Thriller Conventions

In class we looked at some of the typical conventions of a Thriller. This genre warrants a few very common conventions and we all looked at an individual trailer of a thriller of our choice. I chose to analyse The Bourne Identity trailer for these conventions. This film is the first instalment in the Jason Bourne Trilogy. This film, as the other 2, is about a man called Jason Bourne who is the US governments number 1 agent. Bourne however does not know this as he suffered from amnesia following his latest mission. From this point Bourne goes rouge trying to find his real identity and remember his past, even though the memories are not always to his approval. We as the audience soon realise Bourne is the protagonist in this film, and his position as an agent in the past was one he did not necessarily agree with, and as a result of his amnesia, he becomes the governments number 1 target.

This is the trailer for The Bourne Identity:

At the start of the trailer the titles of Universal Studios are shown throught the aim of a sniper rifle at 0.06. This is a convention as titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist and in this case it reflects them both, Bourne and the people that are trying to kill him. They are all highly trained using weapons, so having the titles shown through the scope of a weapon seems to set up the trailer straight away.

Also the first clip of Jason Bourne (the protagonist) show him walking into a bank, being shouted at to stop, and fighting the security guards that try to stop him, all while the voice over tells the audience “He has the skills of a dangerous man”. This instantly sets up the core of the narrative in this film being Bourne. It then goes on the show more clips of Bourne causing havoc and weilding a gun while another voice asks “I need to know what went wrong”, gaining a reply from another voice suggesting “I think he snapped” [0.16]. This instantly sets up an enigma with the audience about this character they are being shown. Who is he? Whats his name? Why is he fighting them? How is he so good at fighting them? Why does he have a gun? Who are the people talking about him? Who needs to know what went wrong? What DID go wrong? These are just some of the questions the audience are asking themselves about this mysterious character. At this point the audience may also be asking themselves, is this character a protagonist or an antagonist? The trailer then goes on to say, through the voice over, Bourne has no memory and sets him up as the antagonist in this film. Even though by the end of the trailer it is clear who this antagonist is it still sets up false paths the keep the audience guessing. This is a small sample of the false paths and clues in the overall film, showing its complex narrative structure. The trailer however ends with some enigma, whereas by the end of the film there is a resolution to the structure. This film though has temporary resolutions, solving each problem one film at a time as it is a trilogy. Another example of a thriller film series like this is SAW.

Another convention of this film is one of the main themes of the film, and infact the whole trilogy. As you can see from the title itself, this film includes big themes of identity. Jason Bourne is the primary theme for this, even though he is a character. His identity, whether is unclear, good, bad, extraordinary, well known, kept secret it is the main theme of identiy for these films. The entire quest of the main character, finding his true identiy.

The mise em scene of the trailer also sets up the film quite alot. There are a few different settings to the film depending on which character is on screen. With Jason Bourne and his female friend the mise en scene is also dull, dank and uninviting. This is to create a sense of isolation and lonelyness, as they are on the run by themselves as prime government targets. On the other hand though the government agents who are persuing Bourne are always surrounded by smart, slick offices and technology. Furthermore some of the darker characters within the government, when on their own also have the tendancy to have a dark mise en scene, similar to that of Jason Bourne, but these characters seem more at home there. There setting almost mirrors their characteristics as the protagonists.

Lastly, The Bourne Identity contains alot of enigmas to create effect on the audience. The trailer alone contains the main enigmas, but the whole film is alot more mysterious and confusing. It very much puts the audience in the same position as Bourne while also seeing the governments plans. This changes from side to side though in parts of the film. For example at some points the audience could be seeing a situation from the point of view of just Bourne, or just the governemt agents, when they are confronted. At other times though the point of view of both sides are seen at once, switching from side to side in quick consession to intensify the action and build up the confrontation.

Camera Angles

Camera Angle Types

Extreme Long Shot

This shot is a wide view of everything around. An extreme long shot is used to establish mise en scene and sets where the scene is taking place. It also familiarises the audience with the setting.

Long Shot

A long shot typically shows the entire object or human figure that is centre of attention and usually includes the place it is in. This shot is used to establish mise en scene and give an overall view of the place with the characters in it.

Mid Shot

A mid shot focuses in on the characters in a scene, typically from face to waist. This is to establish the character on screen and is usually used during dialogue between characters and for conversations.

Close-up shot

This shot focuses in on the characters face. It’s used to show emotions in the character and can sometimes evoke emotions from the audience on a relatable level. It helps the audience connect with the character more and see them in a more personal way.

Extreme Close-up Shot

An extreme close-up shot is a closer more intense focus in on a specific a particular part of a character. This is used to show intense emotion and allow the audience to attach to the character like a close-up, but more personal. This shot can also be used to show focus on a particular object.

Point of View

A point of view shot is a shot from the point of view of the character. This is used so the audience can see things through the eyes of the characters, and can relate to their situation.

Reaction Shot

A reaction shot is a shot showing the reaction of a character to a certain event in the scene. It shows the reaction of a character that usually has a reaction similar to that of the audience.

Over the shoulder Shot

This shot is from over the shoulder of one character and shows what they are looking at. This shot is usually used for conversations and can create a mystery over the character with their back to the camera.

Low Angle Shot

A low angle shot is a shot from a low down position looking up. This shot can be used to show something to be superior, important or big.

High Angle Shot

A high angle shot is a shot from high up position looking down. This juxtaposes the low angle shot. This shot can portray something as opposite of the low angle shot, inferior, vulnerable, isolated and unvalued.

Eye Level Shot

This shot is where the camera is level with the eyes of a character; the eyes are the main focus. This can show equality between the audience and the character. The audience can also relate to the character with this shot as they are at the same level as each other.

 Bird’s Eye View Shot

A bird’s eye view shot is a shot from above the setting looking down on it all. This shot shows the mise en scene and is an omniscient view showing the bigger picture and a superior outside look on the scene.

Canted Angle View Shot

A canted angle view shot is where the camera is tilted at a sideways angle. This shot is usually used for a fight scene or action scene as it intensifies the tensions and action in the scene. The audience feels like they are in the middle of the action moving around it.

Test Anxiety

Filming

Our latest filming task was to film a short scene showing ‘test anxiet’ through a character. I worked with Luke, Daniel and Emily for this task. Luke played the suffering boy with test anxiety after revising for a big exam. We used alot of different shots for this scene, a mix of mid shots, close ups, birds eye view shot, extreme close ups, etc. Something that we did alot was keeping all shots quite short, we did this for added effect to get a sense of intensity, shots flying from angle to angle showing the pressure building in our anxious character (Luke). It was a good filming experience to try out different shots, gave us a chance also to create the scene anyway we wanted, as opposed to the set scene of the preliminary task. While filming we kept the shots relevant so not to start to early or finish to late after action, this is so the editing process will be quicker and easier to play around with and mix up the shots maybe.

Editing

I enjoyed edited the Test Anxiety film as I had alot of different shots to play around with. The way we filmed it was so there wasn’t alot of editing required, apart from the end, so to leave it as it was for the most part would have been more than fine, but as I still wasn’t that used to the software i decided to try some things. I moved alot of the shots around, putting them in different order, making them shorter and in some cases slowed them down. Also I included short sharp flashes of a certain shot in the film in places to intensify that part and add to the anxiety of the character. I also used sound affects for this task, unlike the preliminary task. I used a clock ticking throughout for added effect on the time constraint of the ‘Test’ the character was preparing for. Also there were included shots of the clock in the film quite  few times so it was fitting to have the ticking of the clock continuously playing through.

The Thick of It Analysis

I quite like it as it was quite a dry comedy and not your typical sitcom. Also it was very similar to The Office in the way it was filmed but the characters did not look at the camera, so it wasn’t a documentary style show. Even though it was aimed at a different age group I still found the characters and the concept quite amusing. The setting and genral political environment was very dull and boring in contrast to the loud and excitable characters.  Also the general population was all male, with only two female characters. The program represented alot of masculine competition between the characters, showing the political system first hand of how politicians compete with eachother, for power, authority or just to beat the other man.