Thriller - The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects
Director: Byran Singer, (1995)

We watched The Usual Suspects, which starred Kevin Spacey, who has been in another thriller: Seven. It gave me an insight into thrillers more and the types of conventions that are needed within a thriller.

The music within the film was very mysterious and it had very low notes, giving a sense of mystery throughout. It sounded as if it was piano or violin or a mix of both. It certainly added a good effect to the film.

The lighting was very dark, with dark colours being used. Often it was set at night, adding an element of danger. A good use of lighting was at the beginning of the film, when you could never quite see the face of the villain and he wasn't revealed properly until the end. This was a theme I noticed throughout the film as everything is revealed to the audience in small pieces of information at a time, making the audience want to keep watching to get answers. I believe that this was key within the film, to keep the audience guessing with a narrative enigma

Over the shoulder shots and close-ups were used for really intense moments within the film, and there were mainly straight cuts. There was also a point-of-view shot of the main character when he was on the docks.

There are themes of danger, murder and crime, as well as a serious nature.

There are protagonists and antagonists, in this case the protagonists are the police force and the form of law, and the antagonists are the criminals. There is the threat and fear of a person, the main antagonist, who o-one is sure is real, and along with that, comes the threat and fear of loosing loved ones, family and their own lives as demonstrated within the film, the antagonist, while still a mystery, can get into their lives easily. This creates enormous suspense and mystery over the antagonist and his true identity.