Thriller Shot

1 – What were you trying to achieve?
In this exercise, we attempted to take a photograph that perfectly summed-up the ‘thriller’ genre. The mise-en-scene, lighting, framing, and in fact everything about the shot was organized in an attempt to create generic signifiers of a ‘thriller’
2 – In what way does your shot represent ‘thriller’?
Below is a short list of all the aspects of the shot which could be seen as signifiers of the ‘thriller’ genre.
- Metal gate: connotes prison and entrapment creating a sense of claustrophobia
- Lock: reinforces the image of prison
- Rusty metal: suggests that this gate has been present for a long time, holding something or someone back for years. Creates mystery
- Overgrown scenery: suggests the location is derelict and that it is deserted. This will create a feeling of mystery as well as suspense as the scene would probably be very quiet at this point.

3 – What doesn’t work about your shot?
Below is a short list of some improvements that could be made to this shot.
- Lighting: to create even more mystery and suspense this shot could’ve been taken at night. The use of the moon as a light source would add to the tension as well.
- Shadows: using limited light, for example shining through parts of the bars on the gate, would create shadows on the ground within the shot. Shadows are often used in thrillers as they given mystery to a character or scene as the shadow is only a representation of something. In this case, the shadow will create another set of bars, again adding to the prison theme and the sense of claustrophobia.
- Framing: if the framing was a little tighter, for example the top of the gate was cut out of the frame, the gate would seem much larger and it would also give the audience the impression they are part of the scene, as if they are looking through the eyes of someone. We could also have made this shot slightly low angle, as this connotes power and menace, perfect for the thriller genre.