Diving Deeper Into the Thriller Genre

 After researching the similarities and differences between horror and thriller conventions and choosing to go in the direction of a thriller, I decided to look further into the thriller genre and look at the conventions used in them to create a suspenseful atmosphere. Since we intend to do more of a psychological thriller, I decided to look at a very popular film that fits into this category,  Split (2016), a psychological thriller about three girls who have been kidnapped by a man with 23 distinct personalities, and the whole film is them trying to escape. I am going to be looking at the mise en scene, sound, editing and cinematography of the scene and what they convey, and look for how they tie into the overall conventions and purpose of a typical thriller movie.

 One thing I noted from the text being shown on the opening credits is something minor but still worthy of recognizing, the transitioning of the text. The text multiplies and then comes back together as it transitions, almost looking like a glitch. This can confuse the viewer and builds suspense as it is jarring and confusing and pairing it with the strange audio track that accompanies the entire title sequence, it creates a feeling of urgency.

 Immediately when the first scene started, I realized that the mise en scene was worth taking note of. There is dim, lowkey lighting which immediately makes it clear that this is not a place where you would want to be and it strikes fear into the audience. The setting looks to be some kind of basement or facility as we see industrial looking pipes on the ceiling and abnormal wall lights with a long hallway. The whole mood was set in this scene, as the audience has now been presented with the creepiness of the location and it has become apparent that this place could be dangerous.

The mise en scene and sound of this scene already suggested the dark nature of this scene, but the cinematography used in these two scenes confirms that what is going on is certainly something sinister. The first close up shows her with her eyes closed in a daze, most likely unaware of whatever is going on. Then in between it flashes to more credits, and then cuts back to the second scene, where she has her eyes open wide, looking confused and shocked, as she is realizing she is not familiar with the location she is in and she does not know why she is being rolled down this mysterious hallway. Another thing I noticed was the awkward angle this close up was shown at, as it is looking up onto her face instead of directly on it, making the audience feel awkward and uncomfortable, similar to how she is feeling.

This last scene keeps flashing repeatedly in between credits, and it is quite interesting. It is a long shot of the girl laying down with the man standing over her positioning her onto the bed, however, it is blurry and appears to be shown through a small crevice. This confuses the audience and builds intensity, as the audience can not tell what is going on, but are wondering why he is doing what he is doing, and it makes it feel like they are hiding from the man as the camera is shown from such a discrete place. This directly correlates with the purpose of a thriller movie as discussed in the last post, as it relies heavily on mystery and leaving the audience trying to figure out what is going on.

 Overall, the use of sound, mise en scene, editing and cinematography in this title sequence do a good job accomplishing the intended purpose of a thriller movie. The scenes appear more and more ominous and strange as the title sequence progresses, and the faced rhythm of the editing paired with the jarring soundtrack build suspense and confusion in those watching, and in the end the audience is left wondering what is happening to this girl and what the man is doing, worried that it is something sinister.

Split (2016) Title Sequence