Dietter

Azelle Dietter
Mr. Furman
October 27, 2016
Pd. 4 AICE Media Studies
Michael Jacksons Thriller Analysis
Michael Jacksons thriller video is an iconic short film and music video. Known for his
elaborate dance moves and vocals, the King of Pop Michael Jackson was sure to make it a hit
video when he released in 1983. This film like most in its time, include villains and heroes,
although at the end the audience is drawn to believe that there is no hero at all. During the
introduction of the music video we see Thriller written in a horror like font, the color is a blood
red and the style of writing is spooky, this indicates to the audience the theme of the video is
horror.
During the intro, we see the Protagonist (Michael Jackson) with a young girl seated in a car in an
isolated woodland area. They are wearing costumes with bright colors, the Protagonist wears a
bright orange baseball jacket, with a patchwork giant M stitched on to the right side of his
jacket which symbolizes Michael to convey the importance of Michael Jackson the
Protagonist. Later we are informed the female character is the Protagonists Girlfriend. The
Girlfriend character wears a bright pink sweatshirt, with a long line purple skater skirt. The
costumes in this scene were used to represent 1950s to the 1960s fashion.
The lighting is dull and foggy which conveys a sense of mystery and fear creating
curiosity in the audience. During this scene, we see a medium shot of black and grey clouds

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gliding past and revealing the full moon, throughout this shot we hear eerie, sharp sound effects
to reinstate the fear into the audience. Following this shot we are shown the Protagonist
transform into a werewolf after the full moon is revealed. The girlfriends reaction to the
transformation of the protagonist is shot in a medium close up, close up shots are used to provide
the audience with a more detailed image of the girlfriends fear and emotions. This is a reference
to An American Werewolf in London directed by John Landis. The fast transition of
atmosphere from calm and romantic to horror and fear is used to shock the audience.
In the next scene, it is revealed that Michael Jackson and the young woman are in a dimly
lit movie theater viewing the previous scene as a movie, which depicts the idea that the
Protagonist is of high importance. The protagonist wears a bright red, leather jacket the use of
red signifies danger which is a convention of horror taken from the genre. The leather jacket has
shoulder pads which in the 1980s was a huge fashion statement.
We see the Protagonist surrounded by people sat in the overcrowded movie theater,
screaming, covering their faces, it is made clear to the audience they are frightened of the movie
theyre viewing; however, the Protagonist is portrayed to the audience as being happy and
blissful, he sits laughing as the young lady seated with him latches on to his arm, covering her
face with fear. This indicates to the audience there is something strange and unusually fearful
about the protagonist.
In the next scene, we are shown a pan shot of the outside of the Movie Theater, the words
Vincent Price and Thriller are written across the Theater headline. The name Vincent Price is
a reference to Vincent Price being highly well known as a prolific actor of horror films. It also
references Vincent Price playing the voice over in the music video. This conveys the theme of
horror and reinstates the importance and popularity of the music video to the audience.

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The outside of the theater is in a city suburb; the lighting is dismal and the atmosphere of
the scene is ghostly. During this scene, we hear the intro of the song begin, we see the
protagonist conversing with the young lady character. Suddenly, he continues conversing in song
as both characters walk through the isolated, foggy street. The Protagonist mimics his singing
through dance movements in a comical musical style fashion.
We are shown a medium long shot of an extremely foggy, dismal graveyard, during this
shot the audio soundtrack is instrumental and we hear a spooky narrator voice over chanting a
fearful riddle as zombies slowly crawl and dig out of the graves. Zombie characters are used to
depict the horror theme as zombies are a convention of horror genre. The costumes of the zombie
characters are disheveled and worn. There is a high use of special effects hair and makeup to
make the zombie characters appear realistically fearful to the audience. The use of sound effects
such as a creaking door, scratching, fumbling and crunching restores and heightens the fear into
the audience.
During the next scene, we see the zombie characters stumbling, fumbling and dragging
themselves through the isolated street. viewing the zombies freely wander through a city suburb
location will convey a realistic fear into the audience. We are shown a medium long shot of the
protagonist and the young lady character surrounded by the zombie characters, we see the
protagonist hesitate in fear as the zombies approach them closer. During this shot the sound track
stops and the music video returns to a narrative, film like theme, all we hear is the sound of the
zombies fumbling, stumbling and heavy breathing. The sense of silence and isolation reinstates
the fear into the audience. Suddenly, we see a 360 pan of the protagonist and the young lady
character to create a disoriented, distressed effect. We then see an eye line shot of the young lady
character staring at the protagonist, the close up shot of the protagonist reveals him appearing to

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have transformed into a zombie, as he glares into the camera we hear a sharp, eerie, shocking
sound.
The music sound track begins again and the protagonist begins to dance along with the
zombies in synergy we see them performing a dance routine that has impacted pop culture.
During the last shot, we see the young lady character wake up on a sofa in a well-lit
home, the protagonist assures her that she was only having a nightmare, however as they leave
we see the protagonist turn to the camera and the camera zooms into his face as his eyes light up
bright yellow, with a fearful smile on his face as we hear a spooky male laugh, this shot leaves
the audience with one last shocking fear.