Thriller Planning: The themes & inspirations for our thriller
Themes
Our thriller includes several key conventions of thriller themes, particularly themes of the noir period. For example, one of the key elements of the full narrative (see synopsis) is the attempted vengeance of Susie Callaghan to kill her uncle as she had always blamed him for her father’s death. In just this piece of the narrative, at least three important conventional themes are present from the noir genre: the haunted past, betrayal and vengeance. A femme fatale is also present in this section, who is an essential figure of the noir period. Revenge is a key theme in our narrative, as elements of it occur throughout, as does greed for power. Both of these things, however, lead to the death of all but one of the characters: the experienced crime lord Patrick Callaghan (Phil Buttinger). Death and downfall, then, are further important themes of our narrative. This, therefore, leads us to the presence of another key noir theme: the fatalistic nightmare. There are, however, many aspects of similarity from films with a sub-genre of ‘mafia’ also, such as The Godfather (1972) and Goodfellas (1990). There will be, then, several aspects of themes such as organized crime and the underworld in our narrative.
Style
As our thriller includes several noir themes in the narrative and characterisation (see character profiles), the style and mise-en-scene will also reflect that of a noir. For example, the opening shots of the road include several tilted angles, immediately connoting edginess, uncertainty and slight discomfort (all of which are themes of thrillers and the noir period). We also included several low angle shots, most notably that of the building from the outside, which was a technique also favoured in the noir period. Our shots of Patrick Callaghan also intend to be low angled shots (similar to those of Sydney Greenstreet’s Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon (1941)), however due to a lack of experienced camera work and resources we don’t expect to be able to make this as obvious as we would ideally like. There are also several examples of chiaroscuro lighting in our opening, such as that of the bright light from streetlights shining down onto the road. We also would like the road to be wet and shiny, as this would add another distinctive noir signifier which also connotes the theme of the fatalistic nightmare. However, this is beyond our control. The shots of the road, incidentally, are also moving camera shots, which is another popular technique in noirs (e.g. in the opening sequence of Touch of Evil (1958)) and also in neo-noirs (e.g. in sections of Taxi Driver (1976)). In conclusion, we are very much aiming for our film to stylistically resemble a film noir.
Sub-genre
Our thriller would take-on both the sub-genres of film noir and also of ‘mafia/ gangster’. This is because it uses conventions from both of these sub-genres.
Key influences
Stylistically and regarding the mise-en-scene, our key influences have been from films from the noir period. For us, the most influential ones have been The Maltese Falcon (in particular the representation of Sydney Greenstreet’s Kasper Gutman) and The Third Man (1949) (especially the use of tilted angles and lighting). Regarding the narrative, though, Chinatown (1974) has been largely influential, as we appreciated its method of story telling and the amount of twists in the narrative. The Godfather, however, has probably been the most influential film to us in this respect. This is because we appreciated its narrative feature of the switch from one main protagonist to another, and, again, the number of twists in its narrative. In our film, however, we are taking this further to have several changes of the main protagonist, with a change each time the previous one dies. The purpose of this, as explained in our synopsis, is to demonstrate to the viewer the immorality and unattractiveness of the life of our characters to the point where the viewer realises that they cannot relate to any of the protagonists that were present. This theme of immorality and sleaze has been taken directly from the films of the noir period. However, going back to the bare bones of our narrative, it has been based (very loosely) upon the story of Romeo and Juliet. This theme is present in shape of the brief (and sham) relationship between David Glover and Susie Callaghan. This influence exists predominantly because of our initial intention to use a track from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet of Romeo and Juliet as our opening soundtrack. Judging purely on opening sequences though, the opening of Goodfellas has also been influential, as it consists of similar events, and bares a similar context to the rest of the film as ours (regarding the fact that, in a chronological order, it takes place quite a way into the film).
Our thriller includes several key conventions of thriller themes, particularly themes of the noir period. For example, one of the key elements of the full narrative (see synopsis) is the attempted vengeance of Susie Callaghan to kill her uncle as she had always blamed him for her father’s death. In just this piece of the narrative, at least three important conventional themes are present from the noir genre: the haunted past, betrayal and vengeance. A femme fatale is also present in this section, who is an essential figure of the noir period. Revenge is a key theme in our narrative, as elements of it occur throughout, as does greed for power. Both of these things, however, lead to the death of all but one of the characters: the experienced crime lord Patrick Callaghan (Phil Buttinger). Death and downfall, then, are further important themes of our narrative. This, therefore, leads us to the presence of another key noir theme: the fatalistic nightmare. There are, however, many aspects of similarity from films with a sub-genre of ‘mafia’ also, such as The Godfather (1972) and Goodfellas (1990). There will be, then, several aspects of themes such as organized crime and the underworld in our narrative.
Style
As our thriller includes several noir themes in the narrative and characterisation (see character profiles), the style and mise-en-scene will also reflect that of a noir. For example, the opening shots of the road include several tilted angles, immediately connoting edginess, uncertainty and slight discomfort (all of which are themes of thrillers and the noir period). We also included several low angle shots, most notably that of the building from the outside, which was a technique also favoured in the noir period. Our shots of Patrick Callaghan also intend to be low angled shots (similar to those of Sydney Greenstreet’s Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon (1941)), however due to a lack of experienced camera work and resources we don’t expect to be able to make this as obvious as we would ideally like. There are also several examples of chiaroscuro lighting in our opening, such as that of the bright light from streetlights shining down onto the road. We also would like the road to be wet and shiny, as this would add another distinctive noir signifier which also connotes the theme of the fatalistic nightmare. However, this is beyond our control. The shots of the road, incidentally, are also moving camera shots, which is another popular technique in noirs (e.g. in the opening sequence of Touch of Evil (1958)) and also in neo-noirs (e.g. in sections of Taxi Driver (1976)). In conclusion, we are very much aiming for our film to stylistically resemble a film noir.
Sub-genre
Our thriller would take-on both the sub-genres of film noir and also of ‘mafia/ gangster’. This is because it uses conventions from both of these sub-genres.
Key influences
Stylistically and regarding the mise-en-scene, our key influences have been from films from the noir period. For us, the most influential ones have been The Maltese Falcon (in particular the representation of Sydney Greenstreet’s Kasper Gutman) and The Third Man (1949) (especially the use of tilted angles and lighting). Regarding the narrative, though, Chinatown (1974) has been largely influential, as we appreciated its method of story telling and the amount of twists in the narrative. The Godfather, however, has probably been the most influential film to us in this respect. This is because we appreciated its narrative feature of the switch from one main protagonist to another, and, again, the number of twists in its narrative. In our film, however, we are taking this further to have several changes of the main protagonist, with a change each time the previous one dies. The purpose of this, as explained in our synopsis, is to demonstrate to the viewer the immorality and unattractiveness of the life of our characters to the point where the viewer realises that they cannot relate to any of the protagonists that were present. This theme of immorality and sleaze has been taken directly from the films of the noir period. However, going back to the bare bones of our narrative, it has been based (very loosely) upon the story of Romeo and Juliet. This theme is present in shape of the brief (and sham) relationship between David Glover and Susie Callaghan. This influence exists predominantly because of our initial intention to use a track from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet of Romeo and Juliet as our opening soundtrack. Judging purely on opening sequences though, the opening of Goodfellas has also been influential, as it consists of similar events, and bares a similar context to the rest of the film as ours (regarding the fact that, in a chronological order, it takes place quite a way into the film).
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