Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

Like many thrillers, this film started off with extreme close-ups of a characters eyes. The characters are male and speak with low pitched voices. I have found that this creates a huge sense of mystery and intrigue as you can't possibly know who the character is.
Alot later on in the film, a man is shown being sick in an alleyway after having just lost a hugely important game of cards. A high angle shot is used, this creates a really good affect because it shows that the man could be feeling extremely small inside and by looking down on him we, as the audience, seem to have a better prospect than the character.
Alot of interesting shots are used. In one character's house, there are bars surrounding the door to prevent anyone from getting further inside the house. Whenever there are people inside the caged area, it immediately occurs to the audience that they are criminals. This is because the image looks as if they are in a prison cell.

'Vertigo'

Having watched certain sections of Alfred Hitchcock's films, 'Vertigo', I feel I've learnt a few things about thrillers already. The opening credits show extreme close-ups on a woman's lips and eye with a rotating spiral behind them. Spirals are a main theme throughout the film from the square, spiral staircase that John Ferguson (the detective) has to climb to the representation of the twisting, turning plot.
This film includes classic thriller signifiers; the Feme fatale, the flawed hero (who is afraid of heights) and a main theme of mystery and deciet.

The Thriller Conventions

Most thrillers revolve around a source of crime and corruption, often using ‘ordinary’ settings, either to create a false sense of security for the audience or to increase the audience’s awareness of the likelihood of the plot. Atmospheric music takes a huge part in the Mise en scene of thriller films, it builds up the tension and suspense and without it a scene could have a completely different feel to it. Thrillers often make use of close or vast, open spaces to create the feeling of claustrophobia and panic. Staircases, corridors and labyrinths are all examples of enclosed spaces which are frequently used in thrillers. Twists and turns of the plot are often used to keep audiences captivates; the film ‘Vertigo’ shows many images of spirals to symbolise the twist of the plot.

Beginning of the Blog

It's extremely hard to know where to begin...so I'll start with this:

In media studies, we are currently studying thriller films and their conventions, in order to understand them completely when it comes to making the first three minutes of our own. So far we’ve looked at still images from ‘Sin City’ and short sections from ‘vertigo’ and ‘China Town’. For my own research I have also recently watched
‘The Bourne Identity’, ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Battle Royale’. So far, this has been extremely useful and I’ve already got some ideas for the thriller we will be filming.