The butterfly effect

The opening scene in this thriller is very conventional because the lightning is dark and makes us feel tensed
 because we can only see the person, and we don’t know what is going to happen. There is a light from the windows and there are blinds on them, so the light reflects from the blinds, creating a pattern which creates distortion because we don’t know what he is doing or what he looks like, and the shadow effect from the blinds makes this very mysterious moment.

In this scene, there is also a Non- diegetic sound  “if I can go at the beginning to all of this then I could of save her”, typical, and very conventional, because it reveals that there is a quest- and that perhaps it is going to take us back to the beginning, so we know who it meant to save, which sort of gives out the plot quite a bit so we know what to expect. Also this is quite a dramatic statement, which shows that there is probably some dramatic scenes in this thriller, perhaps of someone dying.

There has also been Mise-en-scene used as he moved the sofa so nobody can get onto him, which makes the audience think that there is something wrong with him because he acts frightened. He is wearing a gown, which makes us think that he is a patient in from the hospital. This is conventional before it gives a sense of mysteriousness as we wonder what he is doing there and why he is wearing that and what he is scared of.

 Then, as predicted, the story takes us to the past "13 years ago", to be precise. This is a dissolve form of editing and was used here to create a sense of time, as it dissolves slowly, so it mirrors the duration that it took, which is conventional because in thrillers, they often change from time to time, to create a sense of understanding.

 The setting itself, 13 years ago is a very nice looking place, quite peaceful and green, which indicates that it is quite relaxing. It works well though because it gives us a sense of reality, so we can be drawn in more in the film like a normal starting life but it is very unconventional for a thriller, because it is the opposite to what we have expected it. This however reveals that the place itself is a bit too perfect for a thriller which uncovers the mysteriousness.

There are representations of gender when we get introduced to Evan;s mum; Evan’s mum is a mechanic, which shows that she is used to doing manly things because she is alone with her son, so we now know, that the dad is not around.

 Then plot then reveals that Evan's dad is in hospital and he can’t come out because it Is dangerous, shows that the dad could have some mental problems so he has to stay locked up.

We get to see Evan's drawing after the headmaster expressed her concern to his mother. The drawing represents death, as it is a very brutal image of what he sees tat that particular moment in his head., yet it is mysterious because he doesn't remember any of that. Evan can’t remember doing the drawing, which must be very frightening for him and his mother because this would mean that Evan is not save to leave alone if he cant remember things a bit like his father. I think that it is conventional because it shows the mystery more clearly and shows that there is something that needs to be solved. Also the sound changes with the drawing,  it changes into a slower music but makes us feel more tensed, which also shows that Evan's mum is worried because she now thinks that he is going to be just like his father, which shows the sense of hidden truths as she doesn't tell anyone else.

 Close up of Evan holding a knife, which indicates that he was having a moment when he couldn't remember again. The non diagetic music again makes us jump, as soon as we see this shot to make the situation sound more serious and dramatic and therefore it is conventional. It was a close up shot so we can see his full body and filling up the entire shot so the points of interest are on the knife and his face. 

A journal in this thriller is there to record what Evan can remember, so he can go back to it just in case he loses his memory.  The diary at that point has become a very important prop because just in case Evan cant remember something, he can just go back to his notes and hopefully it would help him to remember more. 

 Another important setting in this thriller is the institute. His mum takes him to do institute at night because she panics when she finds out about her son’s drawing. She is worried because she has seen it before with her husband. However we can see their trust between them, because he is not asking he any doubtful questions.

 Then there is a scene of Tommy and Kayleighs dad, is looking after Evan,and we can see the high shot of him, which reveals that their dad is more dominant than Evan's mum, almost s if he had some sort of powers over. This is also a over the shoulder shot so we can see the fathers expressions on his face, which looks quite nice and convincing at the moment.

Afterwards, we get to see a very creepy close up shot, of the dad going down to Evan’s level, persuading him to keep their filming in secret, which shows that there is something bad going on there because of the way he was talking to Evan, persuading him to keep this in secret shows his desperation and then we see why when Evan blanked out and woke up standing naked and tied up next to Kayleigh.

On the visit at the institute, Evan's  father has blanked out and tried to strangle Evan because he knows that he is going to be the same like him. But when they killed his dad, we now don’t know what it was that his dad was trying to say. We get a high angle shot of the room, to show that there is only one exits to escape which makes us feel tensed because he hasn't got anywhere to run to. Medium shot that shows that he is sitting in the chair in the hospital and almost gets lost in the room which shows the innocence of Evan and that he might be just a bit too young to meet his father. The low angle shot- shows his angry face when he is strangling his own son, this shot came from a jump- cut editing, which has served the purpose of making us jump literally. This is conventional because thrillers tend to try and make us jump whilst watching because it creates tenseness and makes us feel on edge. When they have killed him, the music has stopped very suddenly to imply that this is the end, and that e will never get to know the answers because to some extent, his father could help him.