I made this short presentation with a few conventions that I feel relate to thriller using 'Prezi' I watched over what I had made and realised that most of the factors that i considered were mainly related to horror/thriller in comparison to thriller as a whole so i would like to go back and look at a few films and look at thriller as a whole including all hybrids and sub genres.
The opening of The Usual suspects portrays the fact that the film will be creepy and full of suspense. We are welcomed with the scenery of the sea and a wide panning shot that establishes the setting which is not however shown in this version of the opening. In this video clip of the opening, we are almost struck by the diegetic sound of the match sticks being lit which slightly breaks some levels of continuity,probably done on purpose. We are sharply introduced to a character who is placed in the middle, indicating his importance which is shot at a medium close, up who lights his cigarette. The mise-en-scene of the character and setting is particularly interesting at this point even though very little has been shown. We learn a lot about the film and character by his casual and relaxed posture as well as his appearance. We see the character in dull black clothes and very dark hair which suggests that there is something sinister about his character proposing the idea of him being a villain. This may also be assumed because of his gender and how we stereotype a certain style and look of a man. There is very little light apart from the fire in this scene which allows the audience to focus on the character's facial expressions and actions. The fire shows significance to the scene and also attracts the viewers attention as it applies a strong contrast against the dark atmosphere. We as the audience associate the colours with danger feeling a sense of unease and anxiety. The man's face is lightly tanned, dirty and slightly sweaty which reflects the fire and suggests that he may be part of rough or dirty work (crime). The camera shot is very basic and still, allowing the viewers to digest what they see in a way that tells them more about what the story could be about. There is still only diegetic sound of fire and water dropping. This fills the atmosphere with a sense of loneliness and building heavily on suspense and tension, some of the conventions of thrillers. The shot cuts and jump cuts to another side of the room showing water trickling out of a metal barrel. The camera tilts down following the flow of the water creating movement and suspense as to what the water could possibly lead us to. We see the man again but this time at a long shot where we get a better view of the surrounding and of the character himself. More gets added to the mise-en-scene as we see that the man is sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes and crates with his legs open, still very relaxed which creates further anxiety. Continuity is ensured as the upper body of the character is in a similar position as before. After lighting his cigarette, we see the man throw the burning matches on the floor in a way that was intended. The fire races along a line of oil and we are shown a shot of the fire speeding across the screen making the audience consider what it could lead to. The flame runs past a dead man laying on the floor at eye-level with blood on his face. This engages the audience's full attention as it makes them wonder what could come next as well as reiterating the genre of crime and thriller. The film maker plays with our narrative expectation as we assume that the fire will burn the boat and kill the man. However, we wonder if this could really happen as it would kill someone whom we assume is a main character unless it is a flash back. The fire curls round until water is poured over the flame from above to prevent it spreading. The shot position changes as we see it from a different side. Continuity is ensured as there is match on action. Water is still falling onto the fire, however, the shot shows the legs of the dead man laying on the floor from behind. This makes the atmosphere jarring because we know that there is a dead man amongst the established character and someone else we have not met yet.
The camera gradually tilts up to show where the water is being poured from and who is pouring it. The shot is well executed at this point as the wooden post is in one third of the screen rather than right in the middle. We Realise that the substance being poured was not water but was in fact a man urinating. The shot is taken from a low angle which suggests the view of the previous character shown as he looks up towards the man above. The viewers categorize the unknown man as having higher authority and being an antagonist due to him standing higher up, wearing a long black coat and his face hidden to keep his identity a mystery. This is also done by the framing and lighting to make sure his face is not shown. We also see him as an antagonist because he urinates on the fire showing a lack of care and a low level of manor and walks away still keeping his identity hidden. There is a sense of requiescence between the two characters as they don't seem to be affected by the dead body laying in the middle of the room. There is an eyeline match as the low angled shot of the unknown man matches the angle that the character on the floor looks up at. As the character on the floor shakes his head in shame, we see him in a third of the screen with fire still burning in the background suggesting danger is yet to come. Non-diegetic sounds of soft orchestral instruments is played at this point which picks up in volume gradually as the mysterious man walks down, building tension. As the unknown man walks towards the character on the floor, we feel the tension building as you can only see one half of the characters' face suggesting that he has something to hide. As the mysterious character pulls out a lighter from his pocket, the music hits an asynchronous note which fills us with a sense foreboding and worry. We feel relief as the man on the floor sighs indicating that our narrative expectation of the worst was mistaken and the insert of a lighter (fire) did not yet bring the danger we had expected. The Soundtrack picks up significantly as the two characters exchange dialogue building up to prepare us what what is yet to come. During dialogue, there is evidence of shot reverse shot. The mysterious character's identity and features are once again hidden using little lighting and by cutting his head out of the shot frame. As the audience begin to feel some relief and safety for the man on the floor, we are drawn in with the movement of a gun from the darkness into the light which we see from a low angled point of view shot as though it was pointing at us. The shot changes to the exterior of the boat as we are shot by the diegetic sound of the gun, establishing more about the characters and securing our knowledge on their location. The shot changes once again as the gun fired out. I feel that the shots of the calm exterior portrays the idea of evil and crime powering over the innocence of people and pulling the audience in to feel remorse. The death of the characters, explosion of the boat and silhouette escape of the mysterious man suggests that it must be the ending of the film. However, the special effects of the transitional change (fades in) to a different section of the film suggests that it is not in chronological order. This is an effective technique as it engages the audience to want to know what it was that triggered and lead to this ending. This arises many enigma codes such as:
Who is the character sitting on the floor?
Who is the mysterious man and why do we not see his face?
Why is there a dead man on the floor?
Why are they on a boat?
Why did the first established character try and light the boat on fire and why could he not feel his legs?
Why did the mysterious man kill the man on the floor and light the boat on fire?
What is this? What is inside it? It is constantly shown, Why is it significant to the film?
Here is a board to show significant parts of the opening.
