Thursday 24 December 2009

THRILLER ANALYSIS - Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) Psychological Thriller

1. What is revealed to the audience?
Very little - a man's face is seen in extreme close up (just his eyes are revealed to the audience), and a New York street with lots of steam/smoke obscuring the view, followed by a blurry shot of another street at night through a windscreen.
2. What is conventional?
- Titles: Starting a dark red and lightening to yellow
- The main character is introduced, although we know little about him
- Editing: Straight cut editing is used predominately throughout the opening
- Camera: Mainly still shots, one tilt used right at the start to reveal to the audience that a taxi is being driven
3. What is unconventional?
- Sound: juxtaposition of slow, soft jazz and tense, orchestral music, neither of which are that conventional to the thriller genre.
- No diegetic sound, or indeed sound at all except for the music
4. How has it inspired me?
I like the way that there is no dialogue, leaving lots of questions unanswered in the audiences mind, and also the use of very few shots, which all last for quite a long time. Also, the music used shows to me that typically 'thriller' music doesn't always have to be used.

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