Thriller Comparison- Mrs Georgiou

Thriller Comparison

Overall I believe that I have created a successful thriller sequence for many reasons. One reason is that we have managed to include many things that have appeared in many other films such as Se7en , Saw and Insidious. These things include low key lighting , hidden identity and the killer being unusual which accentuate thrills which is the purpose of a thriller. Another way that I created a successful thriller film is that sometimes the film deviates from the stereotypical thriller scene. We dedicated much more time to the stalking of the woman than the chase, in many films such as Se7en the chase lasts several minutes whereas ours lasts half a minute. Then instead of the killer finally catching the victim  the victim runs into the killer, this changes the rules of what is meant to happen in a chase.

There are many micro elements throughout the film which show things such as creativity and understanding . One micro element that I thought that shows creativity is the numerous locations that we used: a car park, a suburban street and a forest area. I thought this would be good as it both is stereotypical,the forest and unusual with the suburban street. A second micro element that I believe shows creativity is the narrative which deviates at some points in the narrative from a traditional thriller. Things such as the victim running into the killer rather than the killer chasing the victim shows how we have taken the traditional narrative and changed it to make it different. Another micro element that shows understanding of the thriller convention is the characters in the film.They are stereotypical of a thriller in the way that there is a male killer who is presented as powerful and dominating. This contrasts with the vulnerable and physically weaker female who is presented as the victim in the film and the clear distinction between them helps the audience understand who is who immediately. Lastly a way we have understood the conventions of a thriller is through the sounds we have used at certain points in the film. For example when the killer first comes into the shot the music instantly changes to a much darker sound. I believe this shows how I understand thriller conventions and can use them in a film.

     

 My own thriller in many aspects compares and contrasts with the opening scene in Se7en. The narrative of our opening scene's are quite different from each other, Se7ens scene does not contain much action but does give images for what is to come such as his victims. My own scene has more action and sets up what is to happen in the future using actions rather than images which Se7en did. This makes it easier for  the representation of characters as it makes a clear difference between them. In Se7en it is not clear whether this person is the killer or a victim although it leans towards the Killer which does not help people understand . This contrasts with my own which makes it clear immediately who is the killer and who is the victim and does this with the sound and costume . This I think helps the audience to get a preconceived idea of what is to happen and make more sense of the narrative.

The sound of the scene can both compare and contrast with my own, the sound has no dialogue which is the same as mine. I know that I did this is to gain interest in the film and not be distracted by too many things going on at the same time, this is what I presume is wanted by Se7en. The music however is in contrast to my own as I use background sound which make the scene more in depth whereas Se7en uses music which changes the mood of the scene.The editing of the scene is another way which both of the starting scenes are dissimilar. Se7ens editing is constant cutting and going from one angle to the next but they all link together. Mine however has cut scenes but has a longer period in between where actions happen. I believe this makes it easier to tell a story than the Se7en editing which is sometime hard to comprehend. Finally mise en scene is also very different beween both of the scenes. In Se7en it uses books and photographs to show what the killer is doing and who are his targets. In my own I simply use a knife to indicate who the killer is. In my own opinion I believe a weapon will make it easier to identify a killer than photographs of people who turn out to be victims. Although it does add suspence that the killer is not properly identified.

In conclusion there are many ways in which blockbuster thriller films can compare and contrast with my own thriller opening sequence .These ways are through mise en scene, editing, sound and cinematography.