Research into thriller conventions - Miss Miller

When researching into the conventions of the thriller genre I have chosen to analyse a clip from the film 'House at the end of the street' called 'The basement' to show my understanding.

The first convention I noticed in this clip was the diegetic sound from the actress opening the hatch, which can be heard from 0:01 to 0:03. Sound in any film can allow the audience to understand the characters better and possibly to gain a feel for what is to happen in that scene. In this clip, the sound immediately tells us that the female is intrigued as to what may lie beyond this hatch. However, it could also give us the impression that perhaps she is naive as the hatch was hidden for a reason. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds suspense and could foreshadow that something bad is to happen to the female, because her naivety portrays her to be the victim. This makes the audience sit on edge as they are nervous as to what may happen to the girl beyond the hatch. The opening of the hatch is right at the beginning of the scene, and is where we get the first glimpse of the female character (see above). We do not know anything about her, except that she is intrigued to what is in the basement. This emotion is reflected onto the viewers, and makes them feel the same intriguing emotion as the female but also makes them intrigued as to who this person is. 

Another Sound I noticed was the non-diegetic sound of the eerie soundtrack played in the background. This music is played from the moment she has walked down the stairs (0:19) and whilst she is walking through the hallway to the door at the end. The music is a parallel sound as it is what you would expect to hear in this scenario. It is conventional to a thriller because it builds tension for the audience, as well as telling the story and setting the mood. Sound is much more effectively used than dialogue in this scene as it actually shows the audience what is going on, instead of telling them. It plays on the audiences senses and makes them feel vulnerable as the film overwhelms their emotions. 

As the actress reaches the door at the end of the hallway the sound quietens. This is done to build suspense and immediately tells the audience that something is about to happen. It builds the scene to its climax, and causes the audience to be shocked when the girl is snatched. When the girl is walking through the hallway, to the moment where she stops and looks into the room, the audience feel nervous as to the decision the female is about to make. Due to the soundtrack, suspense is built and so the audience are left hoping she wont go into the room as they can sense that it will be dangerous. The viewers and the female do not know what is beyond the door and so when looking through the peephole, we feel as if we are the ones looking through the door (see image on the right), and this makes us feel closer to the character, showing we have connected with her.

The next convention I noticed was the use of cinematography in this clip. For example, when the girl is walking down the stairs, there is a high angled shot looking down on her which immediately tells the audience that she is the victim. This makes the audience sympathise with her as they feel something bad is going to happen to her, by the way she is literally walking into danger, as this is common to happen to victims portrayed in thrillers. This sympathetic emotion we feel here, is felt all the way through this scene and it influences how we react to the events that happen. If she was portrayed using a low angle, we may think she is strong and possibly the villain and so the snatching in the scene would not make sense. This high angle is used to indicate to the audience that she is the victim and we should feel sorry for her which is an immediate connection to her.

Another camera shot I noticed was the canted angle when the girl is walking down the hallway in the basement towards the door. The canted angled shot shows the situation as unusual which suggests a bad outcome. It is conventional as it is used to show the female as being distressed which is a common theme in thriller films. This shot makes the audience feel unstable as they are no longer sure of what the girl is doing. It also makes them feel confused and nervous as this shot also helps to build suspense. Due to the effects of this shot, the audience may feel some distance from the character, as usually if she was a typical victim, she wouldn't be walking as calmly into danger. This gives us the impression that perhaps she is not who we thought she was and therefore, this shot creates an enigma, which is very conventional to the thriller genre.

The next convention I noticed was the use of mise-en-scene in this clip, such as the use of low-key lighting. The low-key lighting works as an immediate indicator to the audience of the genre of this film, which is a thriller. It is used to cast shadows and areas of darkness during the clip which makes it conventional because it implies a mysterious atmosphere when watching. It is used to hide most of the detail in a frame, so the audience can focus on the actions and emotions of the character etc (see opposite). This makes the audience question what they think they are seeing with what they are actually seeing, creating a sense of confusion. This effect helps to build suspense and means that the audience will be more shocked when the climax of the scene is revealed.

Another aspect of mise-en-scene I noticed in this clip was the use of costume, hair & make-up. When looking at the female character, she is wearing everyday clothes particularly with a white top (see opposite). White is usually associated with pureness and innocence, so this could have been used to represent the female being pure and innocent, which portrays her to be even more victim-like. As well as this, she is wearing natural make-up, which along with her hairstyle and clothing, presents her to be a normal person. This makes the audience relate to the character, which makes them feel vulnerable as they realise that the scenario being shown could happen to anyone, including themselves.

The last convention I noticed was the use of editing in the clip. Throughout this clip there were several uses of straight cuts, but the one piece of editing that stood out to me was the reaction shot towards the end of the clip. A reaction shot is any shot in which a subject reacts to a previous shot. In this clip, the reaction shot is of the female looking into the spyglass and then reacting to what she sees in the room once the door is open. We can see from this shot that the female is confused as to what she sees in the room, and her facial expression shows us that this is not what she expected to find. We see this reaction so the audience can relate to her when she feels confused. The audience then feel confused as her emotions are reflected, and  this foreshadows that something is about to happen. This is conventional to the thriller genre, as it helps the audience know how they should be feeling. It helps them to connect to the characters and also to feel engaged with the scene.

Having researched into the conventions of the thriller genre, I have gained lots of ideas as to how I can use these conventions when making my own thriller clip. For example, I could use a high angled shot to quickly show my audience who the victim is, without wasting too much time. I have also learnt that the sound added is what makes the film/clip have an effect, as without the sound, the images are no longer scary. This is something i will carefully choose when creating my thriller clip.