Phone Booth is a thriller directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Larry Cohen. It follows the sub genres of mystery and psychological thriller.There are two main characters within the first 40 minutes that i have analyse and indicate a clear protagonist and antagonist. We are introduced to the main character 'Stu' a New York publicist who is confident, intelligent and arrogant. These things are established in the opening minutes of the film. The plot revolves around a man in a phone booth who is on the phone to the intimidator who has him in his sniper rifle scope in one of the apartments above although this is not known to passers by. The cocky obnoxious protagonist draws sympathy from the audience as he is framed for killing a pimp who co-indecently wanted to use the phone booth. The protagonist has been committing adultery against his wife Pam and this seems to be why if any, reason he is held hostage in the booth.
As the police are called, it appears to them that he killed the pimp although as he is being held hostage he is unable to leave the booth. The enigma around the caller begins to increase as we do not know any information about him, or why he is holding him hostage. This shows how the film has followed the main convention of a psycholigical thriller. Stu confesses his bad sins to the crowd, telling his unpaid assistant, Adam, who looks up to Stu, not to become a publicist and admitting his 2,000 dollar watch is a fake, like himself.
The short shots adds to the high suspense of this psycholigical action thriller , and it successfully keeps the audience at the edge of their seats for the majority of the time. Also the anticipation of the protagonist getting caught is even more intriging as more and more you sympathise with the main character 'Stu'.
Like most thrillers there are many close up shot on the main character this is to convey there emotions. The twist at the end shows that like many thrillers this has changed antagonist as the shooter gets away.
Textual Analysis phone booth
Thriller Research - Sub Genres
Some of the sub genres that thrillers branch out to are as follows
• Action thriller: In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and crime films but these elements take a backseat to action. Some examples include the James Bond films and The Transporter.
Spy thriller (also a subgenre of spy fiction): In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. Examples include From Russia, with Love by Ian Fleming, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, and television series such as Mission: Impossible and 24 (the latter demonstrating a break from the norm by Robert Ludlum, as it is as much a psychological thriller as a spy thriller).
• Drama thriller: In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involve a great deal of character development along with plot twists. Some examples include The Illusionist and The Prestige.
• Crime thriller: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses are central ingredients. Some examples include Seven and Reservoir Dogs.
• Eco-thriller: In which the protagonist must avert or rectify an environmental or biological calamity, often in addition to dealing with the usual types of enemies or obstacles present in other thriller genres. This environmental component often forms a central message or theme of the story. Examples include Nicholas Evans's The Loop, C. George Muller's Echoes in the Blue, and Wilbur Smith's Elephant Song, all of which highlight real-life environmental issues. Futuristic eco-thrillers are of the science fiction genre that propose ideas that will or may occur. Some examples include Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy and Ian Irvine's Human Rites Trilogy.
• Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Some examples include Shadow of a Doubt and Blue Velvet.
• Religious thriller: In which the plot is closely connected to religious objects, institutions and questions. While suspense stories have always shown a significant affinity for religion and philosophical issues. Some examples include The Name of the Rose and The Da Vinci Code.
Our film fits into the action and crime thriller genre as there is violence and also criminal activity in our 90 minuite film.
2 Minute Scenario of Abduction
At the beginning of the scene a women is seen walking out of the college gates, it then cuts to her walking down a quite dimly lit street. A tall hooded black man is seen walking briskly behind her. She notices someone behind her as she turns to see a dark tall figure moving faster towards her direction. She starts to run in panic down the street as the man picks up pace and chases her down a dark alley. She hides behind a wall and breathes heavily. The hooded man appears in front of her and reaches into his jacket; she looks in horror as he pulls out a textbook and lifts down his hood. He smiles and tells her she dropped her book and as he leaves back down the alley she laughs and breathes a sigh of relief. Then a woman appears walking down the path she stops and asks Sophie for a lighter. She responds by reaching into her bag and giving her a lighter. As she hands the lighter over to the mysterious looking women she punches Sophie in the face as she lands flat on the floor. A car then suddenly stops at the entrance of the alley and a man jumps out and drags the now screaming Sophie into the backseat. The driver gives some money to the women who is now lighting a cigarette and the car speeds off into the distance.
Genre research - Roland Barthes theory on narratives
Narrative is a way in which you tell a story, but is different from a story in that the narrative is in the way that the story is related. When looking at narrative there are codes in which examine in order to find its meaning, these conventions are genre, character, form and time. Time is a convention when looking at narrative as for instance a persons life can be shown in a block of 2 hours. 
Roland Barthes was famous for unlocking the fabric of narrative structure. Roland Barthes describes a text as “a galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signifieds; it has no beginning; it is reversible; we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye can read, they are indeterminable...the systems of meaning can take over this absolutely plural text, but their number is never closed, based as it is on the infinity of language...” . In this passage he is describing texts as a quilt with different threads that when analyzing can be pulled apart. Barthes came up with the codes in which suspense can be created in your narrative.
Enigma is a code in a narrative where it creates mystery for instance in the 'Bourne' series jason Bourne wakes up with no re collection of his past this make a mystery surroundng him. this is an enigma as the audience would have questions on a text or a feedback.
Action is a code in a narrative where it is action upon action. This means for example somebody is holding a gun and is aiming at his opponent the audience are in suspense and creates tension to the outcome as to whether or not the shooter will kill his enemy or in fact he will be wounded himself.
Genre Research - Todorov's Theory
Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher who's theory entails five stages in which the narrative can pass through.
• A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
• A disruption of that order by an event
• A recognition that the disorder has occurred
• An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
• A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium
The theory basically means that the disequilibrium (the problem in the narrative) needs to be restored, e.g a kidnapping or revenge for a murder. But when the equilibrium is restored (happy ending) it is in someway different to the start of the story. Through the disequilibrium the characters or situations progress (or grow) in either confidence,physical ability, intellectually etc this process is called character transformation.
Genre Research - Thriller
Our 2 minute video is based around the genre of thriller.
Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains (antagonist) Thrillers can often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. Thrillers have been increasingly influenced by horror or psychological-horror and/or a monstrous element has become common to increase tension and suspense. A thriller can contain various sub genres including action, crime, spy and disaster thrillers. Notable thrillers such as Phone Booth and the Bourne Identity which was adapted into a movie starring Matt Damon which used many of the thriller conventions of the plot. Though its sequels, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, depart significantly from Robert Ludlum's storyline, the conspiracy-thriller genre is still well-preserved whilst still containing fast passed action.