Se7en
Narrative structureMills is 7 days from retirement
There are 7 murders
The metronome in Mills’ room ticks 7 times
All link back to subconsciously reinforce the importance of the number 7
Thriller Codes and Conventions
The city becomes a city of augmented reality, the limits of reality become flexible, with incredible crimes being committed in such an average place.
There is a good showcase of heroic romance, with Pitt having to act extraordinarily in the face of tragedy.
The exotic in the film is seen as Pitts wife, she is outside of the main plot, and says herself that she doesn’t belong in the city.
There are physical and metaphorical mazes in Seven, when Pitt chases Spacey through buildings, and the mental mazes of solving the case which Mills and Somerset must solve.
Partial vision takes place through the hiding of the killers identity.
Concealment and protraction are used at the end of the film when the box is brought into play, the viewer has no idea what is really in the box.
Question and answer is used during the search for the killer, the audience ask inside their heads who the killer is, and this strand of the plot twists and turns many times over,
Camera work
The camerawork is used in a pretty unobtrusive way, there is no sense of claustrophobia in the opening, as the scenes are of regular life for two policemen. Close ups are used well highlight seemingly useless objects, such as Mills’ knife, which becomes very important at the climax of the film.
Mise-en-scene
In the shots, almost everything is grim, gloomy and dark, a typical grimy city, even the clothes that Somerset wears are grey and creased, the glumness of the shots make the city seem incredibly ordinary, nothing could possibly happen there.
Sound
The use of none diagetic sound, in this case music, really adds to the mood of the film, the jerky repetitiveness of it make the viewer feel ill at ease, the film also uses amplified diagetic sound to emphasise the idea of time ticking away with the metronome.
Editing
The editing within the titles, is much more choppy than that of the prologue. The jumping and close shots combined give really intense feelings of unease, especially with some rather disturbing images under the titles.
Graphics
The title graphics are jumpy, and switch fonts, this adds to an idea of insanity as a theme for a film, with ideas of schizophrenia, the graphics switch from scrawny hand writing to much neater writing, giving an idea of a battle between good and evil.
Silence of the lambs
Narrative structure
The film starts with a girl running through the woods, the viewer does not know whether she is being chased, as she runs through the woods, she comes to a net, she climbs over the net, showing the fact she is in fact running a course, as she continues, a man calls her over, and from his cap, we see she is running an FBI assault course.
Thriller codes and conventions
The film has horror and crime lines, with the initial ‘chase’ scene taking on horror influence, and the use of music really pushing thriller norms. The film shows a trace of Mazes and Labyrinths, when the main protagonist looks both ways, and later, when she seems to be running in a random direction.
Camera Work
The camera really pushes the idea of being chased, following the girl from behind, then from behind trees, then focusing in on her feet, this gives a sense of claustrophobia, and is very well done to make the audience think she is being chased.
Mise-en-scene
In the shots, there isn’t much apart from the girl, and the trees of the wood, leading to a good feeling of solitude, the colours are quite plain, and make it feel almost as if you can’t see everything.
Sound
Sound is used very effectively in SOTL, it creates a lot of tension when it wants to, and creates mystery in other places, for a lot of the time, it is almost indescribable, in that it has no feel, no happiness or sadness, but it is still conducive to the effect of mystery at all times.
Editing
Choppy music is timed well with the film, with music climaxing just at the right time to cut out, and really give that suspense feel. The music picks up when she begins to run, the pace mirrors her own, effective again in making the audience think the girl is being chased.
Graphics
The font used is white typewriter font on the image of the film, it is a good way to make the story feel like someone is looking back on records of a police case.
Jaws
Narrative structure
A party is in full swing on a beach in America, two of the party decide to go swimming, as they run, they strip off their clothes, symbolic of taking off protection, as they get to the water, the boy continues to strip, and the girl dives in, the boy falls asleep drunk, and as he lies there, the girl is attacked by a shark, by the time he wakes up, she is gone.
Thriller codes and conventions
The film uses concealment during the opening, as we never see the shark, but we know it is there, through clever POV camera shots, and the title of the film. The film begins with a classic horror thread, kids doing what they know they shouldn’t, but the film works this in well, using no gore at all, so it definitely cant be called a gory horror.
Camera work
The shots used successfully create the lurking sense of a shark, and the scale of the ocean in proportion to the scale of the girl. The slow POV cam at the start of the film, insinuated a shark patrolling the water, and personally makes my skin crawl, this is most probably the whole idea of the shot, and it does its job brilliantly.
Mise-en-scene
The colours of the party show warmth, and a nice atmosphere, where as in contrast, the water scene looks cold, this is symbolic of the exit from safety, in the extra long shots of the girl in the water, there is nothing in the shot, other than the girl and the vast surface of the water, which makes me feel quite uncomfortable, knowing what the film is about, she is trapped.
Sound
In jaws of course, there is the iconic two notes, synonymous with fear and impending doom, and clichés aside, it does a very good job of raising intensity, and leading up to the attack scene, making the audience anxious. The pace of the non diagetic music picks up leading up to the attack, possibly signifying the raise in aggression and speed of the shark.
Editing
The music is perfectly timed to the film, evoking all the right emotions at all the right times. The fast cuts from shot to shot keep the pace of the film going, and help keep the audience interested.
Graphics
The font used for the title is simple, but in your face, giving it a sense of power, much like a shark, the use of such a simple font makes it rather sinister
Red Eye
Narrative structure
The films starts of in a cab, with ominously heavy rain, with a crescendo with the red eye graphic leading up to the first scene. The girl is a hotel manager, a person of power, however later on in the film, she becomes powerless, her power is shown when she tells a hotel staff member how to log in with her code, and override the system, in the airport, in a queue to check in, she meets a woman who she bumps into, when she apologises, the woman shows she is wearing ‘combat boots’ and says ‘flying is war these days’ a great link to later on in the film. An irate man in the queue starts to shout at a flight attendant, but a man with eerie blue eyes tells him to calm down, this is significant, because the character with blue eyes is the one who takes the main character hostage on the plane, showing his ease of splitting between violent and calm personas.
Thriller codes and conventions
The film was hard to analyse in this aspect, as it was in a very different style, however, during the opening, a wallet is stolen, and the build up to that is a very good example of thriller, the camera zooms in, and music builds tensions, and as the music crescendos, the wallet is snatched, making the audience jump with its suddenness.
Camera work
A lot of the shots are dialogue cuts, so most of the shots are close to the face, but the camera rarely shows anything that is not important at that time, there are a lot of cut ins to things the director wants us to see, and not a lot of what they don’t want to give away.
Mise-en-scene
In the shots, there is a lot of people chatting, and generally being noisy, giving a sense of claustrophobia
, also there is a lot of cutting to peoples faces during dialogue, giving a close up feel.
Sound
Scary music in the film crescendos with the noise of a jet engine behind it, suddenly it cuts off, and we are shown a picture of a young girl, in a graduation gown, there is a similar climax just before the stealing of the wallet.
Graphics
The titles are more overt than others, with a louder font, and a bigger feel, this whole in your face thread, is carried on through the film, and it is a brilliant way to begin it.
Dark Knight
Narrative structure
There is a robbery in a mob bank, planned by the Joker, the robbers have all been told to kill the next man, as a way of giving more money to each remaining man, this shows the heartlessness of the Joker, what little dialogue there is is each robber making sure his mark has done his job properly, before shooting him, during the robbery, one robber is killed by a manager with a shotgun, who is later killed by the Joker, after he has been badly wounded, and creates no threat, again showing the cruelty of the Joker.
Thriller codes and conventions
There are epic shots of Gotham city, which takes on the role of the enchanted forest, where super vigilantes and villains lurk, also, a supporting factor to this, is the heist its self, this scale of robbery with such flamboyance, would never be seen in real life, but here it takes place, in this world slightly out of the reach of reality. At no point in the opening, are any of the robbers faces shown, this concealment is a common convention in thrillers.
Camera work
The shots used vary a lot, some are quick glances at important things, others are wide sweeping aerial shots, giving scale to the city. The shot changes are choppy, keeping a great fast tempo to the film, and making it
Full of information.
Mise-en-scene
In the opening, a lot is shown, people zip lining high above streets, to men in eerie masks, the wide variety of things in the opening suggest that the plot will only get thicker, and that there will be a lot of action in store for the viewer.
Sound
In the opening, there is a constant heartbeat like track going on, which shows pace and tempo, during the beginning of the heist, there is a baby’s cry, showing the men’s blatent disregard for anyone but themselves, and how they have no place in everyday life.
Editing
Choppy fast cuts are used instead of fades, this keeps the pace up, this is a fast opening, and this kind of editing fits well, the editing has no real bearing on the music, as that is a constant, but they are related, in their unrelenting speed.
Graphics
The graphics at the start are brilliant works of art, they look very high tech, and really fit with the technologic side of the film, which becomes prominent later on.
No Country For Old Men
Narrative structure
The opening of the film is beautiful landscapes of the deep south, with a narration from a south American sheriff, he talks about his job, and how he sent down a boy to the ‘lectric’ chair, towards the end of his narration, a man is seen being arrested, the narration fully stops, and the scene cuts to a police station, where the man who was earlier arrested, strangles a policeman with him hand cuffs, the look on his face is even more chilling than the speech about the boy who ‘knew he was going to hell, he’d be there in ‘bout fifteen minutes’.
Thriller codes and conventions
The shots are not claustrophobic in any way, until the station shots, where the camera moves in close to the killing. The use of grim instruments used to kill, in this case- a bolt gun, show the violent side of the thriller, but this opening seems very minimal in its use of conventional threads.
Camera work
The shots used are stationary panoramas of landscapes in the southern states of the USA, the only time the camera moves is to cover the killing of the police officer, this makes it feel like nothing has happened in this place before now.
Mise-en-scene
For about half the opening, the only thing in the shot is landscape, giving a slow quiet feel to the place, once the man attacks the officer, the camera goes to a birds eye view, and so all that is seen is the two men struggling, and the blood of the two of them.
Sound
Apart from the narrator, there is some diagetic sound, in the form of wind, but this noise cuts in the police station, and from there in, the only sound heard, is the cops spluttering as he is killed.
Editing
There is not a great deal of editing during the opening, as all the film does is cut between landscapes, when the officer is attacked, the cuts become sharper, and faster.
Graphics
There are no graphics in the opening of this film, this has been done I feel to create the sense of a small town village, no real technology, and a bit of a hamlet, this is done very effectively in my mind, and it makes it feel more personal, with the feel of a home movie.
