Thriller

The thriller genre has a huge array of films but we can still name characteristics. Excitement, suspense and elements of mystery make a thriller. All thriller films use the environment to their advantage such as a large farmhouse being scary in ‘The Conjuring’ or a busy street like in ‘Shooter’. Violence is the most common feature in thriller films. Some thriller films are based on true stories.

Sweeney Todd Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

This is a long shot of the helm of a boat in London’s river Thames. Sweeney Todd starts to walk forward singing ‘There is no place like London’ this makes Anthony who is following him to the front of the boat question how he knows London. The fact that he is following him shows us that he is of lesser authority to Sweeney. The clothes that they are wearing also back up the fact that Anthony is of a lower class to Sweeney because Anthony is wearing tatty, baggy cloths and Sweeney is wearing a nice jacket with a shirt and cravat underneath. The background is foggy and cloudy this makes the place seem more mysterious because of the way it only lets you see a short distance. The lack of light fits with the thriller genre because most films have parts that you will always miss first time making the film more mysterious and adding to the elements that the audience want.

  

This is a mid shot, showing a ‘barber and his wife’ in a market place full of flowers and bright colours. This is unconventional for a thriller film, as this looks friendly and a nice place to be. We can see that the man who is pushing the pram is going to be the ‘barber’ and the lady picking up the baby out of the pram is ‘his wife’. This is made secure by the fact that the barber, who is in fact Sweeney Todd, is okay with the woman, Lucy, picking up his child in a loving way. The clothes that Sweeney is wearing would be associated with upper class people the jacket with a big collar and a neck scarf. His hair is presented well also showing wealth. Lucy is wearing a white dress with a scarf draped over her shoulders and a bonnet her hair is blond and in tight curls this makes the audience believe that this family may have had a bit of wealth. Also Sweeney looks a lot younger in this shot than at the beginning so this makes us believe that this may be a flash back.

This is a mid shot of Mrs. Lovett chopping something not knowing that Sweeney Todd has just walked into her shop. We can see from the counter that she may be handling dough or pastry because of the floured work surface. This creates suspense because we don’t know why Sweeney has gone into this shop and what relevance Mrs. Lovett has to the plot of the film. The black tattered dress she is wearing show that she may not be making too much money in her business. Another sign for this is her hair being messy and the wall behind her being full of grime and dirt. The minimal light shows that it is in a shop that people may not want to be in as the mood of it in there is a bit lonely and gloomy. The camera goes between Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney as he walks into the shop you can see that when she sees Sweeney she is exited because people avoid her as though she ‘has the plague’.

This is a point of view mid shot of the stairs; the point of view is from Sweeney. This type of shot is very typical of a scary thriller as it is usually because the person looking has memories of the staircase. The camera is moving to make the illusion of it being Sweeny walking past looking up. The wallpaper is falling off and peeling in places this shows it hasn’t been well maintained. In most thrillers it is like this because it is either haunted or something bad has happened up the stairs. The camera being in darkness helps this to create the illusion that it is haunted as the light is coming in from the landing. All the wood around the walls looks tatty and old making it scarier and fitting more into the thriller genre. The walls look smoke stained as if there could have been a fire this is backed up by Mrs. Lovett saying that ‘the wallpaper was only partly singed’ making the audience intrigued and want to know what has happened and this makes them want to carry on watching.

 

This is a close up shot of Lucy and baby Johanna looking out the window with Judge Turpin with flowers in his hand looking up at her crying. She is crying because her husband Benjamin Barker, or now it is made apparent that he is Sweeny Todd, has been arrested and sent away on a ship. This shot is in the same light as the other flashback, so we assume that, as it is in the same brightness that this is another flashback. Judge Turpin is an upper class man and we see this because he is well shaven and his clothes and hair are pristine. Before this we see what the room that ‘people say is haunted’ and it is given to the audience to piece together that that is the room around the corner of the staircase. This song is where it flips between flashbacks and present this makes the audience have to piece together the flashback from the expressions on Sweeny and Mrs. Lovett’s face, which don’t look pleasant memories.