Research into thrillers

Panic Room

The opening scene of the movie “panic room” begins with a sequence of establishing long shots showing the buildings in the area, this sets the scene for the film and gives an idea of the kind of area that it is set in.

This scene also has a score which is used as a sound bridge to link all of the clips together. The score creates a feeling of fear which sets the theme for the rest of the movie.

This is followed by a long shot of a field in which we can see the use of jump shots to show the passage of time, this is an example of elliptical editing, this is unusual and helps to further hint at the theme of the movie.

Dialogue acts as a sound bridge linking this clip to the next, in which we see two women walking through a busy street; a panning shot is used to reveal the women.

Silence of the Lambs

In the opening sequence of silence of the lambs, the first shot is an establishing shot, which shows the location to be a foggy forest area; this has connotations of eeriness, and hints at the genre of the film.

The opening shot tilted down towards the floor, showing the main female protagonist running through an assault course, this shows her to be juxtaposed to the stereotype of women being weak. The scene contains a number of shots such as a close up of her feet whilst running, this adds variety to the clip and makes it more interesting.

One example of a shot during this scene is used to show the woman climbing the obstacle in the assault course, a 180 degree panning shot around the woman, this stops the viewer from becoming disorientated as it keeps it in perspective, it also shows a low angle of the woman on top of the obstacle, which suggests her physical power and breaks another stereotype.

Another example of effective camerawork is during the scene in which the panning shot is used to show the signs depicting words such as “pain” and “misery”, this creates suspense to see what the next word is going to be.

Inside the building, during the scene in the elevator, a medium shot is used to show the woman in the middle of a group of men, her size is shown to be small when compared to the tall men surrounding her, which connotes weakness, the men are also all in uniform whereas she’s wearing gym wear, which shows her as an individual.

Sound is also used to create an atmosphere of suspense, as throughout the clip tense incidental music is used, this hints at the genre of the film and also acts as a sound bridge linking different clips.