basement, it suggests you will never leave. In the opening scene, the man is trapped and so the cramped, yet isolated location essentially gives you his point of view. As Maria travels from either side of the room, the camera shows you just how small the space is, and conveys closeness between the pair. Not in the sense of a relationship or friendship, however it suggests that Maria revenge is personal, similarly to how the Bride goes to Bill’s house in ‘Kill Bill’, the enclosed space of the room suggests that her revenge is more personal. The abuse our anti-hero has suffered, she then wants the man to feel too, therefore for the location to be in an open space I feel would have suggested her showing more of a mercy for him as opposed to her trapping him. Instead, the claustrophobic space of the cellar enhanced her empowerment over him when he cannot escape. Additionally, with the cellar being below the surface of the ground, it foreshadows the thriller’s element of the unknown and the idea that the abuse and danger is done where others cannot find it or see it. This appeal’s to the thriller genre as a way of suggesting the unspoken and corrupt happenings within a society.

Location• We used a vintage styled house in order for our

cellar location to have an authentic style to it. This connoted our sophisticated intentions of making a classic thriller that appealed to an adult target audience. We created the generic conventions of a noir thriller by using an old wooden interior, creating a similar location to that of in ‘Once Upon a Time in America’. The opening scene where Eve is ambushed, the mise en scene is authentic, representing a 1930’s set and a claustrophobic, tightly spaced room. Though our thriller is not specifically set to be retro, the similar concept of having an enclosed yet vintage room places the audience out of their comfort zone. Once again, it appeals to the generic conventions of a thriller location as something old, abandoned and alone.

Lighting• For the majority of our film we focussed on using

chiaroscuro lighting in order to suggest the generic conventions of the noir genre. This would enable our film to make an inter- textual link from the very beginning of the opening, to the elements of suspicion and the unknown in which we intend to use throughout our film. Films such as ‘Psycho’ or ‘The Third Man’, who tend to use the aim of using chiaroscuro lighting in order to make their scene aesthetically pleasing. It creates the effect of disillusionment and suggests an eerie nature to the image. Moreover, by using single key lighting, the scene is able to be intensified as opposed to a more naturalistic choice. It does this as it reinforces the trapped feeling and conveys the dazed, mysterious atmosphere in which the opening intends to conform to. Bright or naturalistic would have not worked for our opening. It suggests less of the unknown and more of a psychotic or exposed feel. Instead, our aim was to create an enclosed, trapped atmosphere. This type of lighting is also used in ‘Mildred Pierce’, creating the idea of being watched over and an enigmatic feel of the unknown.

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Lighting• When we finally inform the audience that Maria has stabbed

the man, we decided to continue with making the image into something of the unknown. This meant whilst we were hinting to the audience what had happened, we could still make it seem suspicious. Hence, we used a silhouette of Maria wiping blood off the knife, to make her still seem like the character full of suspicion. Similarly in ‘Psycho’, Hitchcock uses a silhouette of Norman Bates when he is about to murder Marion Crane. For the same purpose as how we have silhouetted Maria, Hitchcock uses the shadowy figure to suggest the unknown for both the audience and Marion. Moreover, by referencing the hidden thoughts/ sinister expression of the murderer, we reinforce a predatory atmosphere. It suggests Maria as bloodthirsty and enhances the thriller genre as something savage, though her reasoning for why she has committed the crime is so much more in depth.

Sound• In order to conform to the sinister representation of the thriller genre, the soundtrack for my

thriller became integral. I chose to use the music ‘Ava Maria’ by Schubert to both complement our anti-hero’s character, but to also create the binary opposite of innocence to corruption with the peaceful soundtrack against a perilous situation. This enhanced the sense of sincerity and insanity we wanted Maria to maintain as a character throughout the opening. Her thought process has almost been tainted by the abuse she has faced from ‘The Man’ and the contrast between the operatic soundtrack and severe situation, developed these connotations perfectly.

• In addition to this, the operatic soundtrack creates an inter-textual link between our film and Peter Jacksons ‘Heavenly Creatures’. The soundtrack in this section of Heavenly Creatures is the Intermezzo from Puccini's opera "Madam Butterfly". The opera is about a young Japanese girl. The naval officer she marries deserts her and returns to take her child. Madam Butterfly kills herself. The ideas of male betrayal and tragedy are connoted by the soundtrack Peter Jackson uses in this film; to which our film also holds similar connotations. Where he creates feelings of insanity along with a childlike vulnerability by using a very peaceful soundtrack, we intended to do the same thing. Showing Maria’s vulnerability through this only enhances the fact she is gaining revenge and was never a murderer before ‘The Man’ abused her. Moreover, once again reinforcing the element of corruption that makes Maria so thirsty for revenge.

Heavenly Creatures - final scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1_dBCjnVfQ

Sound• In the moment where Maria kicks the light out, diegetic sound combined with

non-diegetic became a key use of maintaining the eerie nature of the film. When the ‘Ave Maria’ soundtrack turns off, there becomes silence and then slowly an eerie sound almost like a buzzing noise. This successfully obtained the tension when 'Ave Maria' turned off and added a different kind of intensity, placing more emphasis on the deranged element of the thriller. It added a sense of realism to the opening, suggesting not Maria's purity but the blur in which she views the world and the constant nightmare she is having - the buzz of the sound creates this. We created a soundbridge between Maria's footsteps (diegetic sound) and the deranged intensified sound in the background. With the two overlapping eachother, we could create the connotations that the audience is in the mindset of Maria, she holds all the power.

Sound• To then contrast this sinister representation, when Maria leaves the building, leaving The Man

to rott, a heavy metal/rock soundtrack plays. It's an excellent sound that gave our film the Tarantino/David Lynch type tough wackiness that we have tried to conform to. Similar to that of the sound track at the end of the title sequence of David Lynch's "Wild at Heart". Lynch begins with the slow, smooth section of Richard Straus's "Four Last Songs'' and ends with a blast of heavy rock to bring both the sinister nature of the thriller and the violent, brash side to it too. The track used within our own thriller, is heavy rock and so throws a punch at the audience and contradicts the passive female stereotype as Maria walks out of the door, completely leaving The Man for dead. It develops her hard characteristics as an anti-hero, conforming to the conventions of the thriller genre with her heartless and blood thirsty personality.

David Lynch's 'Wild at Heart' trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCQwumNQL9E

It gives you a feel of the way in which Lynch uses the contrast of a soft piano sound to begin, only then to throw a punch at his audience with heavy rock.

The Title sequence is unfortunately unavailable.)

Narrative• ‘Death at No.52’ does not follow a linear narrative. Instead, we relied on the element of

flashbacks with the purpose of creating the suspense and making our audience want to know why they were there, and essentially want to watch the film. The flashbacks reverse the situation so that Maria is the victim; moreover it makes the audience think that her motive in the present situation may be revenge and suggests the motif of the film. By hinting at this, it then becomes a prime way of attracting our specific target audience.

• To add to this, our flashback has been included as a reference to Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’. It acts as an inter textual link in order to connote the theme of revenge to which our film is based on. We have taken flashback scene of Bill wiping the blood off the Bride’s face to suggest that previous sense of control The Man had over Maria, to which she completely takes away from him when she gains her revenge. The wiping of blood is a close, intimate scene that is intended to suggest the true discomfort and control of the atmosphere which gives Maria the motive to gain her revenge. Furthermore, the flashback sets the scene for revenge whilst placing the audience in a uncomfortable atmosphere that conforms to the thriller genre.

Thriller Conventions• A basic way in which we created conventions

of a thriller opening was by showing the title of the film in between the movement of a shot. This was one way in which specifically in the case of our film ‘Death at No. 52’ we could prolong the time in which the audience didn’t know who the other person is in the room – ‘The Man’. For example; I placed the title in between the shot of Maria and The Man’s feet, and when you see Maria’s face. The title itself created conventions of a thriller with its short and enigmatic feel. It creates the idea of there being a murder case, or an investigation, which is the half the aim as it reinforces the fact that no one knows where Maria has hidden The Man, the case is to be solved by the audience because the opening only gives them snippets of what has gone on prior to the attack - with the flashbacks.

Thriller Conventions• The use of black and white colouration to signify a flas

hback was also another convention of film language. It emphasises that the scene is separate from the present and suggests it’s in the past with a black and white colour to symbolise it’s older/past look.

• Our opening is also very similar to that of within the American version of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. A film also based upon revenge, it opens the film with nothing but heavy rock music, moulded images blurring into ne and the titles fading onto the screen. This is an element we have used in our own thriller opening in order to create the sense that it is an opening, it is to create enigma and suspense and not explain the whole plot at once. As previously said also the heavy rock emphasises the similarities between Lisbeth Salander and our own anti-hero - contradicts female stereotypes and reinforces her empowerment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcp9Ysi75f0