Kay Jianoran

How does the film use conventions of the genre to create suspense?
Suspense is a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. A thriller is a broad genre that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. There are specific but different types of conventions in the categories of Editing techniques, Camera works, Sounds, Lighting and Mise-en-scene in a Thriller movie that builds suspense and also familiarises the audience that the sense of suspense could be triggered and take place in certain scenes of a Thriller movie. In this case, the film that I have chosen as my case study is Sucker Punch directed by Zack Snyder. This film is about a young girl who is institutionalised by her abusive father in the fight to defeat her father because of what he had done to her mother. She is then locked up in a mental hospital. Retreating to an alternative reality, she envisions a plan with her talent to dance, and helps her friends to escape the mental institute.

There is almost an establishing shot in every new scene. This could emphasize the fact that the movie is ever changing. This sense of instability creates a sense of tension. The audience never know what is coming next and become anxious. The establishing shot also gives the audience the opportunity to see both the fascinating background used in the main characters hallucinations as well as the main character. This type of camera work recognises the thriller genre and also represents suspense as one of the elements that recognises a typical thriller movie. Another main camera work that is used often in this particular film and is also well known to be used in every thriller movie is an extreme close up shot particularly toward the main characters face. In this case, an extreme close up shot would be shot towards the main character before she begins to enter her hallucinogenic stage. This therefore not only creates tension but also creates a feel of suspense for the audience as they get the opportunity to view the main characters deep feelings as the extreme close-up shot zooms into her face and eyes.

In the mise-en-scene convention of this thriller film is that there are reoccurring objects such as the knife and the map which are one of the main objects in which she desires to search for in her journey through her battles in her hallucinations. The setting in this film is contradicts the typical convention of a thriller which is not taken in the modern day era although except for that specific convention, everything under the category of conventions would build up to represent a typical thriller film. The change of their attire as the young girl starts to dance in her ballet outfit then there is a sudden change to her armour costumes which builds suspense in a reoccurring way. There is also the props that is used in all thriller films that is specifically important and used a lot in Sucker Punch such as guns and knives which gives thrill for the audience.

There is also a colour in the scene which represents the feel of atmosphere in the scene such as a red lighting that could represent anger or frustration in the scene. This has a large responsibility of building suspense as it could also apply to what the audience may begin to feel towards the colour used in the scene. There is also chiaroscuro lighting in the scenes which is a mixture of both low key lighting and high key lighting joined in a unique and specific way. This may also trigger the feel of confusion towards the audience as all characters in the scene have a low key lighting placed on them as well as parts of them and their props with high key lighting.

The most interesting sound technique used in most scenes of this film is that there is a sound motif wherein a built up crescendo comes in to signal when the main character hallucinates what could be a dream in reality as she fights to escape the mental institute. Asynchronous sound is one of the most unique and well used sound techniques in a thriller film and is particularly known to be used in Sucker punch. Asynchronous sound is basically a type of sound that is not in sync with whatever the actions taken place in the scene may be. In this case, the non diagetic sound in the scene is a calm classical music that has been used in the main characters hallucinogenic stage but contradicts the main characters actions as she fights and defeats the different antagonists in this film. This helps in creating a feel of suspense which helps recognise the thriller genre as it sets an aura of confusion for the audience and could also create a feel of disorientation. An interesting piece of diagetic sound used in the scene is the different sound effects such a shooting sounds and the sound of a knife or blade killing her opponents as the main character battles her way into defeating each antagonist in the film.