THRILLER

1. THRILLER

2. What is Thriller? • Thriller is a type of film genre which is used to create and eerie atmosphere for the audience watching. The word Thriller came form how the films caused a thrill for the viewer while they watched. • There are many sub-genres to thrillers. This is when two different genres of film come together to make a new genre of film. Some thriller ones include: Horror, Stalker (Psycho), Serial killer (Se7en), Eco/Disaster, Psychological ( The Sixth Sense), Sci-fi, Spy, Action and Crime (Silence of the Lambs). • Thrillers usually build up to a big climax at the end of the film but sometimes along the way the will keep the audience interested and guessing by putting in plot twists and sometimes making the heroic like character into a villain.

3. Narrative themes and conventions • A Narrative for a film would be everything that happens throughout it. • Thrillers are usually the one that change their narrative for the audience rhe whole way through so it is harder to work out the plot • During a Thriller it may start out with a back story of a character or mainly even a crime this normally starts the mystery being solved throughout the film by the characters and the audience. • Thrillers narratives have clues and mystery in them which keeps the audience intrigued and guessing about aspects in the film. An example of this would be The Sixth sense with them guessing about Dr. Malcolm and why his wife keeps ignoring him before it is all revealed at the end. • The narrative could have unforeseen events when something changes suddenly in the storyline which is surprising to the audience and makes them want to watch more to find our how it plays out.

4. Characters • Characters are split into different categories • Protagonist (Hero) • When it comes to the Thriller genre, protagonists can be innocent victims who might have a dark past • The protagonists might be a cop or and ex cop but could also be just an everyday person • When the protagonist is put into dangerous or life threatening situations the audience get a thrill from watching. Antagonists (Villian) • These people in the film are normally convicts,stalkers, criminals. • The antagonist is portrayed as the villain/ evil character in the film. For example the serial killer in the film Se7en would be the antagonist.

5. Mise-en-scene • Mise-en-scene is a French meaning for the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play or film. This means it includes: Make-up, body language, props, sound, lighting, costume and anything else seen in/on the set. • We expect to see certain objects within the mise-en-scene of the Thriller genre like a weapon or blood. This is called iconography. • Props are important when it comes to any genre of film but are very important for the thriller genre. The prop is usually what makes the scene and they also keep the audience guessing why its there or who it belongs to. Using a knife in a Thriller could show the villain and also the mystery behind a death which helps play out the scene/film. • The lighting is also important when it comes to thriller as the different colour/shade of the lighting can change the mood of the scene and the audience. In many thrillers the lighting is often dark with a slight blue tint to it to create an eerie effect and give the scene a cold or city like feeling. • The location of where a thriller is set is also key as if you want to create the right suspense and mood for the audience you need the correct location. If the film se7en wasn't filmed in a city it would have created a whole different atmosphere in the audience and may not have worked as well.

6. Sound • There are a few different sound techniques which are used in the film industry which are: Digetic, Non- digetic ad Ambient sound. • Non- Digectic sound- This is where sound is put in after filming and added during editing. SFX, Voice overs and film score are added to the film (especially in thriller) to create tension and to tell the story. Soundtracks are put in thrillers to create different emotions in the audience and to emphasise the emotions made by the characters. • Digetic sound- is anything that was naturally happening in the scene. Examples of Digectic sound would be: Dialogue between characters, door slamming, writing and screaming. They use this in thriller to make the scene feel real and like it is happening to someone • Ambient sound (Digetic)- This is when the sound is in a certain place. Like in a scene in the busy city you would here people walking and talking and people driing and pressing their car horns. Ambient sound is used in the sixth sense when they are stuck in a traffic jam because someone has been run over on their bike.

7. Cinematography There are many different camera shots used in thriller films to create different emotions to and for the audience. Wide shot- this would be used as a normal shot to show everything that is going on in the scene. This is the most common shot to be used by any film Close up- this would be used to add detail to the film and make the audience aware of what the close up is. It is also to create tension for the shot if it is on a person on an objects that is significant to the film Extreme close up- And extreme close up is used in a thriller to add lots of tension and to really intrigue the audience into what is going to happen. And extreme close up is also to show emotions in the characters or possibly even blood on a knife. Establishing shot- this would be the first shot that you see which starts the scene. Usually it would start out with being either a wide or long shot and sometimes in a thriller it is a close up shot.

8. Editing Thrillers can be edited different to other genres of film as they want to create and eerie effect. • Due to this there will be colour changes and maybe a blue/ greyish tint would be added to give it creepy/ urban vibe to it so that it puts the audience on edge. • They may also add transitions and other elements rather than a plain simple smooth cut to create tension for the audience when they are viewing the film. • There will also be some music added at different points to add tension and to build up the audience which is added during the editing process.