Year 12 Thriller Analysis

Motor Creek
As the thriller began the fade from black to a motor way created suspense and confusion within the audience as to the relevance of the location. This was an effective shot as it showed time passing combined with the use of non-diegetic background music created suspense and questioning within the audience. However the shot length seemed to be dragged out, which in turn had a negative effect on the audience as their attention and concentration on the film started to deteriorate. This meant that they were unable to build up tension and suspense as a good thriller should. The choice of music also meant that as it progressed it began to resemble a music video rather then a thriller. Due to this factor suspense wasn’t achieved to its full potential again affecting how the audience viewed the thriller. One shot that particularly stood out was the shot of moving swings. This highlighted how the male walking through the park was isolated. The slow motion combined with the visual effects allowed this shot to have a large impact on the audience as it forced them to unknowingly raise questions. They have a good variety of shots, showing that they have incorporated what was required of them in the mark scheme.

Voodoo
The use of handheld camera within this thriller had a negative impact as the shakiness took the audience’s attention away from the content of the thriller. This prevented the audience from allowing themselves in being caught up in the suspense and tension of the unknown. However the start of background music stood out as it was eerie and kept within the theme of the thriller. It created an atmosphere in which the audience begins to question the motive of the protagonist. Yet the use of mise en scene did not keep up the atmosphere that was created through the music as it was in a location that did not seem to have any relevance to the genre. As the setting was too dark it made it difficult for the audience to fully understand the story line. This in turn meant that the impact of fear from the thriller did not affect the viewer in the way it should. Yet they did use a good variety of shots showing that they have incorporated the mark scheme when creating their thriller.

By Helen Daniel