Thorne: sleepyhead

"Sleepyhead is a nail-biting thriller following DI Tom Thorne's investigation into a mysterious serial killer. His first three victims ended up dead. His fourth was not so fortunate. Alison Willetts is unlucky to be alive. She has survived a stroke, deliberately induced by skilful manipulation of pressure points on the head and neck. She can see, hear and feel, she is aware of everything going on around her, but she is completely unable to move or communicate. It's called Locked-In Syndrome. In leaving Alison Willetts alive, the police believe the killer's made his first mistake.
D. I. Tom Thorne (David Morrissey) discovers the horrifying truth: it isn't Alison who is the mistake, it's the three women already dead and Thorne knows that they are unlikely to be the last. For the killer seems to be getting his kicks out of toying with Thorne as much as he is pursuing his sick fantasy. Thorne must find a man whose agenda is terrifyingly unique, and Alison, the one person who holds the key to the killer's identity, is unable to tell anybody.
Scaredy Cat will see David Morrissey, Eddie Marsan and Aidan Gillen reprising their roles in an adaptation of Billingham's second DI Tom Thorne thriller, where killing becomes a team sport. The film depicts a vicious, calculated murder. The killer selected his victim at Euston station, followed her home on the tube, and strangled her to death in front of her child. At the same time, killed in the same way, a second body is discovered at the back of King's Cross station. It is a grisly coincidence that eerily echoes the murder of two other women, stabbed to death months before on the same day. Thorne discovers that this is not a single serial killer he's up against, but two of them."

Sky 1's review on Thorne; Sleepyhead

D.I Tom Thorne; a flawed hero:

Tom Thorne is a flawed hero, or arguably a loved villain as he shoots a man who killed his three daughters, making it look like suicide. No one found out that he did this until the last episode where the murderer Thorne was investigating, wrote in blood of his victim; 'How did it feel when you killed him Tom?'. The effect of giving a flawed hero (however, not to this extent) is giving the audience a character in which they can relate to. It's easy for a producer to feed the audience a hero which never does wrong, however it takes more skill, and is much more gripping for the people watching to have a character which they all know isn't perfect. The fact that he isn't perfect makes him seem more realistic as everyone- no matter how good they may seem- have faults. The fact that he is also in the police gives a more complicated, darker feel to the series which could arguably be compared to the series of 'Life on Mars' and 'Ashes to Ashes' with character Tom Thorne much resembling the flawed hero Gene Hunt.

Stills from the series:

Low angled shot of Tom Thorne making him seem important as the audience are 'looking up to him' as the hero of the shot. This still is using the rule of thirds directly drawing the audience's attention to him as the main focus of the shot.

The lighting is ambient using the sun to light the shot, giving an effect of it being natural and the scene not 'set up'. The location however, is very typical of Thriller films or television series as it is run-down and seemingly isolated with the corrugated iron acting as a wall which plays on the audience's fear of being trapped inside, allowing them to feel involved and empathise with the character. Claustrophobia is also playing on making the audience feel uncomfortable as they are unaware of who may be behind the camera and it gives them a fear of not being able to run away and escape. The location is also run down with the graffiti and scrap bits of iron falling away, this gives the effect of there having been crime before which makes the audience think it could happen again.

Another still from the series showing Thorne inside a lift, another generic convention of Thrillers. The camera is once again low-angled making him seem important. Although the camera is a medium shot of his waist upwards, he seems much smaller in this shot, making the audience aware that he is more vunerable as he is entirely trapped inside the lift. The lighting is non ambient meaning that it has been set up specifically for the scene giving the more spotlight effect over Thorne's head, also casting the lines across the metal of the walls of the lift, giving a scene of it being like a nightmare. It is chiaroscuro lighting which, in contrast to the other still, is giving a more un-realistic sense to the shot, making it feel more lke a nightmare than an normal situation. Lifts are also often used in Thrillers with the extremely small spaces and being trapped, making the audience's heart race.

Female Police Officer hiding behind the door. The lighting is non ambient in order to highlight half of her face and give the door an unrealistic looking colour also casting high contrast shadows. The lighting also gives the feel of a nightmare or as if she is 'opening the door to hell'.
Once again this is playing on the fear of being trapped, as she clearly is, yet also using the door for protection.