Part i
This case study is on the crime thriller the Usual Suspects. The usual Suspects was directed by Bryan Singer and the production company for this film was PolyGram Film Entertainment. The film was released in the UK on the 25th of august 1995 and it was filmed in various locations in New York. It has grossed $23,341,568 from the box office worldwide
Part ii
After watching I believe that the target audience for this film is massive, as it has elements to please almost anyone, it has gun fights to please your average teenager and has a very well written plot which will manage to immerse everyone else into the film story, and with so many twists and turns the whole audience will be left to the edge of the respective seats till the very end of the film. I believe that this film is accessible to all sexes and probably from anyone above the age of about 15.
Part iii
New technology has definitely helped in the way that a target audience can be informed of this film much quicker than they could have been in the past. The internet was very useful when looking up this film, websites like Wikipedia and IMBD had all of the information on the director of the film, the cast, the production company and further information that is relevant to this case study.
Part iv
IN this film the variety of camera shots was used to great effect. One of the very best shots comes in the first scene. This shot is made effective by the camera’s angle, the location of the shot, the lighting and the use of sound. The camera angle changed a few times during the scene, but two things were kept the same, when the camera was on the victim it was a high angle shot which made the victim look very small and very weak, and did the opposite when on the hunter in this scene as it was a low angle shot that made the villain of this scene look bigger and very string, to combination of this made it look like the victim of this scene had no chance of escaping from the villain. The lighting for the scene was also very effective, as it was very dark and as a viewer you could only just make out who was who this adds suspense to the scene as you do not really know what could be lurking the dark, the lighting was such that you could not see the face of the killer and he could have been anyone in the whole film. The location of the film is very clever because it is set on a boat at night, this leaves suspense as we can not quite tell what the boat is doing it could be anywhere this also adds some mystery to the scene and makes the viewer think well if the boat is out of the way how many people are going to survive the opening scene, also with the being on a boat there is a good chance that the killer will not be caught. The sound in the opening scene is largely dpendent on digetic sound, digetic sound is a good suspense builder and is also very good at establishing where the scene is set, one of the first things we can here is the sound of a fire burning, this suggest that there has possibly been an explosion, which suggests that there was some sort of gun fight not too long ago. There is also the sound of leaking water, and since this scene is set on a boat that could suggest that there is possibly a leak , this would also suggest that there has been some trouble on the boat, still the most effective piece if digetic sound in this scene is the slow measured footsteps of the main villain when he is walking over to his victim, the footsteps are the main thing we can hear and build up suspense in one main way, this is because we do not know who the footsteps belong to but you can almost get a sense of the confidence and self assurance of the man, this is because these footsteps sound as if he is walking with purpose knowing what he is going to do, but ultimately the viewer does not know who is walking as they can only hear is footsteps this makes him mysterious and this makes the viewer want to know who he is. All of these aspects helped make an enthralling opening scene witch set the pace for the rest of the film and would make the viewer want to know who the killer is?
The variety of the character types in the film is good. Still there are two character types in the film that really are what made this film effective as a thriller For example the character that we follow through the majority of the film is a crook that is being interrogated, and he is telling the cops his how he saw the events that have just recently unfolded. This character seems likable, almost so much that the viewer wonders how they are in for this crime. The character is also crippled on his left side and has to walk with a limp and look like that he cannot use his left arm for much, this could make the viewer almost feel sorry for him which also mean that with this limb he cannot be a suspect in the viewer eyes for any of the crimes in the film because he seems physically impossible of doing anything major that would affect other characters too much, but still there seems something sinister about him when certain things are said and he seems to almost change, this allows the viewer to get suspicious about him and his motives, and throughout the film allows the viewer to make up their own mind about him, these sort of questions are good for building up tension in thriller movies.
Another example of an effective character type was the mysterious villain. This characters indent in not actually revealed till right at the end of the film, even though we see him shoot someone right at the beginning. This sort of character is effective in a thriller movie because it adds lots of mystery to the plot, as he could be anyone of the characters we have already meet but could at the same time be someone completely different. This leaves a question for the viewer all the way through the film and allows them to guess who they think his real identity may be.
Some of the costumes in the film really added to the suspense and tension of it. The best costume in the film was of the killer in the very first scene, as he is wearing what looks like very smart cloths; smart black shoes a nice black over coat over his suit black trouser and a very smart black leather hat, this is almost business like and does that connate that he is very businesslike when it comes to killing people he has to kill. The hat also suggests that he is trying to cover his identity. All of his cloths are black in the opening scene, this suggested that he was the bad character as black as been the colour that has for a long time shown which characters are the ‘bad guys’, but also the black cloths manage to make him look mysterious in the first scene and manage to hide his identity, this adds tension for the viewer has they might be desperate to know who is this person who has just killed someone.
The use of the thriller genre in this film is utilized in the plot of the film and the narrative. This is because the movies story line is heavily dependent on flash back from one of the criminals story, this is the only account of what happened but we do not know if we can trust it as it is his side of the story, and the criminal might be trying to put the blame on other people whilst trying to clear his own name. This makes the viewer very suspicions of whether what we are seeing is the truth or not and makes the viewer wonder whether or not we can actually trust the main character both of these help adding tension to the movie. Also when something seemed like it was one thing it suddenly seems like something else and then does it again, and when one person seems like his the killer it then suddenly looks as if the killer is someone else, and it does this right until the end of the film.
Another effective part of the thriller genre in this film were all of the gun fights, and robberies, these were quite intense and must have thrilled most viewer by the way that so many people got shot and the main characters were in a lot of trouble most of the way through the gun fights. Most of the time their plans did not look like they were going to be successful, this put them in grave danger most of the time and it looked like they were not going to survive. The betrayals in the film were also effective as the viewer had no idea who they could and would they could not trust in the movie.
The narrative structure in the film was complex with flash back taking the viewer from the present and someone’s story of the past. This made the movie very interesting as the more that was revealed in one flashback the more question would arise about how is the present like it is, this meant that there were lots of twists in the plot and made sure that the viewer would be guessing all the way through the film about what is going to happen next. This also managed to make the story flow well as all of the boring parts about the past were not in the flashback and only key information that was needed to really understand the film was represented to the viewer, this allowed the movie the flow very well and gave it a nice fast paced. However this did mean that the viewer would really have to concentrate to fully understand what was going on.
The movie with all its plots became quite confusion at some parts but that even made it more interesting as it kept the viewer really involved by making them guess what was going to happen. I still believe however that this was very effective and strengthens the appeal of the film because of how the films narrative managed to keep the viewer hooked to the film until the very last scene and they will only really find out what is happening till the end of the film.
Part v
The big stereotype in the film is about someone who is crippled, this character walks with a limb and also can not used his left arm at all. This character in the film even though he is a crook is automatically not a suspect because he is crippled and he ‘could not’ do the all of the crimes. This in the film shows maybe that we overlook crippled people because we feel sorry for them, and that maybe we should treat them like everyone else and they should be suspects regardless of their condition.
This case study is on the crime thriller the Usual Suspects. The usual Suspects was directed by Bryan Singer and the production company for this film was PolyGram Film Entertainment. The film was released in the UK on the 25th of august 1995 and it was filmed in various locations in New York. It has grossed $23,341,568 from the box office worldwide
Part ii
After watching I believe that the target audience for this film is massive, as it has elements to please almost anyone, it has gun fights to please your average teenager and has a very well written plot which will manage to immerse everyone else into the film story, and with so many twists and turns the whole audience will be left to the edge of the respective seats till the very end of the film. I believe that this film is accessible to all sexes and probably from anyone above the age of about 15.
Part iii
New technology has definitely helped in the way that a target audience can be informed of this film much quicker than they could have been in the past. The internet was very useful when looking up this film, websites like Wikipedia and IMBD had all of the information on the director of the film, the cast, the production company and further information that is relevant to this case study.
Part iv
IN this film the variety of camera shots was used to great effect. One of the very best shots comes in the first scene. This shot is made effective by the camera’s angle, the location of the shot, the lighting and the use of sound. The camera angle changed a few times during the scene, but two things were kept the same, when the camera was on the victim it was a high angle shot which made the victim look very small and very weak, and did the opposite when on the hunter in this scene as it was a low angle shot that made the villain of this scene look bigger and very string, to combination of this made it look like the victim of this scene had no chance of escaping from the villain. The lighting for the scene was also very effective, as it was very dark and as a viewer you could only just make out who was who this adds suspense to the scene as you do not really know what could be lurking the dark, the lighting was such that you could not see the face of the killer and he could have been anyone in the whole film. The location of the film is very clever because it is set on a boat at night, this leaves suspense as we can not quite tell what the boat is doing it could be anywhere this also adds some mystery to the scene and makes the viewer think well if the boat is out of the way how many people are going to survive the opening scene, also with the being on a boat there is a good chance that the killer will not be caught. The sound in the opening scene is largely dpendent on digetic sound, digetic sound is a good suspense builder and is also very good at establishing where the scene is set, one of the first things we can here is the sound of a fire burning, this suggest that there has possibly been an explosion, which suggests that there was some sort of gun fight not too long ago. There is also the sound of leaking water, and since this scene is set on a boat that could suggest that there is possibly a leak , this would also suggest that there has been some trouble on the boat, still the most effective piece if digetic sound in this scene is the slow measured footsteps of the main villain when he is walking over to his victim, the footsteps are the main thing we can hear and build up suspense in one main way, this is because we do not know who the footsteps belong to but you can almost get a sense of the confidence and self assurance of the man, this is because these footsteps sound as if he is walking with purpose knowing what he is going to do, but ultimately the viewer does not know who is walking as they can only hear is footsteps this makes him mysterious and this makes the viewer want to know who he is. All of these aspects helped make an enthralling opening scene witch set the pace for the rest of the film and would make the viewer want to know who the killer is?
The variety of the character types in the film is good. Still there are two character types in the film that really are what made this film effective as a thriller For example the character that we follow through the majority of the film is a crook that is being interrogated, and he is telling the cops his how he saw the events that have just recently unfolded. This character seems likable, almost so much that the viewer wonders how they are in for this crime. The character is also crippled on his left side and has to walk with a limp and look like that he cannot use his left arm for much, this could make the viewer almost feel sorry for him which also mean that with this limb he cannot be a suspect in the viewer eyes for any of the crimes in the film because he seems physically impossible of doing anything major that would affect other characters too much, but still there seems something sinister about him when certain things are said and he seems to almost change, this allows the viewer to get suspicious about him and his motives, and throughout the film allows the viewer to make up their own mind about him, these sort of questions are good for building up tension in thriller movies.
Another example of an effective character type was the mysterious villain. This characters indent in not actually revealed till right at the end of the film, even though we see him shoot someone right at the beginning. This sort of character is effective in a thriller movie because it adds lots of mystery to the plot, as he could be anyone of the characters we have already meet but could at the same time be someone completely different. This leaves a question for the viewer all the way through the film and allows them to guess who they think his real identity may be.
Some of the costumes in the film really added to the suspense and tension of it. The best costume in the film was of the killer in the very first scene, as he is wearing what looks like very smart cloths; smart black shoes a nice black over coat over his suit black trouser and a very smart black leather hat, this is almost business like and does that connate that he is very businesslike when it comes to killing people he has to kill. The hat also suggests that he is trying to cover his identity. All of his cloths are black in the opening scene, this suggested that he was the bad character as black as been the colour that has for a long time shown which characters are the ‘bad guys’, but also the black cloths manage to make him look mysterious in the first scene and manage to hide his identity, this adds tension for the viewer has they might be desperate to know who is this person who has just killed someone.
The use of the thriller genre in this film is utilized in the plot of the film and the narrative. This is because the movies story line is heavily dependent on flash back from one of the criminals story, this is the only account of what happened but we do not know if we can trust it as it is his side of the story, and the criminal might be trying to put the blame on other people whilst trying to clear his own name. This makes the viewer very suspicions of whether what we are seeing is the truth or not and makes the viewer wonder whether or not we can actually trust the main character both of these help adding tension to the movie. Also when something seemed like it was one thing it suddenly seems like something else and then does it again, and when one person seems like his the killer it then suddenly looks as if the killer is someone else, and it does this right until the end of the film.
Another effective part of the thriller genre in this film were all of the gun fights, and robberies, these were quite intense and must have thrilled most viewer by the way that so many people got shot and the main characters were in a lot of trouble most of the way through the gun fights. Most of the time their plans did not look like they were going to be successful, this put them in grave danger most of the time and it looked like they were not going to survive. The betrayals in the film were also effective as the viewer had no idea who they could and would they could not trust in the movie.
The narrative structure in the film was complex with flash back taking the viewer from the present and someone’s story of the past. This made the movie very interesting as the more that was revealed in one flashback the more question would arise about how is the present like it is, this meant that there were lots of twists in the plot and made sure that the viewer would be guessing all the way through the film about what is going to happen next. This also managed to make the story flow well as all of the boring parts about the past were not in the flashback and only key information that was needed to really understand the film was represented to the viewer, this allowed the movie the flow very well and gave it a nice fast paced. However this did mean that the viewer would really have to concentrate to fully understand what was going on.
The movie with all its plots became quite confusion at some parts but that even made it more interesting as it kept the viewer really involved by making them guess what was going to happen. I still believe however that this was very effective and strengthens the appeal of the film because of how the films narrative managed to keep the viewer hooked to the film until the very last scene and they will only really find out what is happening till the end of the film.
Part v
The big stereotype in the film is about someone who is crippled, this character walks with a limb and also can not used his left arm at all. This character in the film even though he is a crook is automatically not a suspect because he is crippled and he ‘could not’ do the all of the crimes. This in the film shows maybe that we overlook crippled people because we feel sorry for them, and that maybe we should treat them like everyone else and they should be suspects regardless of their condition.
More interesting analysis Alex, particularly on lighting. With these case studies, it would be good to start considering how/if they will influence your own thriller opening?
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