For my homework, and for preparation for the thriller project, I watched the thriller, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’.

The story line is that an FBI agent, named Clarice Starling, is going to help find a missing woman to try and save her from a serial killer who is pursuing her. This serial killer in particular kills and then skins his victims. Clarice, as research to get to grips with the twisted mind of the killer, talks to another psychopath, Hannibal Lecter, who once was a respected psychiatrist as she is but then things went downhill.  After speaking to Lecter, she realises that the serial killer will be crafty and everything with him will be a psychological game meaning she will often have to read between the lines he provides, to get to the bottom of the mystery, making her job all that much harder. However, in the end, Clarice graduates from the FBI academy after cracking the case which was that a man called Buffalo Bill was behind it all along.

Some elements that I specifically expect to see in a thriller are:

• A kidnapping scene – these are often placed in thriller films to create a problem and to add some tension but also fear, for the lives of the children or the person. However, they could also show the bravery of the Protagonist who will inevitably save them.
• A protagonist and an equally opposite antagonist- although seemingly obvious, a heroic protagonist and a completely opposite evil antagonist are essential to a thriller movie as they bounce off of each other and always clash on view points, ultimately creating rivalry and therefore bringing the excitement and tension to the movie.
• Vast settings and Low Key lighting- These two aspects are often within a thriller film, the Vast settings creating a sense of isolation to the characters, which builds up the mystery, there’s no one around so anything could happen. The dull, low-key lighting also helping to create this mysterious and dark mood.