section 2 research into examples of comparable media

In class we watched the openings to three films: 'Jaws', 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'American Psycho' and discussed the conventions of a typical thriller opening.
Usually in the opening of a thriller, we expect to see someone die or for the film to start with action. Lars De Saurbergs theory was the idea of protraction and concealment. Protraction was to draw something out, and concealment was to deliberatly hide something from the audience. 'Introduce the exotic' was what John Cawelti thought and Pascal Bonitzer thought that 'partial vision' would be appropriate for a thriller.
The mise-en-scene in the opening of 'Jaws' would not normally be associated with a thriller. It is naturally lit by the sun as it is setting with the orange and red sky. This could be seen as a warning perhaps as red signifys danger. However on the other hand it could be seen as quite a calm and tranquil setting as it is set on a beach. The props include a bouy and a harbour which you would associate with the beach. The buoy is used as a lifeline as the woman grabs onto it when she is being attacked by the shark, but it is then taken away from her.
In the film there is a use of diegetic and non-diegitic sounds. The diegitic sounds being the sounds that the characters can hear such as the waves etc, and the non-diegitic sounds being the music that the character can not hear. The 'Jaws' theme reoccurs telling us that the shark is present. This is a non-diegitic sound. The increase in the tempo of the music builds the tension.
The narrative structure of 'Jaws' is in a linear order as it is straight forward.
The film opens with an establishing shot and we see everything thats in the scene and helps the audience to understand the setting. The end of this scene finishes with a re-establishing shot. The use of long shots show us how far out she is in the water. When the woman is being attacked, the camera is placed just above the water next to the victim. This involves the audience in the film and makes them feel part of it. As the shark is nearing towards the woman, a low angle shot is used to give us its point of view.
'American Psycho' begins by deliberately trying to trick us by using the typical conventions of a thriller film. We are made to believe that something bad is going to happen as we see a knife, and something that supposedly looks like blood. This film breaks the conventions of a thriller again as no-one is killed. The graphics of the film are fairly simple and don't really draw attention to themselves. The contrast of the font, (uses serif and san-serif font) contrasts which could be linked to the character as having a split personality perhaps. The use of bold and contrast in font breaks up the writing.
The use of the classical music makes the audience feel calm but the music then contrasts with the loud dance music which is played in the club scene.
The film is in a linear order as it shows us what Patrick Bateman (main character) does every morning when he uses his beauty products and his exercise regime etc. It could be seen as a montage as it is just a series of shots of him one after the other. When going through his routine, short shots are used to show how much he is doing but in a short space of time.
In a lot of parts, Patrick is looking into a mirror and we see the reflection - not the real person. This indicates that what we are looking at isn't real but an illusion. Also as he slowly peels of his facial mask, this also is linked as it seems he is more than one person.
The mise-en-scene in this film, such as the costume/hair/make-up show us that he is quite proud with his appearance, for example the use of face masks. Also he seems quite smart and rich as he is wearing a suit.
'Silence of the Lambs' begins with an establishing shot of the woods. This helps to orientate the audience. As the woman is running, a tracking shot it used to follow her as she is training. The end of this scene finishes with another establishing shot of the FBI building.
This film breaks the codes and conventions of your typical thriller as the hero is neither big nor strong physically.
The graphics are rather boring as they are just big, black and bold writing. The outline of the writing is a very thin line of white which makes them stand out more. The writing is that big that it blocks out parts of the scene, but not the important bits.
The music is quite eerybut it changes when she starts running. When we reach the FBI building