SE7EN

By Nicholas

What is a Thriller Film?

0Thriller - If this genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single minded goal which provides thrills and keeps the audience cliff hanging at the edge of their seats as the plot builds towards a climax. A thriller is also when it’s a villain driven plot whereby he presents obstacles that the hero (protagonist) needs to overcome.

In this first scene/clip we see a mid-shot of Morgan Freeman (Detective Sommerset) in his dark, apartment kitchen. His back is towards the audience hiding his identity and emotion. Also we notice the curtains are close in this shot which raises the question as to “WHY” they are closed, who is he blocking out and why are they so dark that hardly any light is coming through. On the right we see two figurines/statues of an elephant and what we believe to be a cat. This we think relates to his African background and his culture. In the foreground we see a blurred out shot of a chess board; this makes us think he is he plays alone and if played, plays by himself to always better himself. At the beginning of the movie we do not know much about Detective Sommerset however from this shot he is made to look like a loner/ someone who doesn’t entertain much and prefers his own company. The sound in this scene is very diegetic and we mainly only hear background noise of the streets (sirens, can horns, voices, etc.) This shot relates to a thriller genre as it is set in a normal, everyday setting however is dark for a reason unknown.

The blurred out chessboard and door frame make Somerset stand out to be the main focus point.

In this shot we see a close up Detective Somersets objects for work. From right to left we see a hanky-chief, a police badge, a switch blade, a pen and his gun. From these we then get a feel of what Somerset dose for a job. Although these objects are placed in an organised line we see he dose not pick them up in order and paces his hanky-chief and badge and firstly picks with his pen, switch blade, badge, hanky-chief and then lastly his gun. This shot is silent and has not dialogue or sound as it is in his room whilst he is getting ready for work.

In the street we see Detective Somerset and Detective Mills in a low angled tracking shot. This shot is continuous as they are having their conversation. Although the camera is set on both characters in this shot the cameras main focus is on Somerset – we know this because later on in their conversation, Somerset is offended by Mills’s assumption as they know nothing about each other however Mills judges him. In this specific shot however Mills is badged by a member of the public as if he is no one important. During the conversation he is continuously distracted by objects and people and rubs his hair as a sign of frustration. Somerset however is not distracted by anything as this is his city and he is comfortable in his surroundings unlike Mills.

In this low angled shot, Detective Somerset is looking up whereas Detective Mills is looking down, this could implicate that Somerset is feeling confident about the job at hand whereas Mills is still uneasy about it all.

Behind both Somerset and Mills we see a bared window which shows that the neighbourhood is either rough or places are getting closed down.

Somerset is in bed reading a book alone which shows he likes to keep himself to himself and is also intelligent

Also in this shot we see Detective Somerset has a book shelf which indicates that he enjoys reading and dose is regularly.

Close up shot on the Metronome to show the beginning of the sound and where the sound is coming from.

The sound of the metronome can be said to be an instrumental in this scene as there is no other sound other than the metronome. Moreover the sound of the solo metronome can indicate that Somerset likes precision and structure and is very persistent about his time.

Close up shot of finger tips as they are being cut with a razor blade. The skin is being peeled off so that there is no finger prints to chase.

I suggest this would hurt the villan who is chipping away at their skin therefore this shows that they are whiling to go to extreme measures to prove their point/ do what they need to.

AntagonistProtagonist

This low angle, long shot shows that the antagonist has took both Detective Somerset and Mills to a deserted place. The interpretation of this could be that he may be setting a trap as the antagonist is now leading the way ; with Detective Somerset falling back.

The close up of the boxes and the sign “fragile” on the side makes the audience wonder why there is a box being delivered at a specific time in the middle of nowhere. (this is when it gets really intense for the audience)

In this scene, the van comes from a distance “right on time” in the middle of nowhere.

BATMAN(THE DARK Knight)

In this scene, the background is fully blurred out making the joker the main focus, this scene is set in a kitchen. The colours purple and the joker playing card the

Joker is holding is significant to his character.

In this mid shot, we see the Villain (Joker) holding a joker playing card. From this simple shot we get to know a lot about the joker, we get a sense he is careless, sloppy, messy, a rebel and dose what he wants.

Mid-shot of both Alfred and Christopher Bale (Batman) looking at images of the Joker on CCTV. The camera is a wide mid-shot of both characters but also from Christopher's prospective.

The joker smiling as if what he is doing is funny. Christopher's back is towards the camera hiding his face/identity, and expression he feels toward the Jokers character at this specific moment.

Close up high angle shot of the Joker in a prison cell.

His make up/face paint/mask is coming of, smudged and messy however he is in a suit, this indicates the character is un sure of his actions and his next move and also very carless.

In this scene the joker is having a conversation with one of the police guards and being very smug about it.

Christopher Bales looking at his Batman suit, his expression suggests he is thinking hard about what Batman's next move is going to be. This creates suspense for the audience.

Christopher Bale stands in front of the suit as if he is looking into a mirrors. This is ironic as he IS in fact Batman

As Christopher is suited up to look like the good guy, his expression says other wise. This also raises the questions of his Alta-ego, who is the real Christopher Bale is, and who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist?

Protagonist? Antagonist?

In this shot, Christian Bale is silent as he is focusing on his next move.

Long wide shot of the Joker standing in the middle of the road.

He is centred in the middle of a deserted street with none around . All the street lights are on but one – this may indicate that something unusual is going to happen. He is standing openly in the road with a un in his hand and a smile on his face to show he is the dominant character in this shot. It almost seems as if he has run everyone out of town and is looking for trouble.

The Joker in this mid-shot, is clearly not caring about the law or anything else as he is hanging out of the back seat just to feel the breeze in his hair and to have a laugh, this is when we see the jokers true rebellious personality.

The background of the traffic/street behind is blurred out to make the main focus the Joker!

Conclusion The way that I have analysed each scene made it easier for me to understand the thriller genre. As I have learned to notice codes and conventions of a thriller genre. The codes and conventions are as follows:

0 Antagonist0 Protagonist0 Violence0 Cliff hanger0 Drama0 Sounds0 Idea of hunter and being hunted0 Settings- Plays on audiences fears0 Tension0 Plot twist