Wallace and Gromit - A Close Shave - Jess D'Alvarez

Most people would not class Wallace and Gromit - A Close Shave as a thriller, however in this short film there are many aspects which make it a thriller. But what is a thriller? A thriller is a suspenseful story, play or movie.

•In the opening of this short film suspense is created by dark lighting and a rather scary prop, which happens to be a cheese knife.
•Urban setting. I think this because there is a lot of traffic noise coming from outside and the noise of a lorry driving past the house, which happens to make the house shake along with the contents of the home.
•This is then when the knife (picture below) falls from the bedside cabinet and into the floorboards.
•Movements of this knife, from the bedside cabinet to the floorboards, and the power at which the knife stuck into the floorboards makes the knife, even though it is a cheese knife, seem like more of a dangerous weapon and creates suspense for the audience as they may start to create a story in their heads. The sound effects that are used for the movement of the knife, make it seem more terrifying.

The lighting in this is very interesting because it is very dark, all apart from one bit, which seems to illuminate the knife. I think that the bit of lighting that is behind the titles, is meant to be that of the moon, which to me makes the opening sequence creepier and more like a thriller because when I think of moonlight I instantly think of werewolves, which I link to thrillers.





Interesting Shots:

I think the low angle was used to make Preston seem more scary and intimidating. The use of clothing, the collar Preston is wearing, shows that he is not an innocent and 'normal' dog because the spikes seem to be portrayed as something harmful, therefore portraying Preston to be harmful or 'evil'.





This shot is also a slightly low angle and makes Preston look bigger and scarier than in the previous photo. It is dark behind Preston which makes Preston stand out. The light shining on Preston also makes him stand out more. This shot is a mid close up and clearly shows the facial expression and body language of Preston. This shot is used to indicate that he is a somewhat evil.




I particularly like this shot as it shows the expression on both characters faces very well. This shot is vital in order for the audience to understand how the two characters are feeling at this particular time. There is a slight glow on both of the characters which shows that there might be a source of natural lighting, such as the moon, however because this is an animation we know that it is not natural lighting, but from this we can tell that this shot is at night.



This shot is a long shot at eye level. From this shot alone you can tell that Gromit is in some kind of solitary confinement because everything is very minimal. This shot shows Gromit's body language and facial expression very clearly and from this shot you can see that Gromit is somewhat sad. Restricted narrative is used in this shot because we, the audience, cannot see what package Gromit is holding, therefore it creates tension and intrigue.