THRILLERS

1. VarndeanCollege Elena M Reading . . THRILLERS

2. Overview ... Thrillers are a genre of film is specifically designed to create emotions such as anticipation, excitement and keep you on the edge of your seat. Thrillerscan be a hybrid of two genres, creating a sub genre for example an action – thriller. This enables the film to reach a wider audience depending on the hybrid. For example, a action thriller that does not contain much violence would be considered a 12A, however a psychological thriller would be seen to be an 18

3. Levels Thrills Psychological Experience Thrillers are designed to work on two levels: - Thrills the ease of the audience to detect when there is going to be or is danger or violence. - Psychological Experience the ambience of what is happening on screen triggers an emotional response of the viewer, creating intense anticipation in the audience.

4. Narrative and Theme The narrative of a film has three sections, just like a theatre act structure. The narrative in thrillers is often deliberately unclear to keep the viewer in suspense. The narrative may also contain lots of false paths to draw the audience in further to the film. The narrative may introduce riddles from the antagonist that the protagonist has to solve (such as Die Hard with Vengeance)

5. Ordinary to extraordinary Thriller films always take place in ordinary settings, with ordinary people and contain ordinary objects. However once the Antagonist is introduced into the film things that once seemed ordinary, don’t seem quite the same and become extraordinary. Things that were once ordinary and ‘normal’ are now seen in a completely different light. For example what was once seen as a mobile phone, was an explosive in disguise - however the audience and the protagonist does not see this until a couple of seconds before it explodes.

6. History ... Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most notable directors in the history of Thrillers. He started his career at the young age of 20 by illustrating for Paramount’s Players-Laskystudio in London. His first complete film as director was ‘The Pleasure Garden’ in 1925 In 1951 Alfred Hitchcock directed a techni-coloured film this was very modern for the time, and vastly increased popularity. – Strangers on a Train

7. Quotes • It's a great thriller or mystery, but on another level it's a film about the fact that, if you only look at a person through one lens, or only believe what you're told, you can often miss the truth that is staring you in the face.– Kevin Spacey • I love the idea of a movie hero in a thriller who is able to get ahead by just his brilliance, and not with a gun or by being an action hero. – Danny Strong

8. Cinematography: Technical Codes • Cinematography is the art of creating a film, and the Diegesis within the film is believable. • The Technical Codes that are the most important aspects of filming. These include the camera angles, the camera shots, camera movements. Editing and sound.

9. Hybrid Thrillers There is not only one type of thriller there are also sub-genres of thrillers and hybrid thrillers. Hybrid thrillers are a mixture of two or more genres aside from thrillers. For example, Action-Adventure Thrillers such as Blitz (2011 Elliot Lester)

10. Hybrid Thrillers - Examples Psychological Thriller Action Adventure Thrillers

11. Mise– en - scene Everything in a scene is deliberate, to the place, time and actions of the past, present and future that is going to (or has) happened. The props in a scene are relevant to the action about to take place. The scenes are likely to be shot in the style of Film Noir, using darkness to attract the attention of the viewer and drawing them in. The use of colour is a very important factor, for example a scene cast in black and white would be a major contrast of one in technicolour. It is also about what you would expect to see in a scene, such as guns, knifes (for a crime thriller) and police badges. This gives the viewer subtle hints and clues to the nature of the film.

12. Characters and Characterisation There are two Groups of characters in Thriller films. The Protagonist and the Antagonist Protagonist – Typically this is the Hero that appears to be good, and the audience supports them. Antagonist - Typically this is the Villain, and the audience wants them to be demolished. However there may be an enigma in the characterisation – the audience makes a connection to whom they have been led to believe is the Protagonist, but five minutes before the end of the film we discover that he/she is the Antagonist. Johnny Depp – Donnie Brasco

13. Cinematography: Diegetic and Non Diegetic Sounds Diegetic sounds are sounds that you would expect to hear on an ordinary basis in a scene. For example in a bathroom a tap dripping. Non Diegetic sounds are sounds that are put there in the editing stage, this could be for a number of reasons. Usually it is to increase tension and suspense in the audience. Sound layering can also be used, where there is more than one layer of sound (a noticeable two or more different sounds in the scene) to create tension.

14. Thrillers and their audiences Thriller films have many attributes, the emotions that can happen in the viewer within the time of the film could be described as a roller coaster. Thrillers can create emotional extremes such as nerve wracking tension, anticipation, being on the edge of your seat, high expectation and likely to get a heightened adrenaline rush causing extreme excitement. Film Noir is a technique that is very populously used in thriller films with low lighting, darkness and shadows playing a big part in creating tension. Film Noir is especially used in urban settings.

15. Bibliography • http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/thriller.html