Evaluation Task 1: How our thriller uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of thrillers

 

 

Our thriller starts with the close up shot of the computer screen, instantly signifying the use of technology in the thriller whilst also being typical of conventions in techno thrillers, and progresses by slowly tracking out to an establishing shot of the setting, revealing the entire mise-en-scene of the boy's bedroom. This is a typical convention of a thriller as suspense is usually built from the very beginning by gradually introducing the audience to the action. The colour scheme of purple, green and blue creates a gloomy, cold and mysterious atmosphere with restricted visibility and the only source of light being technology, emphasising the main theme of the thriller. This choice in colour scheme also conforms to the futuristic techno thriller genre. The colour of blue also links the male gender as a result of our main character being a boy and the theme of technology.

The camera work in the remaining part of the tracking shot shows the camera to gradually move to spy on the boy's action over his shoulder as if the camera is an intruder on the action happening in the thriller. This is typical of other thrillers in that the camera work of other films usually represents an antagonist of some sort as a result of spying on the main characters actions.

 

The close up shots of the boy typing on his computer is typical of certain thrillers such as Pi which incorporates close up shots of a man writing down and working out formulae. Therefore these close up shots of his fingers typing as well as the boys eyes conjure up an intensity which builds a climatic tension for the thriller but also by incorporating a mid shot of the boy this communicates his actions to the audience in one shot. The view of Nick's profile also adds a sense of mystery to the thriller, being a typical convention, and also creates a restricted narrative of the boy as a result of the limited view of his facial features and insinuates the mischevious nature of his character, possibly being an enemy of the FBI. This leads the audience on to watch more as they want to see the matter resolved and discover the character's intentions. The close up of his hands typing insinuates the action of hacking and therefore his workings against the FBI.   

These next shots effectively communicate the technology theme of our thriller showing what is supposedly displayed on the boy's computer screen whilst he is cracking codes and discovering links to the FBI mainframe. This is typical of many techno thrillers as the film Pi shows many shots of charts and numbers and formulae, flickering in and out of the main action in the title sequence giving an insight to viewers of the technicality of the thriller. The top image displays a world map which feeds into the idea of surveillance of the population's actions, being a typical convention of a thriller, with characters being consistently watched and spied on. The ID image of the man's profile below creates an enigma for the audience, being typical of a thriller, creating a sense of mystery and consequent suspense. This also creates a restricted narration of the man shown briefly in the title card which entices the audience to want to watch more of the film to discover the identity of the man and what significance he has to the storyline. The last image above displays the inner workings of a computer conjuring up a sense of criminality as a result of hacking into private and confidential territory.

 

The low viewpoint mid shot of the main character displays his attention and concentration directed at cracking the code as well as threatening the audience as a result of the intimidating shot. This is similar to the film Pi as the main character creating a formula is shown to have frequent close up with in the film to allow the audience to relate to the character as well as maintaining a close narrative with the main character the audience should supposedly sympathise with.

 

The action is then taken back to the technology side of the film. This is typical of other techno thrillers as the films usually draw the audience into a frenzy of numbers, codes, links and technological knowledge and puzzles and then instantly bring the audience back to reality, which is displayed above, the audience have been reminded of the situation in hand and receive the boy's reaction to the results of his hacking and then are instantly transported back to his continuous hacking process displayed on his screen.

 

This tracking shot introduces the audience to more of the thriller's mise-en-scene which is ultimately reinforcing the themes and messages of the thriller as the posters and pictures of aeroplanes relate to the boy's obsession with the aircraft. Additionally the tracking shot above shows the endless amount of gadgets and technology being used by the boy. This is typical of techno thrillers, in particular the thriller Pi as a result of scenes showing the main character situated amongst technology and computers.  

 

The close narrative now shown of the boy's hands scrunching up display the boy's body language of hesitance towards the action is about to commit and therefore create a climax of suspense. This is very typical of most other thrillers as a usual convention of thrillers is to create an aspect of suspense.

These final shots indicate the boy's success in cracking the FBI mainframe code and therefore display technological knowledge of the boy as a result of his autism. This is a skill he has acquired from the syndrome, being similar to the workings of the main character in the thriller Pi as he endeavours to work out the formula of Pi.