The Butterfly Effect – Opening Scene

The film starts with a quote which is an effective way to start engaging with the audience as the quote raises questions to the audience (enigma). It is foreshadowing as it is letting the audience know that something small, such as a butterfly, is going to cause something big. As the quote appears, loud, dramatic, eerie music is played, which may be a technique to capture the audience’s attention as the have to read the quote, not listen, and so their focus has to be drawn to the screen. The music then seems to fade, perhaps to help create the suspense that is held within the quote.

A brief chaotic scene is then introduced, which is presented with intense music with gradually builds up to perhaps suggest the danger increasing. The conventions of a thriller are displayed in this scene; for example, the setting is dark and sinister (not much is visible to the audience) creating a sense of fear, as they are left in the darkness. The slow movements of the camera (panning) creates a tense atmosphere, making the audience feel as though something is about to happen. The music speeds up as the man in the scene is first revealed as he pushes the door open and a drumming beat begins, suggesting that the man is being chased. His rapid breathing is heard whilst he’s writing a letter (another element questioning the audience) which emphasizes fear. The torch light shows that they are searching for the man (the victim). There is a point-of-view shot of the letter, zooming into the words ‘save her’ showing some sort of significance, or aim of the man. The letter is then shown to be breaking into pieces, and then fades into the wings of the blue butterflies reflecting the title of the film. The title is then shown through the image of one butterfly in simple, blue font. The colour blue may have been used to represent the calm nature of the butterflies, making it difficult for the audience to understand the link of the title to the film. The butterfly then fades into an image of a brain scan which suggests the psychological elements of the film.

A bright atmosphere is then introduced through an extreme shot with softer music, showing the flashback of the protagonist’s childhood, going back in time.

Analysis of a Contemporary Thriller Scene - Tell No One (Chase Scene)

At the beginning of the scene there is a lot of camera movement with the camera panning quite quickly, perhaps to emphasize the quick decision the character is making and also the rush within the situation. Throughout the chase, a hand-held camera is used to create a documentary feel, a sense of realism. The camera seems to be strapped to the characters chest whilst he’s running to perhaps force the audience to favour the character, and see his view. Also there are various over-the-shoulder shots used, making the audience see what he sees, and feel sympathy for him as it is a wrongful accusation, and he has no proof of his innocence. There are many close-up shots used within this scene, to show facial expressions, which may be a technique used to replace the need for dialogue, as there is minimal dialogue present during the chase.

The scene uses Propp’s character function theory by presenting a villain and a hero in a very distinct way, which confused the audience in the identification of who the villain is, and who the hero is. Through the use of mice-en-scene, the protagonist, who is running away, is shown to be sympathized with. He seems innocent as he climbed out of what seemed to be a doctor’s office, and was seen to be talking to a child in a friendly way, making him seem more like the hero in the film. On the other hand, the man chasing the protagonist is presented in a negative way, as he looks rough and sweaty, and also he has a gun in his back pocket which portrays him as the villain. This is ironic as the man chasing the protagonist is a policeman, whose role is to protect society, acting as a hero. However, in this scene, the policeman is shown to be a villain despite him fulfilling his role as a policeman, and so the audiences feel that he’s the ‘bad guy’.

The non-diagetic music in the scene mimics the man running, as at some points in the scene, the music is silent, showing his safety and that he’s not being chased. The silence is then interrupted with the beat again, showing that the chase is back on. Also, the music seems to create a tense atmosphere, to match the tense situation within the scene. The diagetic music within the scene makes the audience feel more connected with the character as they are hearing what the characters are hearing; for example, the sounds of cars, showing the busy environment.

The British Thriller

‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ is a British thriller, directed by Shane Meadows, which makes use of a British mise-en-scene and British characters in its storylines. As the film was shot in Britain, the mise-en-scene shows the British scenery; for example, the British streets and fields, as well as the typical terraced houses were shown throughout the film.

This short scene of ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ consists of many British elements which together create an identifiable British mise-en-scene. Firstly, a typical British pub is shown, which reflects British mise-en-scene very effectively as the British culture is stereotyped as going out to the pub and drinking beer; "England is a land of beer and bad weather". The weather shown also represents the stereotypical views of Britain as being a dull, rainy country. Although it is not raining in the scene, the wet roads show that it has been raining, and the colourless sky shows that it’ll be raining soon, demonstrating the British mise-en-scene effectively. The use of British characters in this film effectively creates more of a British picture as the characters all have a British accent, speaking English. Also, the clothes worn by the characters present the British fashion, and the norm of British society in terms of dress sense.

I feel that British thrillers elicit a sense of realism by making the audience feel as though they are there in the film. This is partly due to the type of camera used and the variety of shots used within the film. A handheld camera was used which created a documentary feel to the film, adding to the realism audience felt throughout the film.

Classic Thrillers

Alfred Hitchcock created for himself an individual and recognizable directorial style, in which he makes the viewers identify with the camera as it moves in a way which is meant to mimic a person’s gaze, making viewers engage in a form of voyeurism. The ways in which his shots are framed influences the feelings of the audience and maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and to exhibit the point of view of the characters, he used innovative film editing. Hitchcock’s films often placed an innocent victim into a strange, life-threatening situation, in a case of mistaken identity, or wrongful accusation. He would use a range of cinematic techniques; for example, in the crop-duster scene in ‘North by Northwest’, he showed the character running towards the camera,  used close up shots and motivated cuts to show danger coming from nowhere. Also, in the shower sequence in ‘Psycho’, Hitchcock used elements of surprise, and deliberately shot the film in black and white to effectively present violence. He used quick cuts for stabbing, and used slower, zoom shots. Red herrings are also present within the sequence as the money in ‘psycho’ is important but it ends up being trivial.

I intend to manipulate the feelings of the audience and maximize anxiety in my own work by using a range of camera angles and shots, with the use of mice-en-scene, editing and sound, to evoke feelings such as fear, suspense and fright, as well as emotions such as sympathy and sadness. I intend to demonstrate the point of view of the characters in my thriller opening by using point on view shots and over-the-shoulder shots to place the viewers in the characters shoes. Also, I will be using close up shots, as well as other shots, to force viewers to engage with the characters by viewing their emotions.

What sorts of characters are expected to be found in a ‘Thriller’?

- Hero
- Villain
- Victim
- Henchman
- Helper

The Conventions of a Thriller

- Menace
- Violence
- Crime
- Murder
- Dark, corrupt and dangerous setting
- Plot twists, red herrings and cliffhangers
- High level of anticipation
- Adrenaline rush
- Arousal
- Ultra-heightened expectation
- Uncertainty
- Anxiety
- Terror
- Gritty, slick and lurid
- Strange, mysterious sounds
- Disturbing
- Sinister
- Tense atmosphere
- Blood and gore
- Cries and screams
- Suspense
- Death
- Danger
- Spook
- Shock and awe feeling
- Fear
- Intense music
- Stereotypical - Pathetic fallacy
- Slow build up of music
- Dramatic music, fast pace
- Pain
- Gradual build up
- False sense of safety/security
- Claustrophobic framing
- Quick cuts – create a sense of fear and panic

What is a Thriller?

According to Martin Rubin, a thriller is a genre which is ‘set of conventions and shared characteristics that have historically evolved into a distinct, widely recognized type of composition within an n art form’. He writes that the label thriller is ‘highly problematic’, and it might seem ‘impossibly broad and vague’. The thriller can be conceptualized as a “meta genre” that brings together a number of other genres under its umbrella, and as a band in the spectrum that colours each of those various genres. For example; sky thriller, detective thriller, horror thriller. Rubin claims that the thriller is a quantitative as well as a qualitative concept, which consists of not only the occurrence of particular qualities but also the extent to which they are presented. They contain a ‘sense of departure from the routine world into a realm that is more marvelous and exciting’. The thriller acts to evoke feelings such as suspense, fright, mystery, exhilaration, excitement, speed, movement (emphasizes visceral, gut-level feelings). The thriller often proposes double emotions, feelings and sensations such as humor and suspense, fear and excitement, pleasure and pain.