- Protagonist - "The good guy"/The main character.
- Antagonist - "The bad guy"/The main opponent to the Protagonist.
- Suspense - Building up the tension, making sit on the edge of their seat.
- 'Theatre of the Mind' - Making the viewer feel involved within the thriller.
- Make it Personal - The Protagonist has a strong reason to solve the problem.
Thrillers are a great way of being creative. There are a variety of ways of telling the story just by the way it is shot and edited. In Jaws, there's the use of the trombone shot where the camera is on a dolly moving in one direction and the camera is zoomed to the other. This gives and effect where the main subject is the same size and framing where as the background changes size in the frame giving a distorted effect making it look as if the person has had a sudden realisation. We also have the dutch angle that gives a strange sort of look. When there's a dutch angle, you know something's not right.
Target Audience
People tend to get bored of the same easy to get story line and what a bit of excitement in the movie where they have to keep guessing and their brain is more active. Overall, the main target audience is most likely young adults as their minds are more focused on these types of things.
The Following is Based on: Panic Room - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258000/
Thrillers have the widest range of camera angles. For example, when there's a knock on the door, Jodie Foster looks through the peep hole to see the cops. There's a wide-angle shot of the cops to give us the impression we too are looking through the peep hole. We aslo get a lot of high and low angles, such as when Kristen Stewart is having a diabetic fit, most of that is high angle looking down to show how venerable she is. There's a shot of Forest Whitaker talking to Kristen Stewart, and we get a point of view shot which is really hazy, showing us that Kristen Stewart is not feeling right.
Narrative Structure
Narrative Structure
At the beginning we have a mother and daughter but no father. They're looking at buying a new house. It seems like any normal house, expensive but normal. The daughter seems to be riding on the scooter inside the house. We see a lot of low angle shots of the daughter on the scooter, this tends to cut a lot out of the frame making us feel like we don't get to know everything that's going on. The first major thing we see is a small concealed room (the panic room), something you don't tend to see in regular houses. We can see the mother is not too comfortable of the idea of the room as she looks very closely to one of the CCTV monitors, the frame is setup on a closeup shot to show the slightest features on her face of how nervous she looks. When the man shows her the door shutting, the mother is getting very claustrophobic the camera tracks round to get a closer shot of her face. This shows how nervous she is. We see that the mother and daughter have a great relationship, which seems to have been built up from hard times. There's a dolly shot in the corridor where you can hear dialogue. It starts from a low angle and gives an eerie effect of the near empty house. There's a low angle dolly in shot towards a slightly opened door, the camera goes in and around the gap to reveal the mother packing, you know something's not right just by the abnormality of the shot. The mother takes out a picture frame and puts it in shot of the camera. There's a very shallow depth of field to focus the attention on the picture. The picture seems to be her daughter, this gives the impression that her daughter is very important to her. We then see a lot of closeups on items such as the phone, how awkwardly it's plugged in and where it's positioned. We know that these objects are going to be important to the story later.
We see shots of around the room, there's a close up shot on the motion sensor of the door for the panic room that there's a rug blocking it, this relates to later on how when they try and shut the door, suspense is held because of the rug taking longer to shut the door. The mother has a bath and wine to show she's possibly a little upset, we are shown the wine by a low angle tracking shot of the bath mainly keeping the wine bottle and glass in shot. We see a lot of shots where the camera creeps around corners and objects, this adds to the eerie feel of the movie. She then sets up the security before becoming totally exhausted and falling asleep. The next thing we see is shadows moving outside the house, shadows give the effect that someone's trying not to be seen. We see that there's too people looking inside the house. We can immediately tell they're going to try and break it because they are trying to open locked doors. They then try opening any exterior door incase one is open. The shadows manage to open the door and the alarm discretely triggers without anyone noticing. There's a worried look on one of the burglar's face, it is suggested that it's because he see's people sleeping, the camera dollies closer to him so we can see the slightest emotions on his face. We se a shadow stand behind the mother and she doesn't seem aware, this is shown by the camera rotating 90 degrees so that she's orientated normally to the camera. One of the burglars seem to have invited another without one of them knowing. They are arguing how the mother and daughter aren't meant to be moving in for another week. It immediately seems to be going wrong. The mother seems to have woken up, turns on the light in the panic room and then goes to the bathroom. The burglars hear the toilet flush, there's a crane jib shot to show where the burglars are looking, the slow movements of the camera helps to add to the suspense. The mother then returns to bed, she realises she's left the light on in the panic room. When the mother goes to turn of the light, she notices on the security cameras there are burglars in the house, the camera quickly tracks to her face adding to the sudden realisation that someone else is there. She runs to get her daughter. The burglars try to trap the mother and daughter. The daughter reminds her mum of the panic room. A burglar gets angry and flips a mattress causing objects to fall off the bedside cabinet, we see a shot of a mobile phone sliding across the floor this gives the impression that the phone could be important for later.
We find out that what the burglars want is in the panic room, we also find out that one of the burglars makes panic rooms. They try and discuss how to get in the room. We also find out that the mum is claustrophobic this is shown by close ups on her face as she get's anxious. The burglars start bolting the doors shut so the mother and daughter cannot escape out of the house this is shown by ECU's on the drilling the screws into the doors and doorframes. We see two of the burglars trying to break into the room with a sledgehammer, where the more experienced one know that it's impossible for them to get in that way. We see the experienced burglar has an idea, which is to gas them to "send them a message". Another burglar takes it too far and let's in a lot of gas. The mother set's light to the gas and the gas tank fires across the room setting light to one of the burglars.
The daughter has an idea of sending SOS signals with a torch through a ventilation pipe to the next door neighbour. The neighbour see's it as a disturbance and shuts the blinds. The mum notices what seems to be the daughter's watch beep this is shown by an ECU on the device on the daughters wrist. The mother realises she's left her phone by the bed and the burglars go downstairs for a minute. The mum rushes out of the panic room to fetch the mobile phone, but because the mattress has been flipped over, the phone is harder to get. The mum accidentally knocks the bedside lamp over and the burglars hear. This scene is played in slow motion to build up tension. The mum gets back in the panic room in time. The mother can't get a signal and the smarter burglar knows that. The mother notices the telephone that's not connected up and tries to connect the phone to the main line. The smarter burglar works out what she's doing, it's a rush between disconnecting the phone line and the mother making a phone call. The basement light doesn't work so the burglars need to find a torch, all this is building up tension.
The mother manages to make the call in time and phones 911. She's told to hold and she doesn't have enough time to wait. The daughter tells her mum to phone her ex-husband and before she can say enough the line is cut by the burglars. The daughter then tells her mum that she didn't tell her she was dizzy and hungry. We find out that the daughter's diabetic but there's no sugar food in the panic room and they have to sort something out before the daughter goes into shock. One of the burglars then decide they want out and it turns out he knew there was more money than he told the other burglars, another burglar shoots the burglar wants out and shoots him in the head.
A random guy appears at the door and the burglars interrogate him. It turns out that the random man was the daughter's father/the mother's ex-husband we see this by an ECU on his ID in his wallet. The burglars then show to the mother and daughter that they have the father/ex-husband. The hold him hostage so that the mother and daughter come out. The daughter starts going into shock. The smart burglar seems to have dragged the other burglar unconscious downstairs, the mother uses that chance to run out and get the diabetic kit. It turns out that they made the father/ex-husband look like the unconscious burglar while the real burglar was waiting outside the panic room pretending to be the father/ex-husband. The burglars then go into the panic room with the daughter in shock. While the burglars have shut the door, the mum manages to just about throw the diabetic kit inside in time. One of the burglars has his hand trapped in the door. The mum is left waiting outside while her daughter is still in shock.
The mother notices the gun left in the room with her this is shown by an ECU on the gun. They come to an agreement that if she goes downstairs so the burglars can open the door to free on of the burglar's hands, they'll give the daughter the shot. The mother complies. The smart burglar gives the girl the diabetic shot while the one that got his hand trapped is sitting in the corner. The mother is trying to work out what to do, there's a close up on her face to see her emotion. The smart burglar is talking like he;s not that bad, he then let's the mother know that her daughter will be ok on the intercom, he then proceeds to open the safe in the panic room.
The police ends up at the door. The mother gives the gun to the father/ex-husband the gun then answers the door. Because her child is at risk, she has to be careful what she says to the police there are a lot of close ups to build up the suspense. It turns out that the father/ex-husband made the call. She seems to convince the police that everything's ok. While the burglars are still breaking into the safe, the mother starts breaking the security cameras we see this as a shot on the CCTV monitor screens cutting to static. While the burglars are distracted by what the mother is doing, the daughter puts some injections in her pocket, this is shown by a close up. The mother then starts taking out the lights and breaking the glass.
The burglars have got everything out of the safe and leave the panic room. The burglars realise what the mother has done. The burglars get downstairs and see the father/ex-husband with the gun this is shown with a close up on the gun. The mum sneaks out with a sledgehammer and hits one of the burglars. The other burglar sneaks out the back door. The burglar that got hit then starts trying to attack the family. The smart burglar who escaped hears a scream, we see a close up on his face to see how shocked he is. The Injured burglar is attacking the mother while the daughter tries to jab the burglar. The burglar shoves the daughter to the side and picks up the sledgehammer. We then see someone picking up the gun with a nice close up shot on the weapon. Just as the injured burglar is about to hit the mother, the smart burglar shoots the injured burglar in the head.
At that point, SWAT invade the house. They manage to catch the smart burglar just before he escapes. We see once everything is over, then a fade to black transition to show the passing of time, then a shot of the mum and daughter are on a park bench looking for a new house.
Characterisation
Picaresque Protagonists - Mother (Meg)
Handicapped Protagonist - Daughter (Sarah),
Protagonist - Father/Ex-husband (Stephen)
Antagonist - Two of the burgulars (Raoul and Junior)
False Villain(?) - Smart Burglar (Burnham)
We see shots of around the room, there's a close up shot on the motion sensor of the door for the panic room that there's a rug blocking it, this relates to later on how when they try and shut the door, suspense is held because of the rug taking longer to shut the door. The mother has a bath and wine to show she's possibly a little upset, we are shown the wine by a low angle tracking shot of the bath mainly keeping the wine bottle and glass in shot. We see a lot of shots where the camera creeps around corners and objects, this adds to the eerie feel of the movie. She then sets up the security before becoming totally exhausted and falling asleep. The next thing we see is shadows moving outside the house, shadows give the effect that someone's trying not to be seen. We see that there's too people looking inside the house. We can immediately tell they're going to try and break it because they are trying to open locked doors. They then try opening any exterior door incase one is open. The shadows manage to open the door and the alarm discretely triggers without anyone noticing. There's a worried look on one of the burglar's face, it is suggested that it's because he see's people sleeping, the camera dollies closer to him so we can see the slightest emotions on his face. We se a shadow stand behind the mother and she doesn't seem aware, this is shown by the camera rotating 90 degrees so that she's orientated normally to the camera. One of the burglars seem to have invited another without one of them knowing. They are arguing how the mother and daughter aren't meant to be moving in for another week. It immediately seems to be going wrong. The mother seems to have woken up, turns on the light in the panic room and then goes to the bathroom. The burglars hear the toilet flush, there's a crane jib shot to show where the burglars are looking, the slow movements of the camera helps to add to the suspense. The mother then returns to bed, she realises she's left the light on in the panic room. When the mother goes to turn of the light, she notices on the security cameras there are burglars in the house, the camera quickly tracks to her face adding to the sudden realisation that someone else is there. She runs to get her daughter. The burglars try to trap the mother and daughter. The daughter reminds her mum of the panic room. A burglar gets angry and flips a mattress causing objects to fall off the bedside cabinet, we see a shot of a mobile phone sliding across the floor this gives the impression that the phone could be important for later.
We find out that what the burglars want is in the panic room, we also find out that one of the burglars makes panic rooms. They try and discuss how to get in the room. We also find out that the mum is claustrophobic this is shown by close ups on her face as she get's anxious. The burglars start bolting the doors shut so the mother and daughter cannot escape out of the house this is shown by ECU's on the drilling the screws into the doors and doorframes. We see two of the burglars trying to break into the room with a sledgehammer, where the more experienced one know that it's impossible for them to get in that way. We see the experienced burglar has an idea, which is to gas them to "send them a message". Another burglar takes it too far and let's in a lot of gas. The mother set's light to the gas and the gas tank fires across the room setting light to one of the burglars.
The daughter has an idea of sending SOS signals with a torch through a ventilation pipe to the next door neighbour. The neighbour see's it as a disturbance and shuts the blinds. The mum notices what seems to be the daughter's watch beep this is shown by an ECU on the device on the daughters wrist. The mother realises she's left her phone by the bed and the burglars go downstairs for a minute. The mum rushes out of the panic room to fetch the mobile phone, but because the mattress has been flipped over, the phone is harder to get. The mum accidentally knocks the bedside lamp over and the burglars hear. This scene is played in slow motion to build up tension. The mum gets back in the panic room in time. The mother can't get a signal and the smarter burglar knows that. The mother notices the telephone that's not connected up and tries to connect the phone to the main line. The smarter burglar works out what she's doing, it's a rush between disconnecting the phone line and the mother making a phone call. The basement light doesn't work so the burglars need to find a torch, all this is building up tension.
The mother manages to make the call in time and phones 911. She's told to hold and she doesn't have enough time to wait. The daughter tells her mum to phone her ex-husband and before she can say enough the line is cut by the burglars. The daughter then tells her mum that she didn't tell her she was dizzy and hungry. We find out that the daughter's diabetic but there's no sugar food in the panic room and they have to sort something out before the daughter goes into shock. One of the burglars then decide they want out and it turns out he knew there was more money than he told the other burglars, another burglar shoots the burglar wants out and shoots him in the head.
A random guy appears at the door and the burglars interrogate him. It turns out that the random man was the daughter's father/the mother's ex-husband we see this by an ECU on his ID in his wallet. The burglars then show to the mother and daughter that they have the father/ex-husband. The hold him hostage so that the mother and daughter come out. The daughter starts going into shock. The smart burglar seems to have dragged the other burglar unconscious downstairs, the mother uses that chance to run out and get the diabetic kit. It turns out that they made the father/ex-husband look like the unconscious burglar while the real burglar was waiting outside the panic room pretending to be the father/ex-husband. The burglars then go into the panic room with the daughter in shock. While the burglars have shut the door, the mum manages to just about throw the diabetic kit inside in time. One of the burglars has his hand trapped in the door. The mum is left waiting outside while her daughter is still in shock.
The mother notices the gun left in the room with her this is shown by an ECU on the gun. They come to an agreement that if she goes downstairs so the burglars can open the door to free on of the burglar's hands, they'll give the daughter the shot. The mother complies. The smart burglar gives the girl the diabetic shot while the one that got his hand trapped is sitting in the corner. The mother is trying to work out what to do, there's a close up on her face to see her emotion. The smart burglar is talking like he;s not that bad, he then let's the mother know that her daughter will be ok on the intercom, he then proceeds to open the safe in the panic room.
The police ends up at the door. The mother gives the gun to the father/ex-husband the gun then answers the door. Because her child is at risk, she has to be careful what she says to the police there are a lot of close ups to build up the suspense. It turns out that the father/ex-husband made the call. She seems to convince the police that everything's ok. While the burglars are still breaking into the safe, the mother starts breaking the security cameras we see this as a shot on the CCTV monitor screens cutting to static. While the burglars are distracted by what the mother is doing, the daughter puts some injections in her pocket, this is shown by a close up. The mother then starts taking out the lights and breaking the glass.
The burglars have got everything out of the safe and leave the panic room. The burglars realise what the mother has done. The burglars get downstairs and see the father/ex-husband with the gun this is shown with a close up on the gun. The mum sneaks out with a sledgehammer and hits one of the burglars. The other burglar sneaks out the back door. The burglar that got hit then starts trying to attack the family. The smart burglar who escaped hears a scream, we see a close up on his face to see how shocked he is. The Injured burglar is attacking the mother while the daughter tries to jab the burglar. The burglar shoves the daughter to the side and picks up the sledgehammer. We then see someone picking up the gun with a nice close up shot on the weapon. Just as the injured burglar is about to hit the mother, the smart burglar shoots the injured burglar in the head.
At that point, SWAT invade the house. They manage to catch the smart burglar just before he escapes. We see once everything is over, then a fade to black transition to show the passing of time, then a shot of the mum and daughter are on a park bench looking for a new house.
Characterisation
Picaresque Protagonists - Mother (Meg)
Handicapped Protagonist - Daughter (Sarah),
Protagonist - Father/Ex-husband (Stephen)
Antagonist - Two of the burgulars (Raoul and Junior)
False Villain(?) - Smart Burglar (Burnham)
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