Case Study:

H eavely Creatures

Institutionalinform ation
Heavenly Creatures written by peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.
Directed by Peter Jackson.
Based on a true story - The notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case
in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Released In 1994.
Quote from a review: I was fooling myself if I thought Jackson was
going to make a bad movie . This is another piece of heart melting ,
intelligent movie making from the Kiwi genius and I'm sorry for
doubting Jackson for a moment.
The story is about two young female best friends who dont want to
be split apart, in fear this will happen to them by one of the
characters mother, they murder her.

Challenging Conventions
The director tries to challenge traditional conventions in thrillers by
having two females as the main characters, Juliet (blonde) and Pauline
(brunette). This is because many thrillers, especially in the patriarchal
period of time it was set, had strong male protagonists and characters
within it, For example The Usual Suspects and The Game which are
both thriller films set around the mid 90s. They often portrayed women
in a way which made them seem less powerful and objectified towards
men. Peter Jackson challenges these female archetypes by showing
Juliet and Pauline to be just as capable of killing and being psychotic as
any man in other thriller films, they are not shown to be damsels in
distress as many other women were on other thriller films. However
Jacksons still suits these characters for the thriller genre by having
them be slightly psychotic, criminals, obsessive, in a twisted
relationship- with each other and their mother and finally showing them
as ordinary people experiencing extraordinary events, thus increasing
suspense and audience empathy.

Challenging Conventions (2)

However there is also an element of innocence in the two girls as their costume isnt
traditional of their character types, slightly psychotic murderers, their dresses have
angelic soft colours used which create connotations of sweet and innocent young girls,
unlike murderous character types in thrillers. Also to reinforce the two girls specific
character types Juliet is wearing a lighter shade than Pauline as it suggests she is more
innocent than her, we see more emotions and signs of fear and regret in her, and more
anger in Pauline so she is wearing darker clothes. So when we see something dark is
happening at the hands of these two innocent looking girls it challenges the ultraheightend expectation generic convention of thrillers, although Is still conventional as it
shows moral corruption and paranoia, which is common of thrillers. Essex Boys is a
thriller film made in 2000, this film unlike Heavenly Creatures reinforces gender
stereotypes and archetypes often found within thrillers, most of the main characters
are male, so therefore along side its story it is representing women to be incapable and
not powerful enough to commit crimes, this is something Heavenly Creatures opposes.
Additionally Kill Bill is a more recent thriller film made in 2003, this similarly to
Heavenly Creatures challenges female archetypes by also having a strong, capable,
powerful and smart female protagonist.

Creating Suspense- G eneric of thrillers

Peter Jackson creates suspense in this scene of Heavenly Creatures by
his use of locations. Firstly the location starts of in the open and there's
attractive views, this is an unsuspecting place for a murder to take
place. However Pauline leads her mother along with Juliet behind her
into a more enclosed and isolated pathway surrounded by tall trees.
Alongside the reduction of ambient natural lighting as they move
deeper into the forest, this is suggesting the Pauline's mother is the
prey and the two girls are the predators, leading her into a small, dark
and isolated place in order to kill her, this makes the girls look more
conventionally psychotic. Also because the two girls are either side of
the mother, it is implying that she is trapped. This creates suspense
because as we move deeper into the forest with the girls we notice
these things and it creates anxiety that we suspect something dark will
happen.

Creating Suspense- G eneric of thrillers

Furthermore the director creates suspense by through his use
of camera shots and angles. To establish the peace and
tranquillity of the attractive view I just talked about he used a
wide tracking shot that shows the open location at the start.
When we get further into the forest pathway there's more close
ups to represent the claustrophobia of the location as we
cannot see the surroundings or any exits. The camera often
focuses on the girls walking in the mud as they get deeper, in
my opinion this represents the further they get in the forests
the less chance and choice they have of not murdering her,
they are becoming more stuck in their ability to turn around
and change their minds.

Creating suspense- G eneric of thrillers (2)

Moreover the close ups are used on the two girls faces to show their
emotions which are anxiety, nervousness and uncertainty, the audience
can see this so it creates suspense as they suspect something bad will
happen. There is also a low angle shot of the mother with Pauline behind
her, this makes Pauline look bigger therefore more powerful and the
mother more weak, therefore the audience suspect that the mother is
doomed and will not be able to survive this as she as we see her face at
first to be unsuspecting of the danger, which is conventional of thrillers.
Lastly there are many point of view shots so see characters perspective,
such as when Juliet reaches out we are put in the position of the beaten
mother. The audience start to think that she is reaching out to help the
mother, therefore feel a small moment of relief, but actually she is
taking the weapon to also beat up the mother, this keeps the audience
on the edge of their seats therefore is generic of thrillers.

Creating Suspense- G eneric of thrillers

Weapons are a conventional prop used within thrillers, and
other genres but hint towards thrillers as they are realistic and
not over exaggerated like in for example sci fi films. The props
of the brick in some tights and a purple jewel are
representative of the themes and story in the film. They make
the characters look juvenile and oblivious as young children
often play with jewels and make toys/costumes out of tights, so
they are reinforcing the girls young age. They contrast the
actions of the girls and act as a reminder to the audience if the
age of these girls, therefore the actions seem even more
shocking and terrifying to the audience so keeps on engaged
and on the edges of their seats- generic of thrillers.

Creating Suspense- G eneric of thrillers

Also their costume also make them look immature and juvenile as
their dresses are soft colours so we see them as more innocent and
unsuspecting of the crime they commit. Therefore when we start to
suspect something is not right in the forest, when the mother drops
the jewel, the audience start to question the actual innocence of
the girls, and see the costume as a fake front of the girls psychotic
behaviour. Similarly in Kill Bill ch 2 Tarantino tries to show the
fakery of American suburbia. So this creates suspense which is
conventional of thrillers. Additionally the close ups of the two girls
shoes look like little girls shoes, and they are getting muddy, so we
think of cheerful children playing in nature and having fun, so we
are even more unsuspecting of their capabilities, creating
suspense.

Creating Suspense G eneric of thrillers

Another way Peter Jackson creates suspense is through his use of the nondiegetic soundtrack, that connotes tranquillity, heaven and peacefulness through
the use of the harp and violin, to go with the open attractive space but carries on
a little as they walk down the muddy pathway. This music isnt generic of thrillers
however, when it fades away it suggest that the music was the calm before the
storm, that the time for peace and pleasantness is over, especially as when the
music played some of the scene was in slow motion, so emphasised this
peacefulness even more. However diegetic sound fades in more and non-diegetic
fades out, this could represent the reality the girls feel of they're are just about to
murder Pauline's mother and there's no going back. The diegetic sound also
becomes more dominant so we can hear the screams the mother makes, so its
more shocking and terrifying to the audience, and also hear the heavy breathing
and screams the two girls make so we know there emotions, of first of all
uncertainty and frightened, but then we hear their anger and frustration as
they're killing their mother, this adds anxiety for the audience as these
characters are unsuspecting of this crime.