Thriller film analysis

We analyzed how the micro elements are used to create meaning and how they represent the Thriller genre in this clip from the action thriller The Transporter (2002)



Sound:
At the beginning of the clip the music is a bass beat punctuated by burglar alarms. This creates tension which is a convention of thriller films. The driver's voice is also contrapuntal in comparison with the music as his calm, collected tone does not reflect the urgency of the non-diagetic sound. Hip hop style music is used to make the driver seem casual about his manic driving, which makes the audience like him more and give him a higher status. The higher status alpha male stereotype, emphasised by the shrieking male passengers, shows the male stereotype
which is common in Thriller films. As the climax of the car chase approaches the music builds and then cuts out completely as the car is driven over the side of a bridge. This adds tension and then impact to the action. This method of impressing the audience with stunts is an often used convention of Thriller films.

Mise-en-Scene
The clips starts with four men wearing black masks made to disguise their identities, which suggests (in line with the sound used) that they have recently committed a robbery. They also have guns, which connotes a criminal theme. The black BMW follows this theme, which is very common in thriller films, which is evidential by the other BMW 7-Series was used in the car chase of "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), a very successful James Bond film of the same genre. The setting is in Nice, which is foreign to the main English-speaking audience, which follows the convention of a foreign setting for Thriller films. There is a great amount of movement and car stunts in the clip, which gives a sense of tension and excitement to the car chase, another convention of thriller films. The main character, Frank Martin, wears a black suit and drives a black car, which, stereotypically, would connote a dark character, he in fact contrasts this image and we start to like his character through dialogue and his driving 'skills'. The large amount of car crashes near the end are stereotypical of any car chase, and thriller films.

Camera angle/ movements
The clip contains a lot of cuts during the driving sequences, this is used to speed up the action and make the cars look like they are going fast. this is also reinforced by the cuts to the dashboard of the BMW when it shows how fast the car is supposed to be going. At the start of the clip when the burglars are telling "Frank" to drive the car. During the scene whilst the burglar is talking it show Frank in the over the shoulder shot, and whilst Frank is talking, it only shows him, this shows that he is in the position of power which refers to the alpha male stereotype mentioned earlier. Also there is a tracking shot of the car this shows that the car contain the main character. also during the driving scenes it cut to inside of the car to show the specific movements like changing gears, or turning the steering wheel.