Thriller Genre

There are many genres out in the media industry, whether it is for movies, TV programmes, book or magazine, the genre thriller however is more commonly known for film. Thrillers are known for giving the viewer a feel of excitement and/ or scare them a little. There are, however many subgenres to the main genre thriller, some subgenres are:

·        Crime thriller

·        Mystery thriller

·        Psychological thriller

These are a few examples of subgenre

The conventions of Thriller are that there is stereo typically a villain and a hero; the villain could be one person or an organisation, that are after something or someone. Then you get the hero and he or she is the one to try and stop them, and to get back when they have taken or get the object before they do. The settings can be different in thrillers; it could go from city to city or country to country or stay in one area the whole time. Camerawork is very jumpy in a thriller, you could go from one shot to another for a quick editing for something like a chase or a fight or an argument that is quickly getting worse and grows in tension. The music has a part of controlling how the audience feels towards what is happening on the screen.

Die Hard

I watched the thriller Die Hard, this movie is a very quick pace the camerawork and editing show this. The camera will jump from one actor to another when there is a fight/shoot out or when there is a chase around the mise-en-scene. The mise-en-scene of the film is inside an office building in Los Angeles. Bruce Willis the lead actor in the series of Die Hard film, is visiting his wife at her new company Nakatomi. This is where most of the events happen in the film. To help to put more emotion into the main events and even a small part of it, the use of sound helps to explain it more of what you could be expecting to happen next. If John McClane –the main character and New York Cop, who can be seen as the hero of all this thriller-, is walking down a corridor, the music would get a cautious rhythm to it. It helps warn the audience that something major is about to happen, like a shoot out or a chase or John talking to the terrorists that have taken over the building. All these features will get the audience interested in what will happen next. There are a range of different shots through this whole movie. From mid shots to close ups, over the shoulder shots to extreme long shots. These help to help show the actors or the mise-en-scene from different angles and different camera range and editing. It also doesn’t leave the audience bored, it gives them different angles to focus on.

Analysing shots
Shot 1:

This is a close up shot of John McClane (Bruce Willis) and a passenger he is sat next to on the plane to Los Angeles. In this scene McClane is really uncomfortable and doesn’t like flying, this passenger has picked up on how he is acting, and is trying to calm him down. From the passenger’s body language you can tell that he is very relaxed over everything, he is sat slouched in his seat, with the top button of his shirt is undone. This shows that he is comfortable the way he is and in his environment. The camera and editing in this is very simple, the camera doesn’t move a great deal and there isn’t much editing either. This shot is one of the main shots that you see when the film begins.

Shot 2:

This is an extreme long shot of an aeroplane landing, this symbolises that they have landed in LA. You can tell that it is early evening because the colour of the sky is an orange pink. The sound effect of this shot is of the plane and you can hear the engines. The editing and camera is following the plane as it comes down and lands on the run way. This shows that this is where the film is going to take place, in this country.

Shot 3:

This is a close up shot of someone who is holding a sigh with John McClane’s name on. This is a mid shot of someone’s torso; the camera is focused on this part of the body because they want the audience to notice that this sign is the key in the shot. The sound is a busy and noise airport where you can hear trolleys and talking and the sound of people walking.

Shot 4:

This is a close up of the limo driver that you see throughout the film. He is dressed in the stereotypical limo driver suit and glasses. It is focusing on him because he is telling John that about himself, like how he has never driven a limo, McClane replies by telling him that he has never ridden in one either. This shows that there is a connection between the two characters. The camera also shows that there are a lot of people walking around in the background. This tells us that the mise-en-scene is in a busy place and the use of sound that is also in the background noise, is of trolleys and people talking and walking.

Shot 5:

This is a close up shot of John McClane, he look like he is holding a giant teddy bear. This makes the audience think is it a gift for someone, a child or a wife/girlfriend? This is why the camera editing has left this in the shot. It means something to him. There isn’t as many people in the background as there was in the last shot. This suggests that the crowd that was in the crowd has gone down a lot. This also suggests that the use of sound in the background also wont be as noise as it was. The crowd has gone down quickly showing that the passengers are in a rush. It also suggest that he limo driver and McClane aren’t. The mise-en-scene looks like it is still in the airport. You can see that in the background there is an exit sigh, this shows that it is a normal airport and not a secret high security and that you can get out every easily.