The Life of David Gale
What thriller genre is it?
It is a political thriller dealing with the controversial topic of the death sentence.
It is a political thriller dealing with the controversial topic of the death sentence.
Brief outline of the story:
A man (David Gale) against capital punishment finds himself accused of the murdering of a fellow activist and is sent on death row.He then explains his story to a reported who then follows his life up until the time of his trial. The film is from his perspective and how events that he was accused for are reenacted showing the real truth of his innocence.
The opening
It opens the credits small lettering and white coloured causing tension and suspense.The use of no sound at the beginning works well to create an atmosphere for the audience.There is no music to start with but the sound of the wind in a remote desert area. The long shot creates suspense and that someone is watching the car.This makes the audience feel uneasy and curious as to where it is and what tone to expect for the rest of the film.The audience are made to ask questions when the women gets out of the car and starts to run e.g why is she running? what is she running from?who is she in the plot and were does she fit into the story.The music starts to build as she starts to run portraying she is panicked and desperate to get somewhere.The use of a pan from her feet to her head slowly lets the audience see her identity for the first time as before it was hidden by the the dark lighting.Cuts were used to the present to let us see who the women really is and how her character plays an important part in the narrative.
A man (David Gale) against capital punishment finds himself accused of the murdering of a fellow activist and is sent on death row.He then explains his story to a reported who then follows his life up until the time of his trial. The film is from his perspective and how events that he was accused for are reenacted showing the real truth of his innocence.
The opening
It opens the credits small lettering and white coloured causing tension and suspense.The use of no sound at the beginning works well to create an atmosphere for the audience.There is no music to start with but the sound of the wind in a remote desert area. The long shot creates suspense and that someone is watching the car.This makes the audience feel uneasy and curious as to where it is and what tone to expect for the rest of the film.The audience are made to ask questions when the women gets out of the car and starts to run e.g why is she running? what is she running from?who is she in the plot and were does she fit into the story.The music starts to build as she starts to run portraying she is panicked and desperate to get somewhere.The use of a pan from her feet to her head slowly lets the audience see her identity for the first time as before it was hidden by the the dark lighting.Cuts were used to the present to let us see who the women really is and how her character plays an important part in the narrative.
Clues given in the opening
The music sets the mood and creates tension for the audience so we have a hunch of what type of story it may be.
Main thriller conventions used were
Red herring were used to show the wrong lead dusty showing his relationship with Constance (murdered character) and how they made us think he was responsibly for her death.It challenges the audience to make there own perceptions of the character and who they think was responsible. flash forwards were used throughout the film as he was telling the reported events from the past but still keeping the with the present,to show David Gale re telling the events leading up to the trial.An example were this is used is when it goes back to when the allegations started of.He was a professor and slept with his student who accused him of rape, flashbacks were used to create suspense.Dramatic irony was also used to show this and the audience knowing that it wasn't rape and she consented to it.Pathetic fallacy was used to create a dark atmosphere e.g when they are driving through the town of Huntsville it is dark and makes us feel uneasy going into the unknown place for the audience and characters.It sets the scene of the murder story.
Red herring were used to show the wrong lead dusty showing his relationship with Constance (murdered character) and how they made us think he was responsibly for her death.It challenges the audience to make there own perceptions of the character and who they think was responsible. flash forwards were used throughout the film as he was telling the reported events from the past but still keeping the with the present,to show David Gale re telling the events leading up to the trial.An example were this is used is when it goes back to when the allegations started of.He was a professor and slept with his student who accused him of rape, flashbacks were used to create suspense.Dramatic irony was also used to show this and the audience knowing that it wasn't rape and she consented to it.Pathetic fallacy was used to create a dark atmosphere e.g when they are driving through the town of Huntsville it is dark and makes us feel uneasy going into the unknown place for the audience and characters.It sets the scene of the murder story.
Examples of codes that represented these conventions
The camera shots and angles were used to create a disjointed story. The first scene used long shots hiding her identity and not knowing who or why she was their. close ups were used to show us her character.The editing used longer takes and quick cuts between each of the characters.This was to see give us and in site into each of the characters reactions towards the murder and how they perceive the evidence e.g the two reporters.The music helped to create tension and a feeling of uneasiness.the scene that portrays this is when bitsie is waiting outside of the public toilet and the man in the car is watching her , this makes us feel anxious as both the audience and the character don't know who he is or why he is watching her.
Does it Have typical thriller conventions?
In my opinion I feel it has typical thriller conventions included in the film which create the atmosphere of fear,tension and suspense.The codes represents them well through the camera editing and music and use this to impact on the audience.
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