Research into 6 different thrillers
I have researched into 6 different thrillers in order to extend my knowledge on thriller types and explore how different techniques are used by directors to portray different things
Die Hard
New York cop John McClane flies to Los Angeles on Christmas eve to spend the holidays with his family. He arrives at the Nakatomi corp. building for his wife's office party. International terrorists take over the building and hold every one as hostage to steal $600 million of bonds from the vaults of the building. Now McCLane has to face the terrorists and save his wife and the other hostages.
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In the opening scene of Die Hard we see an establishing shot of the plane, it’s used to show where the characters are and in this scene it’s also used to set the time, the effect this has on the audience is that it shows them where this part of the film is so they aren’t confused when they watch it. Another shot we see used is a medium close up of the man sat next to Bruce, this is used to introduced him into the part of the conversation. The effect it has on the audience is that it makes us feel apart of the converation because we are close to the character.
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There is also a lot of camera movement in this opening scene. There is a very long tracking shot on Holly when she is walking down the corridor, the effect this has on the audience is that it shows Holly’s importance as the camera moves and stops when she does, it’s like she is pulling the camera with her. There is also a pan when the asian character is walking from the musicians to the balcony, this shows us the size of the office and how important it will be in the film. There is also a few shallow focus’, one of them is when Bruce is walking off the plane, this effects the audience because it draws our attention to Bruce and no one else, it also shows us that he is important in the film.
Taken
Seventeen year-old Kim is the pride and joy of her father Bryan Mills. Bryan is a retired agent who left the Central Intelligence Agency to be near Kim in California. Kim lives with her mother Lenore and her wealthy stepfather Stuart. Kim manages to convince her reluctant father to allow her to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. When the girls arrive in Paris they share a cab with a stranger named Peter, and Amanda lets it slip that they are alone in Paris. Using this information an Albanian gang of human traffickers kidnaps the girls. Kim barely has time to call her father and give him information. Her father gets to speak briefly to one of the kidnappers and he promises to kill the kidnappers if they do not let his daughter go free. The kidnapper wishes him "good luck," so Bryan Mills travels to Paris to search for his daughter and her friend.
Initially we see a birthday of a young 5 year old girl with her mum unwrapping presents; we can tell it is in the past due to the filming appearing to be done by a home video camera with the picture quality being low. It then cuts to a man sittingdown in a dark room opening his eyes, giving us the impression he just had a flashback, this is a typical thriller convention that shows a form of mental instabilityin the character and a longing for the past and better days.
The credits are also being shown throughout this time which also conforms to commonly used media conventions. After showing the man having a flash back the camera zooms on an image of a young girl with her family at this point the title of the film appears informing the audience the film is about to commence. It also gives us a hint at what the film is about, a family being torn apart. These subtle hints keep you interested and on the edge of your seat.The sound during the opening is diegetic, as we are listening into a home movie so this adds authenticity but also implies that this home video is important for the audience to watch and listen as it has significance towards the film.
The opening subverts from the stereotype of a thriller opening which is immediate edge of your seat action that is very obvious and striking. However the opening in Taken Is more subtle and shows emotion, which is important as emotion, drives theplot of the film.The opening is definitely a positive as it shows the world at its very best for the main character who seems to constantly be fighting to get back to a complete family. This happy joyful beginning contrasts with the emotions during the film but cleverly links in with the ending of the film which shows a happy and more together family. In many ways this makes the film conform to the thriller conventions as it starts with a happy family and ends with a happy family.
Inception
Dominic Cobb is an industrial spy who instead of breaking into a person's home, office, or even computer, gets the information he needs by getting into the person's mind through their dreams. Cobb is also a fugitive who misses his children. Someone approaches Cobb and wants to hire him but instead of getting information out, the man wants Cobb to implant something, a process called 'inception', which is not easy to do. Cobb is hesitant to do it but when the man offers to help Cobb go back to his children, Cobb agrees. So he assembles his team but when they begin, there are things Cobb didn't tell his team that could jeopardise the job and when they occur they're not sure if they should continue.
It was released on July the 8th 2010, and is directed by Christopher Nolan.
To begin with, the opening scene is very mysterious. There is a variety of shots including establishing shots, mid shots, and long shots. Most of the close up shots are used to show the main character ‘cobb’s expressions and feelings. This creates a sense of secrecy and enigma for the viewer.
The Girl on the Train
The Girl on the Train is the story of Rachel Watson's life post-divorce. Every day, she takes the train in to work in New York, and every day the train passes by her old house. The house she lived in with her husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. As she attempts to not focus on her pain, she starts watching a couple who live a few houses down -- Megan and Scott Hipwell. She creates a wonderful dream life for them in her head, about how they are a perfect happy family. And then one day, as the train passes, she sees something shocking, filling her with rage. The next day, she wakes up with a horrible hangover, various wounds and bruises, and no memory of the night before. She has only a feeling: something bad happened. Then come the TV reports: Megan Hipwell is missing. Rachel becomes invested in the case and trying to find out what happened to Megan, where she is, and what exactly she herself was up to that same night Megan went missing.
The opening scene is solid in displaying the real effects of loneliness and just how torturous of a road it is to recovery, but her character feels like just another face in the growing crowd of expressionless mannequins. Rachel’s feelings inside are perhaps the most important aspect to this story, and the audience deserves to know why she jumps to the most drastic of conclusions. Something that felt comfortable with the novel, considering we are standing next to her every painful step of the way.
The Dark Knight Rises
Despite his tarnished reputation after the events of The Dark Knight, in which he took the rap for Dent's crimes, Batman feels compelled to intervene to assist the city and its police force which is struggling to cope with Bane's plans to destroy the city.
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In the opening scene where Bane lands on a couple of seats in the plane also helps indicate that Bane is of an unmatchable strength, the fact that the camera shakes as well as the camera looking directly up at him makes him seem like more of an imposing villain. An interesting thing to note is that Batman and Bane are mirrors of each other as well, they both wear black and they both have a mask the difference being that Bane’s mask covers his mouth and not his eyes whereas Batman’s mask covers his eyes but not his mouth.In this shot Bane is portrayed as a nightmare due to the blurred camera and shaky vision
Gravity
Dr. Ryan Stone is a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission. Her commander is veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky, helming his last flight before retirement. Then, during a routine space walk by the pair, disaster strikes: The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Ryan and Matt stranded in deep space with no link to Earth and no hope of rescue. As fear turns to panic, they realize that the only way home may be to venture further into space.
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The single 17 minute shot to open gives the audience a good look at the setting of the scene and the overall film.
The costumes worn are accurate and help to clearly demonstrate the setting of the film. The props used are also beneficial in helping to show the theme.
There is a series of text shots which tell the audience the basis of the story. The title is then shown and this is in the correct placement to abide with the codes and conventions of an opening scene.
The silence at the beginning of the shot is effective as it reflects what can be heard in space. The quite speech that interjects the silence works because the audience can now hear what the characters can and this is vital in the telling of the hook.
The characters are introduced after the spacecrafts are shown which makes the editing look seamless.
The camera movement shows clearly that the audience that what they are watching is filmed by a child through a hand held camera. This is done effectively, but in doing this the sci-fi genre is not shown.
The sound is diegetic of people talking and there is also the non-diegetic sound of music playing in the background. This doesn't add much to film, but it does help to enhance the opening and what is happening on the screen at the time.
There are a series of different shots throughout the opening. Some of these are tracking shots and pans. The pans show the viewer the entirety of the scenery and the tracking shots allow the audience to follow action.
It is made obvious that it is winter due to the greyness of the sky and the ice/snow on the rocks. The scene is set in a forest as this is a typical place for hunting.
