Heavenly Creatures

Heavenly Creatures is based upon the true story of two young girls, Pauline and Juliet, who plot to murder Pauline's mother after she tries to end the two girls friendship. Throughout the finale scenes we see many close up shots of clocks and watches, this is to show the audience the importance of time and the detail that the two girls have put into their plan. The use of time also leads to the idea of suspense within the scene, the audience know what is going to happen, this leads to the generic conventions of thrillers, where suspense leads the narrative. Another reason for clocks to be constantly shot is that is links to the police asking suspects where they were at the time of a murder, this therefore shows the audience that the crime is about to take place and that the girls will go through with there plotting.

When the two girls and their mother go for a walk the we see that the shot is far from that of classic thrillers like reservoir dogs, where the location (a damp dreary warehouse) links to the personality and deviant actions of the characters. Instead the shot juxtaposes the idea of a lively walk in the wildlife with the gruesome death of Pauline's mother.
Another reason behind the location of the murder is that the audience do not expect the murder to take place, this therefore creates suspense for the audience because they wonder whether or not the mother will be murdered. The two girls and the mother walk down a very tight pathway into the wildlife, this pathway shows the audience that the mother is walking into the unknown. This relates back to the enigma surrounding the possibility of murder.

When the three women are walking down the pathway the mother is in the middle, this shows the audience that she is in the middle of their plan and also that she is the centre of their problems. Throughout their walk the characters feet are constantly shot, this links to the journey there lives are taking and the idea that it is them moving forwards that has brought this tragedy into their lives. The walk is shot mainly in slow motion, this leaves the characters feeling dizzy and creates a quite dreamy atmosphere, this links back to the idea that the two girls are fulfilling there dreams of murder.
The lighting within this scene is ambient lighting, this is because the light is coming from behind the characters, this idea that the light is behind them links to the idea that they are walking to far into there plot. The lighting also creates a halo behind their heads, this shows the characters purity because they have no yet committed their crime, once the two girls have murdered their mother their halos cease to exist.
When the mother decides to stop walking the scene stops being in slow motion, this links to the decisions they are about to quickly make. Both Juliet and Pauline show there hands held tightly, this links to the idea that they are nervous. The mother, tells the two girls that they should go back up the path before the go to far. This not only shows that the mother is unaware of the situation but also that the two girls have already taken her two far and that they must complete there journey/dream.