Taken
A convention is a way in which something is usually done or something that fits into a particular category. A thriller films primary objective is to create suspense and excitement at various points in the film. There are many ways that thriller films convey emotion and meaning and this is through the convention that can be used Examples of these are low key lighting,close up, iconography and innocence,unusual locations.
Low key lighting is when there is one key lighting and no others and this creates shadows around the characters.This can be seen in both scenes with the girl under the bed and her dad talking to her on the phone.This makes the scene feel uneasy as we now know something dark will be happening in the future. Secondly we can see all the emotions on the peoples faces due to the dark and light contrasts and this makes their faces express more emotion and this makes the scene feel more real.This makes the audience connect more with the characters and this helps them want to continue to watch as they now want to know the story of the character .So it builds a relationship by making a character feel scared and in turn a audience feels sorry for the person and cares about them. Or when low key lighting is used they can feel safe around a certain character and this can make him seem more powerful or trustworthy and if that characters dies it s quite a big blow.
Iconography is the use of props in a scene to convey meaning. This is used throughout the scene in many different objects . The phone that the man is holding is the most important at the start as it is the connection between him and his daughter; later is is the connection between him and his daughters kidnappers and the only way of finding her.The phone is trying to express how helpless she is and how the man can at that moment do nothing about it.Also it could show the distance between them and how they are very far from each other.This makes the audience feel sorry for the daughter but wonder what the father will do now that she has been taken.
Innocence is a convention that is often used in thriller films.More than likely there is a helpless person who is alone or away from home and they are in danger and only the main character can save them. This happens in Taken as you have a girl alone in Paris who is kidnapped and her father thousands of miles away in California helpless to do anything.This is a convention as many films use it as an objective for the films plot line to get them back.This helps make the audience feel that they want to know whether the innocent person gets saved this is highly likely but it can be a good twist if it does not.Innocence can make an audience car deeply and want to protect a character and when that person dies the audience does feel worse than if no relationship was built.
Different locations is another convention used in thriller films. There is often a long way between the place where the main character is and the objective that they are trying to get.This gives the hero a path to follow and makes the story more interesting.In the case of Taken the girl is very far away and now her father needed to go ta a foreign country and this helps the story as now they are out of their comfort zones. This helps the audience feel engaged as now they can see hoe the character reacts in the place and now wants to know what will happen.
A close shot is also used in the clip it is used to show the emotion on peoples faces and what they are feeling. In taken there are two close ups focusing on different people the first is on the dads face he looks full of concern and worry but he is still calm. The girl on the other hand is very different as she is crying and sobbing down the phone. The director does this as from this we can tell what type of people they are one is calm and the other is not as controlled in her emotion. This is to help the audience also relate to his characters through their faces. This builds a relationship with the character as it shows the emotions on a characters face and as people have all had these emotions it is easy to relate to that. Also it gives you a sense of what the characters is like e.g if he is angry he is likely to be a killer.
Overall there are many ways that the clip shows different aspects of a thriller film. These are just some of he ways that can be used to create a good thriller piece.
Low key lighting is when there is one key lighting and no others and this creates shadows around the characters.This can be seen in both scenes with the girl under the bed and her dad talking to her on the phone.This makes the scene feel uneasy as we now know something dark will be happening in the future. Secondly we can see all the emotions on the peoples faces due to the dark and light contrasts and this makes their faces express more emotion and this makes the scene feel more real.This makes the audience connect more with the characters and this helps them want to continue to watch as they now want to know the story of the character .So it builds a relationship by making a character feel scared and in turn a audience feels sorry for the person and cares about them. Or when low key lighting is used they can feel safe around a certain character and this can make him seem more powerful or trustworthy and if that characters dies it s quite a big blow.
Iconography is the use of props in a scene to convey meaning. This is used throughout the scene in many different objects . The phone that the man is holding is the most important at the start as it is the connection between him and his daughter; later is is the connection between him and his daughters kidnappers and the only way of finding her.The phone is trying to express how helpless she is and how the man can at that moment do nothing about it.Also it could show the distance between them and how they are very far from each other.This makes the audience feel sorry for the daughter but wonder what the father will do now that she has been taken.
Innocence is a convention that is often used in thriller films.More than likely there is a helpless person who is alone or away from home and they are in danger and only the main character can save them. This happens in Taken as you have a girl alone in Paris who is kidnapped and her father thousands of miles away in California helpless to do anything.This is a convention as many films use it as an objective for the films plot line to get them back.This helps make the audience feel that they want to know whether the innocent person gets saved this is highly likely but it can be a good twist if it does not.Innocence can make an audience car deeply and want to protect a character and when that person dies the audience does feel worse than if no relationship was built.
Different locations is another convention used in thriller films. There is often a long way between the place where the main character is and the objective that they are trying to get.This gives the hero a path to follow and makes the story more interesting.In the case of Taken the girl is very far away and now her father needed to go ta a foreign country and this helps the story as now they are out of their comfort zones. This helps the audience feel engaged as now they can see hoe the character reacts in the place and now wants to know what will happen.
A close shot is also used in the clip it is used to show the emotion on peoples faces and what they are feeling. In taken there are two close ups focusing on different people the first is on the dads face he looks full of concern and worry but he is still calm. The girl on the other hand is very different as she is crying and sobbing down the phone. The director does this as from this we can tell what type of people they are one is calm and the other is not as controlled in her emotion. This is to help the audience also relate to his characters through their faces. This builds a relationship with the character as it shows the emotions on a characters face and as people have all had these emotions it is easy to relate to that. Also it gives you a sense of what the characters is like e.g if he is angry he is likely to be a killer.
Overall there are many ways that the clip shows different aspects of a thriller film. These are just some of he ways that can be used to create a good thriller piece.
You have shown a good understanding of the conventions analysed and explained how they are used and to create what. You have used correct terminology and descriptive language, but need to make sure your relate all points back to the audience.
ReplyDeleteTo improve your post you need to:
1) Include a definition of conventions in your introduction
2) Explain how the audience builds a relationship witht he characters through these conventions
3) Include screen shots for each point and the URL link