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Thriller Conventions of The Matrix
In class we watched a thriller trailer to identify some of the main thriller conventions it included. The film trailer we watched was that of the cult classic film ‘The Matrix’. This thriller includes several very key conventions of a typical thriller genre film, which are apparent also in the trailer of the film. We have identified thriller conventions for a previous task, choosing a film of our own choice (I chose The Bourne Identity) but this time we all had to analyse the conventions in ‘The Matrix’. The Matrix is about a man living a double life as an ordinary man with an ordinary job, and the other as a hacker under the alias ‘Neo’. The film follows Neo’s progress in the “matrix” as the chosen one, and the struggles he faces on his path to freeing all mankind from destruction.
There are 3 main thriller conventions in The Matrix and all are established in the trailer. The main convention of The Matrix is the themes of identity it contains. As Neo lives a double life, his identity in the film is very important, and finding out what his true identity is. This is an enigma at the start of the film, and the start of the trailer as we the audience don’t know that Neo and the other hackers are actually protagonists. Something that adds to this is the fact that they all wear black, which is usually associated with antagonists as they wear dark and dull colours. This is part of the dark mise en scene that surrounds The Matrix.
Another convention is the themes of mirroring in The Matrix. The themes of identity and mirroring have a clear connection in this film and trailer as the black and green numbers and opening credits match up with the black suits and green tint to the glasses the characters wear in the film. In this respect the opening titles mirror the clothing and mise en scene of the film. Also the colour green at the start sets up the sci-fi feel of the film, as typically thriller sci-fi films are associated with the colour green. The green codes shown at 1.13 for example give the film a sci-fi feel.
Another thriller convention we see is the themes of voyeurism. This is obvious as we see that the antagonists (Mr. Smith) have been following the protagonist (Neo) and following his path of him seeing the ‘real world’. The protagonist doesn’t realise they know who he is and why he has been chosen to see The Matrix. The story of the protagonist being shown the ‘real world’ of The Matrix makes the audience question the true reality. In the trailer we are left with a lot of enigmas and questions we the audience need answering, which will be resolved when we watch the film. These questions are what draw the audience into the storyline of the film, and this is how the trailer plays on the human need to answer questions.
The narrative structure is quite complex from what we see from the trailer. We get the impression that the film is targeted at people interested in sci-fi films and complex storylines. To decipher the protagonist and antagonist, you will have to watch carefully as it is quite hard to keep up with the confusing and hard storyline.
The obvious convention that match’s the genre of a Thriller is the dark mise en scene. The dark lighting immediately creates a mysterious and eerie feel to the film. This mysterious feel creates a sense of anxiety and draws the audience in. The dark costumes match the lighting and the action of the antagonist. It is obvious the antagonist has a secret which adds to the mysterious atmosphere and his character. The editing in the trailer is very fast for action parts and is cut to the same time as music which becomes louder. The beats finish in Neo waking up breathing heavily which shows panic. This is one of the parts of the trailer we see voyeurism. This big build up of fast editing and loud music is a good way of intensifying what’s happening in the trailer even more.
