Research into Cinematography - Miss Miller

In my essay I will be discussing cinematography in thrillers and  how each camera angles portrays the different conventions of the thriller genre and how it does this. Cinematography is the art of motion pictures, this includes the shooting and development of the film. I shall be analysing a clip from the film 'SAW', I have chosen this clip as I believe it shows the stereotypical conventions of a thriller, suspense, shock, and surprise.


It begins to show conventions of a thriller at the very beginning of the clip, it does this by using a mid shot, inside the shot you get a good view of the man's facial expressions which look shocked, also you get to see the background behind giving you a slight hint to the environment he is in, which is gloomy and covered in pictures however you cannot see what is on them. This already begins to build up suspense as the viewer can see the sense of shock on the man's face which lets you begin to picture what he can see, it also builds suspense by not letting the viewers able to see what is on the images.

In the clip, an eye level shot is then used as he explores more of the room he is in, this gives the viewer a point of view sense and reveals more of the setting in which he is in. This lets the viewer see the rest of the room which he is in, still not giving any clues away about the scene, this enables the viewers to feel the male's fear as you can see as much as he can. This helps build up the suspense within the scene as you can't see ahead of him and as the tension builds up the audience know that something is going to happen, this is a convention of the thriller genre.

Throughout the clip a handheld shot is used, this gives the viewer the effect that he is being watched/followed throughout the whole of the clip. By doing this it implies that the male you're watching is the victim, this then leads the viewer to expect something to happen to him, however as you watch him explore the dark setting you have no idea what will happen to him and when it will happen. This builds on the already existing suspense created in the clip, a convention of a thriller film

During the clip a close up is used when the doll appears, this close up shows the doll and part of the office chair that he is sitting on. This is used so the viewer concentrates on the doll, showing that it could be symbolic later on in the film, this almost instinctively creates a fear for the doll as it is used as a shock. The use of iconography is a typical convention of a thriller film as it is used to scare the viewers, for this instance it is a doll and could scare the viewers as anyone could own a doll and it is used to shock in this scene.

I believe the angles and shots used in the clip are all used to help create the convention of suspense in the film, I believe they all succeed in this as they all allow the viewer to feel the fear of the character, and create the atmosphere of suspense, this is the reason I chose to analyse this clip over others.

Individual ideas of a narrative - Miss Georgiou

Inspiration from other films

There are different aspects of other thriller films that could inspire me in my own. I could also take inspiration from the strangers in using a typical convention by using a remote location, its very conventional however I believe it has an effect on the audience which helps build the suspense and is a realistic location of a thriller film. I am also using inspiration from

Narrative idea 
The film would start with a couple going on holiday into the mountains, staying in the only room of a B&B, however the house has something creepy about it, the B&B is owned by an old widow. The couple decide to stay there however the female character has a bad idea about it, whereas the male is reassuring. During the night the female is woken up by weird noises from upstairs and assumes that it is just the owner of the B&B. She then tells her partner however she is told that she is just imagining things, she then goes onto ask the B&B owner what she was doing so late upstairs, the B&B owner tells her that she was asleep and is not sure what she is talking about. This then intrigues the women but at the same time it is annoying her husband who just wants to enjoy the trip.The next night she is woken up by the same weird noises from upstairs, however this time she decides to investigate, she finds her way upstairs and approaches the room in which she has heard the noises from and she finds various locks on the outside of the door, making it apparent something is locked inside. She is then discovered by widow and is shouted at for snooping around her house without permission as she has seen things she shouldn't have seen. She then apologises and returns to her room, telling her husband that they need to leave, the husband ignores the plea as they only have one more night left. The day the female explains everything that happens, this is when the husband begins to show interest. On the last night she is awoken by the same noises but discovers that her husband is not there but finds his blood on the bed and on the floor, this time she is determined to find out what is happening and where her husband is. This would appeal to my audience as a lot of people enjoy going on holiday to the mountains for skiiing and etc, so can therefore relate to the setting of the scenario, this would then lead them to think that this could happen to anyone, including themselves, the audience then becomes more involved in the film and can begin to feel the fear of the characters. This is a key convention in the thriller genre.

Research into Mis-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Clip used http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZn8LYFS78

Iconography & Setting
In this clip there is a strong feeling of doom and gloom in both of the settings used, this is created by the use of dark settings. This makes the audience believe that nothing good will happen come out of both of the scenes, raising the expectations that something bad will happen. This is stereotypical of a thriller as one of the main conventions is the create suspense, so by giving the viewer the expectation that something bad will happen it builds them up to an event, in this instance the trap going off, however it takes a different term and she manages to escape the fate expected.

Costume & Makeup
The costumes worn in the clip gives the viewer a sense of there personality before they have even said a word, the suits worn by the males in the clip instantly show they have some authority, this would make the viewer think that something bad has happened for someone of authority to be getting involved. As well as the female in the scene wearing black during the trap and after, because she is wearing it during the trap it could make the viewer think she has had a dark past, this gives the viewer a sense of why she is there. Also wearing it after could show she is in grievance from escape the trap, as black is the colour usually worn at funerals where people grieve, this implies the trap has scarred her emotionally and physically, shown by the cuts and scars on her face.

Body Language & Facial Expressions
At the beginning of the trap scene we can see that she is panicking, this is shown by the shock on her face when she has the trap explained to her as her eyes are wide and eyebrows are high, the generic facial expression for shock. She then goes on to show she is panicking after she has had the trap explained to her, this is shown in her body language when she is frantically trying to pull the trap off her head even though we all know it would never of come off. This is stereotypical of thrillers as the victims always panic before they are attacked or murdered, however during this clip they escape.

Lighting & Colour

At the beginning of the clip there is a dark tone, this immediately set by the use of low key lighting, by doing this it sets the mood for the scene and scenes to follow. This is stereo-typically used in thrillers as it creates deep contrast between the light and dark, it also creates deep shadows, which gives a sense of mystery. There is also a strong use of the colour green in the trap scene, the colour green is often associated with revenge, the viewer could infer from this that she is there for a reason why she is there and the person who made the trap wants revenge.

Position within the frame
Within the clip you can see that the female is always almost central, this could imply that she is the main character within the scene and it means the viewer pays more attention to her. This could also show that she is the victim in the scene, as proven in the next.