The Thriller Genre

1. The Thriller Genre

2. What is a thriller film? • The thriller genre is difficult to define as it covers a vast range of film like, gangster, horror and crime. • There are often a lot of twists involved, e.g. They catch the killer, then it’s the wrong person. • Thriller films use suspense and tension to create high levels of anxiety and excitement in the audience. • Thriller films often use ordinary things and make them dangerous and thrilling.

3. Sub-Genre: The three primary sub-genres are: Mystery – Contains a lot of suspense, the characters are attempting to solve, or involved in, a mystery. An example is ‘Shutter Island’. Crime – A hybrid of both crime and thriller films , They often focus on criminals instead of the policeman. ‘A perfect murder’ is a prime example. Psychological – This sub-genre uses elements that tap into your mind, the elements are usually very realistic to make it seem real. An example is ‘Fear of the Dark’ A few other sub-genres are: Conspiracy – The hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies who only he/she recognises their true extent. ‘Flightplan’ falls into this genre. Disaster – The main conflicts is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as ‘Earthquake’. Supernatural – These films take the suspense and tension elements and mix them with a new otherworldly element. The hero and/or villain sometimes has a psychic ability. Examples include ‘Fallen’ and ‘What Lies Beneath’. Medical – The hero/heroine is a medical professional solving an expanding medical problem. ‘Extreme Measures’ is a Medical Thriller. There are a lot of sub-genres in the thriller genre, Each with interlinking ideas and conventions.

4. Themes and Conventions: Sound and editing: There are often a lot of quick cuts and plenty of different camera angles with several changes. ‘Tell No One’ Music: The majority of the time they have music that creates a tense atmosphere as well as an upbeat racy sound to match the action and raise your heartbeat. ‘Scarface’ Lighting: Thriller films often contain use of shadow, darkness is also a huge element. ‘Disturbia’ Narrative: Crime is often at the core of the narrative, There are often false paths with twists. The protagonist is often intrigued by the criminal. Iconography: We often see a lot of confined Spaces or a sense of no escape, running water, Cities/towns. ‘Shutter Island’ really enforces a sense of no escape. Setting: Often isolated suburban settings. In the middle of no-where, quite countryside/villages. ‘The Last House on the Left’

5. Characters: • We often see similar characters and relationships in each and every thriller films, we come to expect to see them when we watch these films. • Convicts • Criminals • Stalkers • Innocent victims • Characters with dark pasts • Psychotic individuals • Twisted relationships

6. Mise-En-Scene: • Normally dim lighting is used to hide part of a character, e.g. Their face. • The weapons used are usually smaller more realistic frightening weapons like a razor. • They often use point of view shots, frames within frames and close ups. • There is usually a lot of camera movement like tracking. • Colours are often used to signify emotions like red is a connotation of blood or danger and blue connotes mystery, coldness or death. • Themes usually stem from societies current fears and worries, like eco-thrillers.

7. History of thriller: • The first ever thriller film ‘Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat.’ (1895), created huge fear within the audiences that had come to see it. As they had never been to a cinema before, they assumed the train was actually going to hit them. Now in more modern times it is hard to see why a film like this provoked fear in anyone. • As thriller films moved on into the 30’s