A movie that I have chosen to research in the thriller genre is the 2014 film, Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. This movie is about a man who pursues a new career as a cameraman, and goes out at night to capture the most grueling and shocking crimes and accidents, when he is then noticed by struggling new director. She believes his desire and insane methods to get the 'money shot' will help to raise her station's ratings. This movie also has pretty good reviews, thus why I decided to check it out.
This film uses a lot of close-ups, especially on Lou Bloom, the main character, to show his emotion, or rather, lack of it. There are also many tracking shots, which are used to follow Bloom when he is filming something, which I believe is cleverly used to show us kind of what he's doing.
Something unique and interesting that this film does is film over-the-shoulder shots, but not during conversations. They're used whenever Lou is filming something. In these shots, everything is blurred except for what is on the camera's screen. This way they are showing us exactly how Lou is viewing what's going on, 'through a lens'. Another majority of shots in this movie are from Lou's height or eye-level, again to show us his perspective. The camera is also quite shaky, but only when Lou is filming, which I found interesting.
The costumes are very basic in this movie. Lou wears rather boring clothing, but wears dark colored clothes at night when he films. Nina and other characters wear professional clothing. The criminals wear black, and there are also cops wearing police uniforms. The lighting is mostly dark, considering that most of the scenes take place during the night. The acting, especially from Jake Gyllenhaal, is great all around. You can tell the actors are talented and serious about their roles. Jake Gyllenhaal's acting is perfect at showing just how insane Lou is. Not much makeup is used in this movie except for blood. I think the most important props in this film is Lou's camera and police scanner, which are instrumental in his filming career. Other props are everyday items you'd see in around a city. The settings are mostly at night on the streets of L.A., however one setting really stands out to me. This setting is Lou's apartment, and it's very bland and dimly lit, to also show just how emotionally bland Lou is to society and people.
Most of the sounds in the movie are diegetic, which include the sounds of cars crashing, police sirens, and gun shots. Lots of dialogue is used in this film. The score in this film is very eery and unnerving.
The editing in this film isn't very intense. Jump cuts are used often, especially to go from day time to night time. Shot reverse shots are also used during dialogues between characters.
The movie uses a lot of elements of the thriller genre. This includes a lot of suspense, especially when Lou is filming and we want to see what he's gonna do or what he's going to film. This movie also makes you think about Lou and the morality of his actions. It makes you fear what he might do next. You could definitely see him being a psychotic movie villain. I love the dark and mysterious tone of the movie as well. It feels as if it's something I shouldn't be watching, which draws me in even more.
However, one thing I didn't like was how brutal some of the scenes were, but it did help to create that unnerving tone.
Overall, I enjoy this film a lot, and it's one of the films that contributes to my love for the thriller genre.
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