Thriller GENRE

1. ThrillerGENRE

2. The Thriller genre – an overview • Thrillers provide such a range of different little sub-genres and hybrids. With all these different genre’s it can make you think of what might happen in it during the film. • Sub-Genre’s • Crime- is normally when a serial killer, murder, and robbery (antagonist) kills someone the (protagonist) and the police have to solve the crime. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects. A good crime thriller is Inception. • Medical – not many films have a medical sub-genre so it’s very rare. But coma is a good medical thriller. • Psychological- In which the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical e.g. No chases or shooting but in the head and trying to mess with the way they think. Jacobs Ladder is a good Psychological thriller because it try’s to play with your mind. • Hybrid • Action- Action thrillers are normally full with action or something happening every 10 minutes with shooting or chases or even explosions. Any of the die hards are good action thrillers because it’s got lots of action and it’s a good thriller film.

3. History of Thriller Genre • Alfred Hitchcock was the master of thrillers, well that’s what he was known for. He was able to create and master suspense and anticipation in his films. • Hitchcock kept the audience guessing by putting false clues in the plots and story so what you think would be important actually wasn’t, this was called ‘McGuffin’ • Thrillers of the 90’s were mainly psychological ones that dealt with obsession, domestic violence, revenge, mentally ill characters and the protagonist's goal of escape. Thrillers with those elements include, director Rob Reiner's ‘Misery’ (1990).

4. Narrative & Conventions • Thrillers are normally quite complex and are trying to keep you and the audience on the edge of the seat waiting to see what happens next and also keeps them thinking what is going to happen next or what will happen at the end. • They do this by adding twists and turns in the plot and leading you away form what might be important by including false paths and making the film tense this is shown in such films as ‘Seven’ and ‘Psycho’ e.g. by making you think that its someone else that is killing the people instead of the real person like in ‘Psycho’ where you think it’s the mum that is killing everyone but its not its actually the son but he is dressed up as his mum with a wig and one of her dresses on and that you find out his mum has actually been dead for a while. • They also and little moments of climatic actions leading you up to the big climax at the end with tense and a chilling feel. • As well as adding tension to the film they also make the antagonist a psychopath and always puts the protagonist in danger or in risk of his life this is used for little climax's during the film to give the a thrill and to keep you on the edge and wanting you to watch more. (Shot from Psycho) This is a shot of Norman Bates (the Killer) in the costume of his mum which when you are watching the film leads you thinking that it is Norman’s mum that is killing her but later you find out that his mum has been dead for years and he is so mentally messed up he becomes his mum when an other woman comes close to him like if he has feelings for them.

5. Characters • An antagonist is the bad person of the film e.g. The villain which can be a Convict, a criminals, a stalkers, an assassins or a serial killer. • An protagonist is the victim and some times is innocent but normally has a dark past or has a flaw. • The protagonist most of the time has a flaw, that's why they are the victim’s because they have don’t something bad or wrong in the past but it also can be a random and incident victim that was at the wrong place at the wrong time. • Most of the time the protagonist is in danger which keeps the audience more on the edge and wanting more because they don’t know what actually might happen. • There is normally a cop or an Ex cop in these types of films because there are murders and the cop/cops have to solve the case and have to catch the antagonist also there can be Ex cops that want to solve the case for a personal reason or because the cops need help from someone that is more experienced or someone who may have worked this case before and couldn’t solve it or catch the antagonist. (Famous shot from Se7en) This is where the killer john doe shows himself and introduces you to the character half way through the film. (Shot from Se7en) This shows the kind of style that detectives wear and some law enforcement.

6. Mise-en-scene • Mise-en-scene is a French term for what's on the screen because mise-en-scene is pretty much just what's on the screen like clothes, make up, where objects are placed, props, space, light and body language of the actor or actors and the setting. • The costume, props and all the thing above can set the mood for the scene e.g. If the actor is wearing mostly black and its a dark scene just sitting there on his own with his head down then that would suggest that he is upset or angry or he’s thinking of something sick because it might be a sick path and is typical for a thriller because thrillers can be sick and twisted and can also be upsetting, aggressive and dark. • Props are important in thriller films because it can tell us a bit or a lot about a person like in ‘Collateral’ the taxi driver max has a picture of a palm tree island which suggests that one day he wants to move far far away from the busy city he lives in and wants to move somewhere peaceful and relaxing which shows that he is a dreamer and thinks about it but he might not be able to do it because he doesn’t have enough money or can’t for other reasons. Also the note that the girl puts into the locker in ‘Brick’ is a prop and is an important prop because it gives guy information about a meeting at a place and a time and leads to an important event of him talking to the girl on the phone and a black car that signalled danger when the girl started screaming and getting upset as it want past the guy. (Shot from Collateral ) This shows the clothing and the importance off the character because he is dressed smartly in a suit which tells you bits about the character without him doing anything. (Maxi’s palm tree picture from Collateral)

7. Mise-en-scene • Mise-en-scene also shows you the setting of the place like in a thriller they might use a busy city or village or countryside and can also show you what time it is set in by the look of the building and how the characters are dressed. Clothes are important in a thriller film because it can tell you a lot about the person like if they are poor or rich, if the yare young or an adult, where they are because if they are wearing a big puffy jacket then you would thing that it is cold and that they aren’t somewhere hot and warm. The clothing can also tell you what role they play or who they are in the film like a police officer would be wearing police uniform so you can tell who he is and what role he plays. • Light can also set the mood for the whole film if you use a dark or unhappy lighting all the way through the film it can give a depressing effect to the film that thrillers want because thrillers are upsetting and disturbing and want you to not think of it as a happy film e.g. in brick the whole film is desaturated so all the brightness and bright colours are taken out so it gives it a cold effect and also makes the film a bit blue which gives it the effect of the coldness and is there to give the film this effect. (Shot from Shutter Island) it’s in low key and has been desaterated

8. Iconography Long shot Close up Cinematography is the shots that you take e.g. Long shot or close up and many other shot. Cinematography is how a film is shown or filmed like. If a director uses good Cinematography then the film will look good but if you use bad Cinematography then the film will look like its been filmed by ammeters and not many people will watch. Some types of shots: Close up- a close up is a shot that shows a small part of something or someone which shows lots of detail. This is good to use in thrillers and is good to show key points in the film or to make it more thrilling and to show you part of it but not the show you the whole thing. Extreme close up- an extreme close up is a shot that shows you lots of detail e.g. It will only show you an eye or a finger or lips to show you it in more detail. This is used to show emotion to and for the character. This is really good to use in thrillers because it focuses on one little bit of detail at a time which makes you think and guess and does what a thriller film is meant to do by making you think and focus on little parts that at the time might not seem important but later on you realise why is it there and why they have done it e.g. in the opening title sequence of the film ‘Se7en’ there are lots and lots of extreme closes ups to put a picture into your whilst giving you very little to see and only make you focus on the key parts. Establishing shot- an establishing shot is a shot that sets the seen and the location and is normal a long shot or a wide shot to show you as much of the area that the film wants you to see and gives you an indication on what the film will be like. But in a neo noir film the establishing shot isn’t at the start of the film but is there after a few shots that have given the audience a little peak of the area and who is there first e.g. the film ‘Brick’ doesn’t show the establishing straight but has a few shots before it. POV shot- a shot that puts you in the eyes of the person that is looking and can give/ show you what emotion the character is feeling and can make the audience change mood depending on who the camera’s eyes are looking through e.g. if they are looking through the victims eye’s they could feel scared or if they were looking through the killers eye’s then they could feel powerful and intimidating. This is a good shot to use in a thriller film because it involves the audience. Extreme close up

9. Sound Diegetic sound • Diegetic sound is natural sound that is not put in post-production but is there natural and doesn’t need to be changed or edited e.g. Footsteps. This gives you more information when watching the film because most of the time you can’t see where the sound is coming from but if you can hear it then you know what's around the character e.g. If you see a close up of the characters face and you can tell he is walking then you hear cow moo you know that he is by a farm and could be in the middle of no where. This can also be good in thrillers because you could hear the door slowly opening but you might not be able to see it so it can make the audience think which is what thrillers want you to do e.g. in ‘Psycho’ you can hear the door open slowly and can hear the creaking sound but you can’t see who’s opening it or it might not be someone opening it, it could just be the wind. Non-Diegetic sound • Non-Diegetic sound is sound that has been put in after the film has been recorded. Sounds that are Non-Diegetic are sounds like back ground music, source’s that aren’t in the frame, sound effects and everything that is put in post-production. This is used in every film because otherwise it would sound boring and the film wouldn’t be that interesting. A good example of this is when every there is a chase in a film you can notice that there is always some kind of beat or rhyme or is could be a song. This can be good for thriller films because it builds tension and can liven up the film for climax’s and can up or slower your heart rate because when music normally starts coming on the audience know that something things is coming and can make it more thrilling for the viewers like in ‘Psycho’ when the murder is taking place there is a screeching music then frightens you and can make you scared just from the music.