1. Narrative conventions
Crime
Ransoms
- Ransoms are when someone is held against their will, with their release
offered upon the completion of certain conditions.
- Films which use Ransoms are
- Ransom
While multi-millionaire Tom Mullen and his wife Kate attend a science
fair, their son Sean is kidnapped. Tom and Kate receive an e-mail from the
kidnappers demanding $2,000,000.
- The taking of Pelham One Two Three
Armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers.
- Buffalo ‘66
After being released from prison, Billy is set to visit his parents with his
wife, who he does not actually have. This provokes Billy to act out, as he
kidnaps a girl and forces her to act as his wife for the visit.
Captivities
- Captivities are when people are held against their will.
- Films which use captivities are
- Captivity
A man and a woman awaken to find themselves trapped in a cellar.
- Room
A young boy is raised within the confines of a small shed.
- Taken
A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to
save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to
Paris.
Heists
- A heist is when a character/characters organise a robbery.
- Films which use heists are
- Reservoir Dogs
After a simple jewelry heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals
begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.
- Inception
A thief, who steals corporate secrets through use of dream-sharing
technology, is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a
CEO.
- Time Bandits
A young boy accidentally joins a band of time traveling dwarves as they
jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
2. Revenge
- Revenge is when a character/group inflict pain/suffering upon another
character in retaliation for their actions.
- Films which use revenge are
- Taken 2
In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken
hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his
daughter.
- Kill Bill
The Bride wakens from a four-year coma. The child she carried in her
womb is gone. Now she must wreak vengeance on the team of assassins
who betrayed her - a team she was once part of.
- Memento
A man juggles searching for his wife's murderer and keeping his short-
term memory loss from being an obstacle.
Kidnappings
- Kidnapping is when a character is taken against their will
- Films that use kidnappings are
- V for Vendetta
In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the
alias of "V", plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman.
- Jason Bourne
The CIA's most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to
uncover more explosive truths about his past.
- Split
Kevin, a man with at least 23 different personalities, is compelled to
abduct three teenage girls. As they are held captive, a final personality -
"The Beast" - begins to materialize.
Mystery
Investigations
- An investigation is when a character examines/researches an
event/person.
- Films which use investigations are
- V for Vendetta
In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the
alias of "V", plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman.
- Jason Bourne
The CIA's most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to
uncover more explosive truths about his past.
- Spectre
A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a
sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret
service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible
truth behind SPECTRE.
3. ‘Whodunit’ technique
- The ‘whodunit’ technique is where the film doesn’t reveal the antagonist
until the end if at all.
- Films that use the ‘whodunit’ technique are
- Identity
Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain-storm, ten
strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that
they're being killed off one by one.
- I know what you did last summer
After a nasty accident, four friends begin to drift apart. One year later Julie
James gets a anonymous message and then a slicker wearing, hook
wielding killer begins to rip apart her life.
- My bloody valentine
Tom returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's
night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a
homecoming, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders,
and it seems like his old flame is the only one that believes he's innocent.
Psychological
Films that use death traps are
- Saw
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got
there or why, and soon discover they are pawns in a deadly game
perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
- Bombmeister
Interactive movie about a mad bomber dressed in clown costume, who
threatens the city. A special unit arrives at the house where he's hiding,
but almost everything is booby-trapped with explosives.
4. - Darkroom – The Partnership
As part of a strange partnership, an old man lures travelers to an old
abandoned funhouse
Films that use stalking are
- Cape Fear
A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year
sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.
- Blackway
An ex-logger comes to the aid of a woman who returns to her hometown
in the Pacific Northwest and finds herself harassed and stalked by a
former cop turned crime lord.
- Fatal attraction
A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that
lover begins to stalk him and his family.
Films that use horror of personality are
- Psycho
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes
on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the
domination of his mother.
- What ever happened to baby Jane?
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying
Hollywood mansion.
- 6 souls
A female forensic psychiatrist discovers that all of one of her patient's
multiple personalities are murder victims. She will have to find out what's
happening before her time is finished.
Films that use mind games are
- Saw
Two strangers awaken in a room with no recollection of how they got
there or why, and soon discover they are pawns in a deadly game
perpetrated by a notorious serial killer.
- The Game
Nicholas Van Orton is a very wealthy San Francisco banker, but he is an
absolute loner, even spending his birthday alone. In the year of his 48th
birthday (the age his father committed suicide) his brother Conrad, who
has gone long ago and surrendered to addictions of all kinds, suddenly
returns and gives Nicholas a card giving him entry to unusual
entertainment provided by something called Consumer Recreation
Services (CRS). Giving in to curiosity, Nicholas visits CRS and all kinds of
weird and bad things start to happen to him.
- Shutter island
In 1954, a U.S. marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderess
who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.
5. Films that use obsession are
- Obsessed
A successful asset manager, who has just received a huge promotion, is
blissfully happy in his career and in his marriage. But when a temp
worker starts stalking him, all the things he's worked so hard for are
placed in jeopardy.
- Misery
After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he
comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a
nightmare of captivity and abuse.
- American Beauty
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming
infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Films that use psychological themes are
- Take shelter
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father
questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from
himself.
- Fight club
An insomniac office worker, looking for a way to change his life, crosses
paths with a devil-may-care soap maker, forming an underground fight
club that evolves into something much, much more.
- The cable guy
A lonely and disturbed cable guy raised on television just wants a new
friend, but his target, a designer, rejects him, with bad consequences.
