The ChaseLara Hammersley

Conventions of Action Thriller

Low key lighting- sets the scene for the audience and makes them feel more on edge.

Fast paced editing- encourages the audience to feel more wary of some characters.

Enigma- makes the audience intrigued and therefore encourages them to carry on watching.

Close ups of characters’ facial expressions- allows the audience to see the situation from the characters’ perspective which makes them feel as though they’re in the scene and encourages them to empathise with some characters.

Fast paced music- exaggerates the scene and makes it more dramatic. It also establishes that a big event is about to happen.

My Idea

I am going to create the opening to an action thriller film which will include typical conventions of this genre to make it successful.

My main idea is a chase scene between two girls, this challenges the usual chase scenes we see in films because they usually involve two or more men.

The scene will start with a girl (protagonist) in her house talking on the phone about how someone is ‘coming to get her’ and how ‘she is going to take it’. This intrigues the audience because they want to who the girl is, who’s ‘coming to get’ her, and what they are going to ‘take’. She then hears the front door open so she starts to run. The audience will then see that there is another person in her house (antagonist), and she starts to run as well. This introduces the chase. The rest of the scene will consist of shots of the two girls running. Disequilibrium will occur when the protagonist falls over. The audience then see that the antagonist has a gun. The scene will end with the protagonist pleading with the antagonist to ‘not take it’ and to ‘not kill her’. The audience won’t see whether she does get killed or not. This means that if the film was to carry on, they would be intrigued and want to carry on watching.

Camera

To make the scene dramatic and mysterious, the audience won’t see the girls’ faces fully until the end of the scene.

To achieve this I will use extreme close ups, POV shots, and OTS shots. Also, I will use fast panning shots of the setting because it will make it

disorientating for the audience and will show the audience what the girls are seeing as they are running.

Close ups of the protagonist will help to show the audience her fear and will help the audience she see the situation from her perspective.

It will also help to show the audience that they are supposed to empathise with her because she is the protagonist, and they are supposed to dislike to antagonist because she is making her feel scared.

Sound & Editing

The scene will start without music and just with the sound of the protagonist talking and heavy breathing to show that she is scared.

When the girls start ‘the chase’ there will be the sounds of heavy breathing and fast foot steps. This will help to create a sense of urgency and will make it dramatic.

When the music starts it will fade in slowly to had drama and, when it has built up, it will be fast paced to reflect the action of the scene and the genre.

I will use fast jumps cuts to emphasise the speed of the action and fade transitions to make it more dramatic.

Mise en Scene

The scene will be set in the woods during the evening. The dim lighting will make the audience feel on edge.

To show the difference between the two girls, the protagonist will wear all white, which has connotations of innocence, and red lipstick, which is stereotypically feminine.

The antagonist will wear all black, which as connotations of mystery and power.

These differences will help the audience to understand that there are two different people in the scene as the faces aren’t shown until the end.