Thriller Mood Board

THRILLER CONVENTIONS

FILM: Black Swan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Mise-en-Scene

LIGHTING:

-usually artificial; bright

-mostly warm lighting, some cool moments

-spotlights

-dim; almost completely dark scenes; grey

-thrillers tend to have quite dark (almost natural looking) lighting, to bring eeriness

LOCATIONS:

-urban, plain, mostly indoors

-grey, cloudy, real world

-house; bedroom, dining, bathroom

-ballet; practice room

-theatre; stage, backstage, dressing room

-streets; bar, tunnels

COSTUMES:

-ballet wear; thin, fitting, plain colours

-stage wear; elegant, extravagant, contrast

-no signifying costumes

-protagonist`s (Nina) colours begin to darken:

-white & pink, to grey, eventually to black

-signifies transformation into Black Swan

-childhood growing into adulthood

-emphasises the psychological side to the thriller 

ERA:

-late 2000`s

PERFORMANCE:

-delivered seriously throughout

-rely on expression, actions (dancing), dialogue 

-communicate feelings

-showcases the tension between the protagonist`s conflict

PROPS:

-realistic

-scissors, shoes, broken ballerina music box

-glass; mirror, cups, broken

Editing

PACE:

-slow in the beginning

-pace speeds up and becomes rapid 

-begins at 1:33 

-showcases the protagonist losing control of her mind, giving into the role of Black Swan

-leaves audience tense and curious

TECHNIQUES:

-slow scenes in the beginning

-montages become swift, more lively

TRANSITIONS:

-normal scene cuts

-more soft fades in beginning

-shown at 0:16

Camera

SHOT TYPES:

-close ups towards protagonist, to express raw emotion

-couple over-the-shoulder shots showing other characters

-full shot taking in the surroundings

-couple medium shots

CAMERA ANGLES:

-high angles showing the whole location

-eyelevel angles to display the characters` expression

-slight high angles to give a view on how vulnerable the protagonist has become

-these chosen angles give the audience suspense of how the protagonist is holding up in terms of emotions, mental health, etc

CAMERA MOVEMENT:

-cameras are quite stable in the beginning

-often slow

-turns more erratic and chaotic later on in the trailer

-emphasises the risen tension and thrill

Sound

SOUND EFFECTS:

-All mostly diegetic; very prominent

-shuffling, breaking glass, heavy breathing, whispering

-non diegetic sounds of whooshing to emphasise creepiness

MUSIC:

-deep, low, non-diegetic orchestral music

-grows more louder and fuller as the trailer progresses

-violins and cellos become louder

-heard around 1:30 onwards

-blends in well with the elegant space of ballet

DIALOGUE:

-very important

-shows the outline of the narrative 

-also shows how the protagonist is like (personality)

-vulnerable, soft-spoken

VOICEOVERS:

-beginning voiceover from protagonist is quite significant 

-dialogue from scenes goes over as voiceovers as trailer goes by

-adds to the enigma

FILM: M3GAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRb4U99OU80

TECHNO

Mise-en-Scene

LIGHTING:

-mostly artificial; cool lighting

-some natural, dim lighting

-some dark scenes

-Shows off modern vibe of thriller

LOCATIONS:

-urban, modern, techy 

-bright, sunny, real world

-house; bedroom, dining, bathroom

-tech lab

-vehicles; cars

COSTUMES:

-protagonist doesn`t have signified costumes

-false hero/antagonist (MEGAN), has a signified costume

ERA:

-present day

-modern 

PERFORMANCE:

-mostly seriously delivered

-quite comedic

-relies on dialogue and expression to convey feelings

-action

-brings tension, leaving audience on the edge of their seat

PROPS:

-realistic & everyday

-phones, other devices

Editing

PACE:

-not very complex

-quite fast-paced

TECHNIQUES:

-montages become faster as trailer progresses; according to the antagonist

-brings tension towards the audience

TRANSITIONS:

-Bit more fades than usual 

-shown around 0:07, 0:11, 0:18

Camera

SHOT TYPES:

-long shots to show the surroundings around character

-medium shots, close-ups; which bring suspense

CAMERA ANGLES:
-lots of eye-level angles to show characters` expressions

-low angles to display how powerful the antagonist is

-brings suspense and leaves the audience tense and vulnerable

CAMERA MOVEMENTS:

-not a lot of movement

-camera is quite stable 

-editing and sound is heavily relied on to bring thrill rather than camera movement

Sound

SOUND EFFECTS:

-mostly non-diegetic

-whooshing, ambience, slams to create creepiness

-there are diegetic sounds of clicking, cracking

MUSIC:

-there is cinematic music to bring eeriness 

-music is a pop song remixed to sound more eerie, cinematic

-low piano notes played in beginning to bring suspense

DIALOGUE:

-quite important

-gives clear idea of narrative to audience

-brings out dark side of antagonist

VOICEOVERS:

-dialogue from scenes goes over as voiceovers as trailer goes by

-protagonist mainly voices over dialogue in the beginning

-antagonist takes over the voice over later in the trailer

-shows how sentient AI is dangerous 

-adds to the enigma