The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The genre of this film is a drama, romance and a mystery.

The Manchurian Candidate is about a former Korean war captain, Major Ben Marco and his sergeant, Raymond Shaw. Major Ben Marco was a intelligence officer for the United Stated army. Major Ben Marco, Raymond Shaw and the other members of their squad are all brainwashed by communists. Raymond Shaw is brainwashed into becoming a political assassin. But Major Ben Marco may find a way to save him.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Richard Condon (based on the novel)

George Axelrod (screenplay)

John Frankenheimer

Cast:

Frank Sinatra as Major Ben Marco

Laurence Harvey as Raymond Shaw

Janet Leigh as Eugenie Rose Chaney

Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Eleanor Shaw Iselin

Henry Silva as Chunjin

James Gregory as Senator John Yerkes Iselin

Leslie Parrish as Jocelyn Jordan

John McGiver as Senator Thomas Jordan

Facts:

• The film was made in the USA
• The film was released in the USA on the 24th October 1962
• The estimated amount of money that would be made in the Box Office was $2,200,00
• M.C. Productions was the production company used
• The film runs for 126 minutes
• Its a black and white film

 

 

The Bodyguard (1992)

The Bodyguard (1992)

 

 The film The Bodyguard includes the genres; drama, romance and thriller.

The Bodyguard is about a pop singer that has been receiving threatening notes, so her manager hires the best bodyguard he can find. He takes more security precautions than she thinks is necessary, eventually the singer discovers that these security precautions are necessary when the stalker strikes closer to her home. And the bodyguard and the singer soon start an affair.

The film contains elements of a thriller, its fast paced and is full of tension. Particularly in the scene at the Award Ceremony and the scene at the wooden log cabin house where a suspicious killer comes to kill the pop singer.

Director:
Mick Jackson

Writer:
Lawrence Kasdan

The Cast:
Kevin Costner - Frank Farmer
Whitney Houston - Rachel Marron
Gary Kemp - Sy Spector
Bill Cobbs - Devaney
Ralph Waite - Herb Farmer
Tomas Arana - Portman
Michele Lamar Richards - Nicki Marron

Facts:

"Never let her out of your sight. Never let your guard down. Never fall in love." This was a famous quote from the film.
The film was released on the 26th December 1992 in the UK.
The Bodyguard was filmed in the United States of America.
The amount of money the filmed gained was $410,900,000 worldwide.
Kasdan Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures were used for the production of the film.
The film ran for 129 minutes.

 

The Untouchables (1987)

The Untouchables (1987)

 

 

The genres associated with the 1980's film, The Untouchables, are Thriller, Drama, and Crime.

 

The film is about a Federal agent, Eliot Ness, gathers a personal team of his own mob fighters  in order to bring Chicago crime boss, Al Capone, to justice.

The film contains a lot of fast paced action as well as slow action to add upon the suspense and build up of tension.

 

 

Director:

Brian de Palma

 

Writers:

Oscar Fraley (suggested by book), Eliot Ness (suggested by book), David Mamet (written by)

 

The Cast:

Kevin Costner - Eliot Ness

Sean Connery - Jim Malone

Charles Martin Smith - Agent Oscar Wallace

Andy Garcia - Agent George Stone/ Giuseppe Petri

Robert De Niro - Al Capone

Facts:

A famous quote used in the film was "What are you prepared to do?"
In the UK the film was released on the 18th September 1987
It was filmed in the USA
The amount of money made was $76,270,454 in America.
Paramount Pictures was the production company used to help develop the film
The films running time is 119 minutes long



 



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An analysation of Drive's opening scene

Drive's Opening Scene

Sound

Throughout the opening scene of Drive there is a non-diegetic sound, which sounds like a heartbeat, this constanly puts the audience on edge and adds to the build of the tension. It foreboads. 

There is dialogue from one man in the opening scene, his voice is soft and quiet, as if he is whispering. It makes us seem like what he says is a secret.

Then we hear another mans voice, after the change in scene. There is not much conversation between the man from the first scene and the man in the next scene. The new man introduced in the second scene has a friendly voice.

After this scene we hear diegetic sound, which is the noise of the car and other cars on the road.

Lighting

In the opening of Drive there is not much lighting. It's dark with lots of shadows, so low key lighting must have been used.

Editing

There are not many cuts to scenes, the scenes are not fast paced either, this helps the build up of tension.

Camera

Drive doesn't have many camera angles or shots, or changes in scenes in the opening. But it does include close ups and some medium shots.

A recipe for a Thriller- Thriller Conventions

Thriller Conventions



 

A thriller should be fast-paced and exhilarating. There should be frequent action and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of a more powerful and better equipped villain(s).

All the following devices should be used extensively they are:

• Suspense
• Red Herrings
• Cliffhangers

A thriller is a villain driven plot. The villain presents obstacles and barriers that the hero must overcome. The genre is flexible and can engage the audience through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions.

Alfred Hitchcock, a famous director, stated that thrillers allow the audience, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like".

In other words audience members like to experience a sense of thrill, and fear.

Foreboding builds up tension and a sense that something bad will happen, this can be used in a thriller.

A Thriller should have the following to the central plot:

• Justice vs Injustice
• Blurred line of good and bad
• Enigmas
• Red-herrings
• Plot twists
• Cliff hangers
• Foreboading

A Thriller can be divided into sub genres such as:

• Mystery
• Crime
• Spy
• Political
• Psychological

Some Thrillers can create different moods such as:

• Murder
• Menace
• Mystery
• Paranoia

It is typical for a thriller to have characters on a dangerous mission, who escape when it seems impossible, North by Northwest is a good example of this.

Thrillers should include:

• The audience being on the 'edge-of-your-seat'
• Tension
• Climax
• Suspense
• Chases
• Pursuits
• Deadlines

To make a good thriller your villains must be complexed characters and troubled. And society must be seen as dark and corrupt.