Thriller narratives

21
Narrative in Thriller

Transcript of Thriller narratives

Narrative in Thriller

Gone Girl

Setup

Nick Dunne going about his day.

Typically used to introduce characters and their lives

Inciting Incident

His wife is missing

Close to the beginning of a movie where a character's normal life is changed

Act 1 ClimaxSome characters and the audience suspect that Nick had something to do with his wife’s disappearance. He now has to prove his innocence.

Usually used to send the plot into a new direction

Midpoint

The audience learns that Amy isn’t missing and how she faked her death is revealed. Nick hires a lawyer and tries to prove he had nothing to do with it.

Major shift in dynamic of the story, the character has a major success, devastating failure or a powerful revelation

Act 2 Part 2

Amy stays at her ex’s house. Nick goes on TV to defend himself.

Things get serious. The protagonist faces conflict internally and externally

Climax

Amy kills her ex and frames him for rape. She comes home

Big finale, the protagonist and antagonist face each other. Tension and conflict are at their highest.

Resolution

Amy and Nick settle back into married life and things go back to normal.

Loose ends are tied up. The audience have a sigh of relief

Memento

● Memento● neo-noir-psychological thriller film● both linear and non-linear● two different sequences● flashbacks

Black and white scenes

● chronological● linear narrative● flashbacks on his job before he lost his

memory. Gives insight on

Color scenes

● non-linear● Shown in reverse order● voice over, his thoughts as he is thinking

them● makes the viewer empathise

Enigma

Here the enigma is introduced by the prop of the polaroid picture. This gives the audience some questions about the subject and direction of the film without revealing enough to detract from the mystery of the plot

Enigma

● The audience doesn’t know how long ago the flashbacks were just like the protagonist

● The audience thinks they know who killed his wife, at the end a twist is revealed

● the audience has questions

Salinui chueok (Memories of Murder)

● Murder mystery

● Enigma, figuring out who killed the girl● Suspense is created when detectives find clues

suggesting the identity of someone who did it.● We are left with an open ended ending

the aim of every enigma is to retain the interest of the audience and to provide something which can engage them in the plot

The Usual Suspects

Conventional storytelling has a set structure of beginning, middle, and end, however, they do not always happen in this order.Flashbacks are used throughout the film.There are two main interviews going on and they happen at different times but are interspersed

By using these flashbacks to flesh out the story, the film not only finds a unique way of grasping the audiences attention, but also in how conventional storytelling is able to be altered in film for the sake of it’s story structure

EnigmaAt the end of the film a twist is revealed which is a big pay off for the viewer that answers questions that the viewer had.