Thriller genre & convention

THRILLER GENRE FORMS & CONVENTIONSBy Mansib Rahman

JURASSIC WORLDThe film “Jurassic World” is an adventure thriller that was

revealed in summer 2015, the film included typical elements of the thriller genre. The film consists of typical characters such as rich dictators, antagonist, protagonist, innocent good citizens and helpers

The film “Jurassic World” also included different themes that had a thriller aspects, which will be Blackmail, Obsession and supernatural. The iconography of the film that forms a typical thriller would be High-tech gadgets, large property, Office building, security cameras and lastly the facility.Lastly the audio and visual styles consist of a typical thriller, since the film includes intense music or the Jurassic World theme song as non-diegetic sound, and some diegetic sound such as screams and sounds from its surroundings, visual styles of the film consists of a thriller film as it has typical shots like high or low angles.

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CHARACTERSRich people:Rich people are quite common in thriller movies, mainly because they show power and property. The rich person (Irrfan Khan) in “Jurassic Park” was seen in the opening as he was flying a helicopter, throughout his island.

Antagonist:The antagonist (Vincent D’Onofrio) of the film was also shown in the opening. He first appeared with (Chris Pratt), when he was training his velociraptor, while Vincent D’Onofrio was showing an interest on the dinosaur with an evil look, as he was trying to use animals as weapons for wars. Another Antagonist would be the dinosaur Indominus Rex, who’s a genetically modified dinosaur, who’s appearances are big, intimidating and clever. The dinosaur was causing a lot of trouble to the visitors and the other dinosaurs

The Innocent visitors:The innocent people are typical characters in the thriller genre, mainly because the death of an innocent character creates anger and a curious emotion and it also develops an enigma “Why did they have to die!”. In Jurassic Park many innocent visitors died or got injured when the dinosaurs escaped their cage. Also many soldiers and the owner of the island died in the film.

Helpers:This is a typical character role in “Jurassic World” as it formed up the character Claire, who was played by Bryce Dallas Howard. She was a woman who knew about the whole island worked and all the dinosaurs, as she’s a scientist. She used it in order to help Owen in the film. Another helper was Omar Sy, he was Owen’s other helper who looks out for the velociraptor and interacts with them.

Protagonist:It’s very hard to tell who’s the protagonist in the film, but the whole film was aiming for Owen who was played by Chris Pratt, they targeted him as the protagonist, because at he controls velociraptors and has a very courageous personality, as he is able to communicate and communicate with the four velociraptor as he calls himself ‘Alpha’. The other two protagonist would be the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Velociraptor named “Blue”, as they both defeat the antagonist Indominus Rex, who appeared to be causing trouble to the other people.

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CHARACTERS

JURASSIC WORLD

CHARACTERSWealthy person (Founder of Jurassic World)

Protagonist (Blue & Owen)

Innocent people (Attacked by other

dinosaurs)Helper (Claire)

Antagonist (Vincent & Indominus Rex)

High-tech gadgetsThis iconography was shown throughout the whole film, especially in the start when the facility were using their gadgets in order to keep track on the dinosaurs. It was shown at the start, middle and the end of the film. It showed that the people who work have a variety of IT knowledge and try to keep the visitors safe and sound. But when the antagonist Indominous rex found out about that it ripped out the tracker which was located at its back. Another high-tech gadget would be when Gray and his brother were adventuring through the fields with the Gyro-ball.

Guns and weaponsWeapons such as military equipment were used in the film. They were used in the film as it symbolizes war and fighting. As this symbol is very important in thriller films because it could get the audience’s attention and creates a short notice that someone is going to die. Relating this information with the film, when the founder of Jurassic world hired a military group, in order to kill the wild Indominous rex.

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ICONOGRAPHY

Large propertyLarge property are typical in thriller films, especially because most action takes place around a large property. In Jurassic world the island itself is a large property belonging to the founder of Jurassic World. The audience could tell that the island belongs to him, since he was flying with a helicopter by himself throughout his island.

Security CamerasSecurity cameras are common in thriller films showing that someone's being watched or stalked. In Jurassic world security camera’s were used because they were watching over the dinosaurs, so they do not cause any trouble to the visitor.

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ICONOGRAPHY

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ICONOGRAPHYHigh-Tech gadgets - High-tech gadgets are used for the visitors entertainment

and safety.Security Cameras – People are being watched for their safety.

Large property – The owner flying through his own island

as it’s his belongingsWeapons and guns – Owen and

the others are using a gun against the antagonist

ObsessionThis was represented in the movie, when Vincent(Antagonist) first appeared, the scene when Owen was training his Velociraptor. Vincent wanted to use the dinosaurs for himself as weapons.

SupernaturalThis theme was shown when the big creatures was shown up in the film. As the dinosaurs pushed against the laws of nature, it created a supernatural theme, the only reason why dinosaurs are supernatural nowadays is because they are extinct.

JURASSIC WORLDTHEMES

FamilyThis was the ‘key’ theme in Jurassic world. Mainly because if Gray and his older brother weren’t there for each other, the conclusion would have been different. Also there was a lot of family problems as Gray was worried about his parents getting divorced.

BlackmailThe theme of blackmail played near the end of the movie, when the island went crazy and the antagonist Indominous Rex was released causing a huge trouble, the Founder of Jurassic World asked the person who’s in charge of the scientist. And also the theme of blackmail occurred when the four velociraptors, turned their back on Owen and left him for the antagonist.



Supernatural – dinosaurs living in the modern days.

Family – Gray and his older brother, being there for each other. Blackmail – BD Wong

blackmailing the CEO and founder of Jurassic World.

Obsession – Vincent is trying to use the

Velociraptor for himself.

Non-diegetic soundNon-diegetic sound is when the sound is not naturally produced by it’s surroundings, non-diegetic sound was used in Jurassic world near the end of the film when the antagonist Indominous Rex and the the Velociraptor named Blue and the Tyrannosaurus Rex were fighting, creating a dramatic mood music, which creates an intense music.Diegetic soundDiegetic sound is used a lot in the film, as it’s sound that is produced in it’s surroundings. The diegetic sound in Jurassic world was produced pretty much everywhere, an example for this would be when people were running away from the dinosaurs trying to invade the streets, you would hear them scream and running away.

Incidental MusicIncidental music is normally used to create and effect for the mood or atmosphere created in the film.

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AUDIO/ VISUAL STYLE

Tracking shotsThe tracking shot was used when Owen was running away from the antagonist Indominous Rex, the track shot in this scene was used because it creates an adrenaline rush and an enigma for the audience “Will Owen be able to escape?”. These two key points are two common outcomes from thriller films.

Close up shotsClose up shots are normally created to show a person’s expression or emotion for the character under certain occurrence. One of the close up shot is when Owen (Protagonist) was running away from the Antagonist and he was hiding under the vehicle, while rubbing fuel on his skin, so the Indominous Rex couldn’t find him. Owen’s expression was serious and disgusted when he rubbed fuel on his face.

High/ Low angleHigh and low angle shots are normally shown to display who has the power and shows the position of the characters. This angle view was used when the four velociraptor were looking up to Owen, which shows the audience who’s the Alpha.

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AUDIO/ VISUAL STYLE

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AUDIO/ VISUAL STYLETracking shot – Antagonist running

after the protagonist and trying to escape.

Close up shot – Gray and his brother, with a frightened expression.

Low Angle - The Antagonist viewed in a low angle shot

and behind the leader of the military group, representing

powerHigh-angle – Owen training his velociraptor and the camera is

displaying the surrounding

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN“The amazing spider-man” is an action-thriller that was released in

2012, although it’s an action-thriller, this movie still had many thriller aspect, which is why this movie is a thriller film. The aspects are coming from the typical characters, themes, iconography and the audio/ visual style, which consists a thriller film.This film consists of a typical characters in a thriller movie such as Protagonist, Antagonist, Helper, innocent and a rich power-hungry organization.This film forms up a thriller film again because of the themes such as corruption, romance, supernatural, greed for power and family.The audio/ visual style forms up a typical thriller as the film includes high angle and low angle shots, incidental music, diegetic and non-diegetic sound.And lastly looking at the iconography of the film, it consisted a thriller film towards the urban setting, high-tech gadgets, uniform, guns, blood and cars.

ProtagonistThe protagonist of the film “The Amazing Spider-man” is a high school geek called Peter Parker, who was played by Andrew Garfield. At the start of the movie, the protagonist was established as a normal student, picked on by the sportier guys. One day Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider and had a spider’s characteristics, such as reflex, able to climb walls etcetera… . After he was bitten by the spider he was more established as the protagonist than before.

HelperGwen Stacy played by Emma Stones, who appears to be Peter Parker’s helper and lover. She helped him near the end when spider-man was fighting against the antagonist, when she was making the vaccine. And she became his lover when she found out that Peter Parker is spider-man, which was shown mid-way through the film.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MANCHARACTER

AntagonistThe antagonist of “The amazing spider-man” is Dr. Curt Connors, who was played by Rhys Ifans. He appeared to work for the OSCORP Cooperation along with Peter Parker’s father. In the start of the movie he appeared to have only one arm and he’s working on a project where he can grow his other organ. He ended up using lizard DNA and transformed into one. The antagonist later on decided to turn everyone into lizard, as he said “Humans are weak creatures”.

InnocentThe innocent character in the film would be Ben Parker (Peter’s uncle) and George Stacy (Gwen’s father). Ben died innocently, as he went out looking after Peter and wanted to apologize to him. While George died when Spider-man and Dr. Curt Connors were having a fight. George attempted to fight against the big lizard and tried to save Spider-man. George Stacy’s last words to Peter were, not to involve his daughter into spider-man.



Protagonist – Peter Parker/ Spider-man

Helper – Gwen Stacy

Antagonist – Dr. Curt Connors

Innocent – Ben Parker & George Stacy

Urban settingUrban setting is a very common iconography of the thriller genre, since it’s a high-populated area, meaning that the crime rate usually is a lot more higher than in other areas such as rural. The film “The Amazing spider-man” takes place in an urban area, the city New York, some of the settings are sound such as car noises and noise pollution and the other setting is the aesthetic of the city, common looks of an urban area would be large buildings.

Blood/ InjuriesBlood and injuries are important iconography in thriller movies because, they show the audience there is a huge fight occurring in the film. Especially for an Action-thriller, they often end of with a huge fight. And blood also come up when someone is murdered or injured. An example for this would be when Uncle Ben was shot by the robber.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MANICONOGRAPHY

Costume/ UniformUniforms and costume are very important, as the audience judges a character from the clothes and you can instantly tell whether the characteristics of a character. An example for this would be, when the audience saw spider-man’s costume for the first time they’d assume that the person must be either an outlaw or a superhero, another example for this would be Dr. Curt Connors, the audience could tell that he was a scientists by looking at his lab coat.

High-tech GadgetsThis iconography was shown around the OSCORP building, as the building used virtual reality and holographs. The OSCORP building had a variety sense of technology, especially scientifically machineries and genetically engineered organisms e.g. the Radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker.



Blood – Uncle Ben’s death

High-Tech Gadgets – Peter Parker’s self

made web shooter

Urban setting – Spider-mans location

Costume/ uniform – Spider-mans

costume

RevengeRevenge is one of the key themes along with Romance in the film. Mainly because Peter Parker only became spider-man, the masked hero, just to find the murderer of his uncle Ben. After Uncle Ben’s death Peter decided to find the serial killer and bring justice to him. And so along he became the masked super-hero.

RomanceRomance is the other key theme in “The amazing spider-man”, mainly because Peter always had feelings for Gwen Stacy and they ended up dating once she found out about him being spider-man.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MANTHEMES

SupernaturalThis is an obvious theme that consists a thriller film, without this theme there wouldn’t be a battle neither any sort of action. Since the whole OSCORP developing and breeding radioactive spiders. The supernatural theme forms up a fantasy view for the audience which makes the movie interesting and without it, spider-man wouldn’t appear.

Greed for powerI believe that this theme is quite common with thriller movies that includes a protagonist and an antagonist, since the antagonist try to control or take over something, such as organization, city or goods. In the film Dr. Curt Connor wanted to turn everyone into lizards and try to be the king of the lizard.



Romance – Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker

Supernatural – Spider-man and Dr. Curt Connors fighting

Greed for power – Dr. Curt Connors spreading the gas, so

everyone becomes a lizard

Revenge – Peter’s holding a drawing of his uncles killer, and

tries to find him.

Non-diegetic soundNon-diegetic sound is sound that’s not naturally produced, which means that it’s usually defined as a mood music. An example of this would be when spider-man was fighting against Dr. Curt Connors, which was a dramatically and intense music, which helps to control the audience’s emotion.

Diegetic soundDiegetic sound is when the sound is produced naturally by its surroundings. Diegetic sound is pretty much used everywhere in films, especially in “The Amazing spider-man” which is located in an Urban location, which means that cars and people walking would be normally heard in the film. An example from the movie would be the police siren when the police were chasing after spider-man.

Incidental musicThis music is usually used within the film to create an effect of mood or atmosphere, an example for this would be when George Stacy died at the end of the movie.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MANAUDIO/VISUAL STYLE


Close up shotsClose up shots are used for showing a characters expression in much more detailed. Also the expression is often related to a certain event. An example for this would be the scene where Peter cried when his uncle got shot.

High/ Low AngleHigh and Low angle view often represent power. Obviously the person who’s viewed in a low angle view is the character with the most power. In the film, spider-man was often viewed in a low angle shot by the public when he was jumping from buildings to buildings, this angle view showed that the super-hero is respected by the citizens in New York City.


Close up shot – Peter’s reaction to the final battle

with Dr. Curt Connors

Low angle view – Spider-man using his web shooter

to go to other buildingsIncidental music – when Stacy’s father died.

Diegetic sound – noises from the cityscape

Non-diegetic sound – Final battle between the protagonist and

antagonist, with dramatic music

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Thriller genre & convention