Signs
Characters
The characters in this trailer are represented as a middle class family. However, they are not stereotypical as instead of a mother and father there is a father and an uncle. Here, the protagonist is a middle aged man, played by Mel Gibson. In a low angle shot, he is shown as powerful and high up in his community and highly respected. He is also shown as a family man as there is a lot of scenes where he is pictured with his children who are both quite young. As there is no mother figure present, it seems he has taken the role himself.
It is not clear if the antagonist is a person or a group of people as there are frequent shots of crop circles, a sign of aliens.
Location
The location is based around the house. This is a typical genre convention of psychological thrillers. There is a clear threat to the location as there are a lot of areal shots, of the house with crop circles around it. This conveys that the family are surrounded and represents the danger to them.
The house itself is quite big and abandoned, another convention of psychological thrillers as the isolation means that there is greater danger as it would be hard to find help.
Sound
The sound in this trailer is eery and creates a tense atmosphere. There is repetition of the same sounds building in tension, with matches the genre perfectly. The same key notes are repeated over and over, whilst building in pace and volume. The pace of the music gets faster and faster towards the end of the trailer. When showing the crop circles there are shot quick booms, which makes the scene more impacting.
Vanilla Sky
Characters
Here, the protagonist is a man in his thirties called David, played by tom cruise. He appears to have no family as he is only pictured with other women. He is shown as quite a wealthy city man, as his clothes are smart and his appearance is clean and polished. There are a lot of shots where he is pictured wearing a mask, which conveys that there is another side to him, a frequent convention of a psychological thriller.
Again, there is no antagonist present, is seems more as if there is an inner battle that David is having with himself, as the editing merges the two images of david in and out of his mask. When he is wearing the mask his behaviour is very odd and sinister, whereas outside of the mask he seems 'normal'.
Themes
The themes present in this psychological thriller are complex and mature, which is key to the genre of a psychological thriller. Although there is not a binary opposite such as good vs evil there is a battle of identity with David as to who he is.
Sound
The sound of this teaser trailer begins unconventional as it is quite upbeat and casual. It stays this way till half way through the trailer, until it changes when David finds himself all alone in a city. The music becomes more serious and there is a lower tone. However it is then back to being upbeat and fast-paced, which is juxtaposed with images of David losing grip on his reality, which makes the trailer more effective.
Inception
Characters
The protagonist in this teaser trailer for Inception, appears to be a man in his early forties. He seems to be wealthy as he is often dressed in smart clothing or a suit, which is frequent in thriller films.
There are shots of two men fighting, showing a physical battle between two binary opposites good vs evil. The antagonist is not known which is typical for the genre as psychological thriller often keep the antagonist revealed at the last minute and it is usually someone who is unexpected.
Themes
The themes for this trailer seem to match the genre, as the intertitle reveals 'Your mind is the scene of the crime'. As mind games are often a convention of psychological thrillers, the themes present convey to the audience what genre this is. Crime is also another convention however it is not a physical crime like in crime thrillers of action thrillers.
Location
It is clear that the location for this film is in a big city, likely to be New York. This fits in with the conventions as psychological thrillers are either in very abandoned places in remote countrysides or in big, bustling cities such as New York. Accompanied with aerial shots of the city traffic and a helicopter taking off, the graphic images of buildings which finally construct the words 'Inception', makes it effective and highlights the fact that the location is key to the genre, which is true of the thriller genre.
The Sixth Sense
Characters
Here, the characters consist of a young boy, aged around 10. Young children are often used in psychological thrillers as the characters normally develop some sort of psychological abnormality in childhood, therefore this aspect of the film plays to the conventions of psychological thrillers.
An elder man is also a main part of the story line. He is also a conventional character as he has to battle conflicts of his mind and does not have an accurate view of reality: a frequent convention of this genre.
Location
The locations used in this trailer are very conventional. Often they are in a house, which is decorated with mirrors and has long hallways, which are used in thrillers to build suspense in a particular scene. There are also a lot of shots of stairs. Stairs are often used in thrillers in order to portray the character walking down the stairs ( running away from danger) or walking up the stairs (entering danger ). In this trailer, the young boy walks slowly up the stairs before being attacked, which keeps to the conventions of the genre.
In every location, low key lighting is used in order to create fear and low level lighting makes shadows. Shadows are often used in thrillers as they heighten fear and anxiety as there it highlights the character's vuneralbility.
Themes
The themes of this trailer consist of conflict of the minds and psychological unstability, which are the two frequent themes that run through psychological thriller films.
Editing
The editing in this trailer begins slow paced, with shots lasting around 5-7 seconds each. As the trailer goes on the pace picks up, with shots lasting just over 1 or 2 seconds. This editing technique is often deployed in psychological thriller trailers as it builds up tension and anxiety.
The Machinist
Location
The location featured in this trailer uses and challenges the conventions of psychological thrillers. The first location to be seen is an underground tube. This location can be used in a thriller film as the mise-en-scene suits the genre. There is low key lighting, shadows against the walls and an eery atmosphere. There is also a sense of claustrophobia, which is a convention of a psychological thriller as it makes the audience feel unneasy and anxious.
Characters
The character used in this trailer represents the genre well as he appears to be a troubled character. His body language reflects the inner struggle he is having and the conflict with his mind. This is shown in the shot where he is looking into the mirror. Here, the mirror acts as a metaphor for the fact that there are two sides to him, and the audience are able to see both. This is conventional and can be seen in a lot of psychological thriller films.
Music
The music featured in this trailer follows conventions of psychological thrillers as it creates an eery and tense atmosphere. There is also a use of sound effects that highlight the important parts of the teaser trailer, which is very effective as it makes the audience listen/watch carefully to these parts.
No comments:
Post a Comment