thriller genre

By Sian Perrier

Thriller overview

A Thriller will always contain a protagonist and an antagonist

A Thriller should make the audience feel apprehensive, anxiety, exhilaration and excitement, leaving the audience sitting at the edge of their chair wanting more.

A Thriller is a loose term that refers to any film which generates suspense and excitement for the audience.

There are many examples of Thriller films which do this such as Batman Begins, Taken, House at the End of the Street and Identity.

Narrative themes and conventions

The narrative is the story of the film as a whole. It is defined by Bordwell and Thompson “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time.

The narrative will be complex which will keep the audience in suspense.

Thrillers have ‘restricted narratives’ such as riddles and clues that are left unanswered until the end of the film.

A Thrillers storyline will most likely be to do with crime.

Tzetan Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages this can be easily applied to Thrillers:1.A state of equilibrium – such as in house at the end of the street the equilibrium is a mother and daughter have just moved and are settling in to their new home, work and school life.2.A disruption of the equilibrium – the daughter Elissa meets the boy next door Ryan who cause tension between the characters. Then his sister escapes and she runs to Elissa’s house; to try and engage with her, but is caught by Ryan just in time.3.A recognition of the disruption – Elissa finds out about his sister and he captures her.4.An attempt to repair the disruption – Elissa tries to escape from Ryan and save her mum.5.Reinstatement of the equilibrium – the equilibrium returns to normal when Ryan dies

This is the moment when she recognises the disruption of the equilibrium

The plot is the order in which the film plays out. Some thriller plotlines focus on the fact that a mystery must be solved and the equilibrium must be restored. Thrllers have restricted narratives such as Looper where little information is given so is more complex and harder for the audience to understand and keep up. Others have unrestricted narratives such as V for Vendetta where information is given in news broadcasts, this means that it is easier for the audience to understand

THRILLER CHARACTER PROFILES

The protagonist will most likely be an ordinary looking person who is caught at the wrong time and pulled into a chaotic and menacing situation which he/she must overcome. An example of this is Nathan from abduction who is pulled into an overwhelming situation where he finds out his so called parents are not his real ones and is being attacked by a government man and doesn’t know why

The antagonist will present obstacles for the protagonist and will make it harder for him/her to reach his/her goal. Such as in se7en where Mills and Somersets goal is to catch the man who is killing people, who is John Doe; he makes it very difficult for them to do this .

The Princess (most likely the victim) is usually the character who is the most venerable and threatened by the villain and has to be saved by the hero, at the climax. An example of this is in the casino royale, Bond tries to find vesper after he hears of her betrayal, he shoots the flotation bags that hold the building above  the water and the building starts to collapse . Bond desperately tries to save vesper from being trapped in an old elevator but unfortunately fails because she commits suicide.

Vladimir Propp suggested that characters took on a role of narrative ‘spheres of actions’. Propp studied folktales to come up with some character types these were:

The Helper is someone who will aid the hero in restoring the equilibrium. Such as Gordon from batman begins who risks his life to save Gotham .

cinematography The canted angle or Dutch tilt is

made obvious to the audience so they notice it, it s also used to emphasise the unease of characters and make the audience feel what the characters are feeling. An example of this shot is in the girl with the dragon tattoo when the killer is forcing Mikael downstairs at gun point , the Dutch tilt is used to increase the tension in the scene and empathise and show Mikael’s unease.

The reverse zoom is used to make the audience feel uncomfortable and to draw the attention of the audience. An example of reverse zoom is in Jaws when it is used to emphasise Brody’s fear of water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svEPWBxpYjo

Low and high angle are used to show who is more powerful in the scene. An example of this is in the Dark Knight Rises where Bane and Batman are fighting; Batman is on the floor and Bane is standing above him; from this the audience can tell that Bane is winning and is more powerful than Batman

cinematography

Normally in most movies there are establishing shot but in Thrillers they don’t always give one. This is because Thrillers have a restricted narratives and don’t want to give away too much information to the audience . They do this to build tension and make the audience feel uncomfortable. Such as in silence of the lambs when they do the parallel editing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts1x6uADFtM

Close ups are used to show the emotions of characters and the emphasise the importance of an object. Such as in Collateral The bag swap connotes something suspicious and illegal when the camera zooms in on the suitcase it makes the audience curious.

POV is used to show what the character sees. The main use of POV in thrillers is handheld. An example of this is Cloverfield where a group of people record a monster attack in New York. It makes the audience feel like they are part of the government who have discovered this video after the attack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyY50rBet2U

If we do notice the editing, the director will have done this for a reason which was probably to create an effect or emotion. An example of this is in the Bourne Identity when Bourne is climbing down to the wall to get his bag but he suddenly slips and looks down; the camera also does this with a Dutch tilt at a slight angle looking down towards the ground. This shows the how far off the ground Bourne is, the director could have also done this to build tension and keep the audiences attention.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene means that which is placed or put in the scene. Mise-en-scene consists of:

Facial expression/body language

Figure expressions can tell us a characters emotion and state of mind. Body language can tell us the relationship between characters; if they are standing close they have a intimate relationship. Also body posture can tell us what mood, age, status a character has. Eye contact can tell us about character relationships and who has the more power; if a character is not looking at someone n the eye the audience can guess that they are shy. An example of this is in the Bourne Identity . He is not making eye contact with the fisherman and but is standing very close to him and touching him. Also he face is frowning so you can tell that Jason Bourne is confused and does not know the fisherman well but is using physical contact which suggests that he is trying to force the fisherman to tell him something . It also hints that Bourne is a violent person

setting

A setting of a thriller can be anywhere it is mainly set in a place of comfort and safety for people such as a school like in seeking justice this settings make the audience feel uncomfortable and worried when watching them. Thrillers are also usually set in busy towns and cities where they are easily hidden.

make-up

Make-up can tell us the roles of characters or their past. An example of this is the patient from shutter island, the audience can tell she is not sane and that she is old from the lack of hair and her red rimmed eyes. She’s pale so it suggests that she has been kept inside a lot.

Costume

Costumes can tell us a lot about a character such as their personality and what role they are playing.

John Doe is wearing an orange jumpsuit, suggests that he is a criminal or an escaped convict.

Audience instantly know that they are detectives because they are wearing clothes typical of a detective from the 1940s.

propsProps can indicate to the genre of the film

and contribute little hints for the audience such as information about a character. Props can also tell us what the time the film is set.

Suspicious looking bag, suggests someone illegal and secret.

Knives suggest action and fighting.

Getting rid of finger prints is legal so audience immediately know that this film involves crime

lighting

Lighting creates the mood and atmosphere in a scene. In thrillers they mostly use low key lighting , high contrast lighting and desaturation, which drains the film of colour and creates a negative effect for the audience making them uncomfortable and anxious. Such as in shutter island there is a blue tint to the film.

EDITING

Editing can be used to imply something in the narrative such as a passage of time, an end of scene, or a flashback. An example of this is the butterfly effect when Evan (Ashton Kutcher) goes back in time. The camera shakes, it is made noticeable to the audience so they can differentiate between scenes and want get confused.

Editing is the placing of separate shots and putting them together.

Continuity Editing is seamless editing, so we rarely notice it because it is flowing smoothly.

Graphic Match is where there is a familiar between the shots to make the changes of frames seem smooth. The match could be continuity of the directors such as centre of attention, similar objects or objects. It is used to draw the audience s attention to something important in the film. The 180 degree rule is part of continuity

editing, it makes sure that everything stays behind an invincible line so characters and objects on the left stay on the left and characters and objects that are on the right stay on the right. This is so it look realistic to the audience. Such as the car race scene in Bourne identity; the mini enters the left of the frame and leaves right of he frame. This rule is not always obeyed because the director wants to disorient the audience . Parallel editing is also known as cross cutting it is a technique that cuts continually between two or more scenes which are often happening at the same time but in different locations. An example of this is in the dark knight when Rachel and Harvey are being held captive and must be rescued. Batman has to choose one and Gordon goes to rescue the other, for the whole it flips between batman and Gordon rushing to their destinations. This is a good technique because it builds tension and builds to a dramatic climax.

Editing Graphic contrast is the

opposite to graphic match; it is when the next shot is in obvious contrast to create an impact on the audience. The contrast could be in directions, subjects, camera angle. An example of this is also in the Bourne Identity when Bourne is climbing down to the wall to get his bag but he suddenly slips and looks down; the camera also does this with a Dutch tilt at a slight angle looking down towards the ground. This shows the how far off the ground Bourne is, the director could have also done this to build tension and keep the audiences attention. ( start watching from 2.10) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxK_pBaG4E&playnext=1&list=PL304F4A19BABD4593&feature=results_main

Match on action is when the ‘cut’ is made on the action. An example of this is in the Bourne identity when Bourne goes to kick a guy in the face. The first shot is an APOV of Bourne’s foot, the next is a shot of his foot coming down to the camera.

Eye line match is when the character reacts to something on or off the screen and then there is a cut to show what the character saw.

Shot reverse shot is when a character is shown looking at another character, who is off screen, and then that character is shown looking back at the first character. Since both characters are shown facing opposite directions, we assume that they are talking to each other. An example of this is in the Dark Knight when the joker is being hung over the side of the building and batman and him are having a conversation it has APOV for each of them .

SOUND There are two different types of

sound in which make up a films soundtrack the first being diegetic sounds and the second being non-diegetic sounds.

Diegetic sounds are sounds which happen within the frame. This is when actors are speaking. An example of this is in The Dark Knight when the joker and batman are talking to each. This is useful so the audience can understand what is going on in the film and can grasp what kin of relationship they have with each other.

Ambient sounds are sounds which occur naturally and are only available from a specific location. Such as trees rustling or a birdsong. An example of this is in inception when Cobb has wash up on the beach; the ambient sounds in that scene are the rushing of water and the crashing of the ocean waves against the shore. Some typical ambient Thriller sounds are the rustle of the trees to build tension and set the scene

Non-diegetic sounds are sounds which have been added in post production such as voice overs, SFX, theme music and film score. An example of this is in Looper, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gives a voice over throughout the film to tell us about the most important information in the film.

Pleonastic sound is sound which imitates or reinforces the screen action such as gun fire and the sound of people being stabbed.

Contrapuntal sound is sound which is the opposite to what we are seeing on the screen, it contradicts what is actually happening to create disharmony. An example of this is in V for Vendetta when the cathedral is being blown up classical music is playing in the background this is to make the audience feel uncomfortable.

Typical Thriller music is fast paced, with a low tone, with some high pitched bits to empathise when something dramatic happens