Conversations in thrillers

ANALYSING A THRILLER - TRAINING DA

To begin with, this clip reveals each character’s personality. As an audience we learn that Alonzo is a dominant character who is careless and appears very unfriendly at first when Jake addresses him. This can be seen through a mid shot where Jake tries to start a conversation but Alonzo replies telling him to “shut up”, ignoring Jake’s presence completely and focusing on his newspaper instead. Whereas, Jake appears the opposite, Jake is portrayed as a friendly character. This is shown through a close up shot where we see Jake enthusiastically telling Alonzo about his story even after Alonzo tells him to shut up. This shows that Jake is character who does not easily back out and is forgiving.

A contrast in power is also presented through shot reverse shot where we are able see both character’s body posture. We learn that Jake is a weak and powerless character as he sits with his hands together and looks very unrelaxed. Whereas, Alonzo appears powerful and domineering as he leans forward with his hands on the table, showing he has control of the situation and is unafraid of anyone. Alonzo’s power is also exaggerated through a low angle mid shot where his hands are placed relaxedly on the corners of the couch. His body posture emphasises his strength and masculinity. This shot makes him appear scary and intimidating and causes the audience to develop an extent of fear for him.

In addition, we also learn a few things about their personality through how the characters present themselves. Alonzo appears like a funny and rebellious character from the clothes and accessories he wears. For example, He wears a black shirt with long sleeves, with his clothes fully buttoned up. This makes him appear like a respectable figure, almost like a priest. Therefore the fact that he accessories this with gold chains and a diamond earring makes him appear disrespectful and the impression of a “respectable figure” diminishes completely. Whereas, with Jake we learn that he is presented as a character who seems lost and does not know what to do with his life. This is shown through his scrappy looking clothes. A hoodie holds connotations of youth and therefore shows Jake’s innocent manner which emphasises this idea that he is “lost” as he is already an adult.

An establishing shot is used in this clip to show the dirty and uncared for environmental setting. This is shown through a pan shot when the two characters leave the restaurant. Here we see the city’s busy manner through the number of cars as well as the old sketchy buildings which have multiple signs on them. The setting used creates this idea of unsafety and makes the audience feel uncomfortable and unsafe for Jake. In addition, the idea of crime and unsafety is exaggerated when we hear police sirens while the characters are sitting in the restaurant. Police sirens hold connotations of crime, this therefore creates tension to the atmosphere.