Action Thriller conventions -

• Obvious antagonist
• Race against the time
• More violence than other sub genres
• Disruption to equilibrium requires the protagonist to use action to solve it
• ^must be skilled in some form of contact
• Usually involves a character of the opposite sex to drive the narrative
• ^however their loyalty may be doubted
• Often involves high profile actors

The Matrix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGw7gnUtHY&feature=related
The Matrix fits in with the conventions of the action thriller section as it evidently has more combat than other thrillers as in the scene it is pure fighting. Also it is a race against the clock as he has to get back to normality as quickly as possible,

Analysis of a pyschological triller

Conventions -
-Drama/Mystery
-Danger on a mental level rather than physical
-Narrative focuses on 2 or more characters preying on the minds of each other to create conflict
or
1 solitary character in mental conflict with their own mind
-Characters try to discover their own purpose
-Characters have a fear or fascination with death
-Narrative confusion of what is real and what is not
-Non linear edits/flashbacks/montage



The Game -
It starts of with the main character battleing with his own mind, as he is made to believe that he is psychotic and he believes he is dangerous. But we find out it has all been a trick from his brother and he has been forced to being psychotic as he believes it is real, but it is shown to all be a trick which his brother has been playing on him. Therefore it matches and shows the convention of the narrative really well as it uses both and the viewer doesn't even know what narrative it is.
It also matches the convention of him trying to discover his own purpose as he doesn't know what is real or not anymore, it is also a mystery not just for the characters but for the viewer as well. It definately starts of as a danger in the mental level but it ends with a bit of mild violence

Analyzing the film JFK

> THE CONVENTIONS OF A POLITICAL THRILLER

A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of political power struggle. They usually involve various plots, rarely legal, designed to give political power to someone, while his opponents try to stop him from getting it. They can involve national or international political scenarios.

- Threat set against a backdrop of power struggle.

-Plots are designed to illustrate a possible power shift or give power to someone

- Opposing characters will try and prevent the person from gaining the power.

- 2 sets of character - ranked by authority.

- Often spans many locations.

> THE NARRATIVE

The film JFK examines events leading up the assassination of John. F. Kennedy. and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.

> THE CHARACTERS

You have the smaller characters who give their point of view of what they saw during the assassination of JFK.

Then you have JFK who is the main character, and he's seen as the protagonist because he is a liked president because first impressions of him is that he's a family man

> EDITING AND CAMERA ANGLES.

The opening scene shows real footage of political

> THE LIGHTING
The lighting is quite contrasted from light, when the scene is cheerful, and dark when they are flashing back to whats happened in the past, which shows how Kennedy was assasinated.

> THE COSTUMES
The costumes suit the time period which is around the 1960's so they wear grey and trilby/bowler hats if they are wealthy. If they aren't wealthy people they'll probably just wear quite casual, patterned shirts.

Analyzing the film Seven

We will be analysing the lighting & costumes for the film 'Seven'.

> The lighting throughout Is dingy, this helps towards the 'Thriller' theme because not only does sound help with suspense, so does the dim lighting; fear of the unknown is what makes us scared. And with dim lighting, we are unsure of what's on the screen. Especially the scene where the 'fat man' is dead, the lighting is dark and Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman light up the room with torches, this makes the atmosphere creepy, because only parts of the room are lit up, and we are unsure of what's really happening.

> The costumes used are different for both Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Brad Pitt's character is more relaxed with the outfits he wears, which is a baggy shirt and tie and a loose jacket, and this reflects on his personality, you can tell he is more laid back than Morgan Freeman's character who's clothing represents his personallity. He wears more of a formal outfit (hat and trenchcoat, typical detective man style), showing he is more dedicated to his job.

>The music in the clip is used to add tension which is typical of this type of movie, in the title sequence it is very freaky music to build an atmosphere for the rest of the film. Before that there is a scene with morgan freeman in a bedroom and all you can hear is people talking in the background and a metronome ticking showing that he is a very simple man and has some weird habits.

>It begins with a eye level camera angle giving you an establishing shot, to show him at home is his own environment and how he acts.