Thrillers

Thrillers

Silence of the Lambs 

1990 - Johnathan Demme

 One theme we noticed when watching the extract of this film is that it's an incredibly male-dominated environment that the protagonist, Clarice (played by Jodie Foster) is operating in. This is made obvious at moments such as the shot of her surrounded by male co-workers in the elevator, seen below.

An interesting directorial technique I noticed is that whenever something important or personal is said to the protagonist, the character saying it looks directly into the camera in a close-up shot. This has been used to help build tension, as it allows the viewer to see things from the protagonist's perspective, and so experience the events the same way as them.

Black Swan

2010 - Darren Aronofsky

Uncertainty is a key theme in this film, and in the two short extracts we watched, the protagonist Nina (played by Natalie Portman) keeps thinking that she literally sees herself when walking around town. In the first extract, on the train, the crowd of people leaves the viewer as unsure as the protagonist as to whether or not it was herself that she just saw, but in the second, it's very obvious that it is. The use of handheld camera helps create a sense of disarray and confusion.

The Shining

1980 - Stanley Kubrick

An interesting feature of the 'main character' above, Jack (played by Jack Nicholson) is a protagonist who transforms over the course of the film into an antagonist. Kubrick pioneered the use of steadycam in this film (see below), which works perfectly for a filler as the eery stillness of the camera even when moving creates an ominous sense of dread and being followed.