- Non-diagetic sounds such as music and supernaturual noises. Discordant strings which increase in pitch are commonplace in horror films, as they greatly contribute to building suspense and also anxiety.
- Use of selective sound to draw the audience's attention to something e.g: footsteps, doors creaking
- Varying rhythms of shots which helps create tension and also a sense of unpredictability
- The audience is placed with the protagonist, who is usually the victim of the supernatural or horrific antagonist. However, in The Amityville Horror (Douglas, 2005) the audience is placed with the protagonist who kills his family, which distances the audience from him.
Conventions of Thriller
- Frequent scenes of violence and action.
- Protagonist is often the stereotype of a 'hard man' who is accustomed to danger.
- Anti-heroes are also often featured as protagonists, e.g: Dominic Cobb in Inception (Nolan, 2010) is a professional thief.
- Suspense and cliff-hangers (often leading to a sequel or series: The Bourne Series (Liman, Greengrass, 2002, 2004, 2007)
Conventions of Noir
- Low-key lighting which creates contrast between shadows and small sources of light such as a lamp.
- Shadow patterning which partially obscures characters or parts of the set. Venetian blinds and banister rods are often used to achieve this
- Flashbacks
- Narration
- Anti-heroes as protagonists
- A 'Femme Fatale' character who will often attempt to distract or prevent the protagonist from achieving his goals.
- Canted-angle shots which disorient the audience, but increase the enigma of the characters e.g: the opening scene of Casino Royale (Campbell, 2007)
What a unique way that this James Bond opening is portrayed. A completely new style for a Bond film, and by using the generic conventions of noir that we have discussed, it added to the exclusive portrayal of the opening sequence.
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