Bethany Jones ICT Media Studies AS Level

What is a Thriller?The Thriller genre is hard to define into specific words and there are many responses to the question ‘what is a thriller?’ but the easiest way to help people understand what a thriller is, is through conventions a typical thriller uses.

Through research I have found that there are in fact many conventions that a Thriller uses and so to explain my knowledge of what I have found out I will be using an example of the typical thriller ‘Shutter Island’. This thriller is a rare one which includes many conventions of the thriller genre such as the main convention of centring the film on crime and murder. The crime in this Thriller is the information the audience receives about a murderer who killed the main character (Marshal Teddy Daniels) wife and also the fact that the location where it is set is in a hospital for the criminally insane showing that crime is a main theme in this film. The point-of-view shot below shows two of the residents with an officer behind them and by placing that officer there, using the close-up shot of the woman’s wide eyes and the low lighting, reminds the audience where this film is set. The costume and position within the frame of the officer shows that he has authority and power over these residents.

The mise-en-scene, like in this eye-level, long shot above, throughout keep reminding the audience of where the location is and keep reminding the audience of the crimes that have been committed by this people so that the theme is represented throughout.

Another main convention that ‘Shutter Island’ includes is the theme of a mistaken identity and amnesia which is a main part of the film even though the audience doesn’t realise this until the end of the film… The cinematography shows Daniels as a detective but it isn’t until the end that the audience learns that everything they have just witnessed was in his head and that he was actually a person who is living in this hospital himself and is insane. This convention is common in Thrillers as it’s an easy way of giving the audience the ‘thrill’ that the institution intend to as mistaken identity is mysterious and many people are afraid of the unknown so by interpreting fears into the narrative it thrills the audience and gets their adrenaline going. The establishing, long shot below is the scene where Daniels is dreaming about his wife and she disappears. The editing techniques used show his

Bethany Jones ICT Media Studies AS Level

wife disappearing in his arms which interprets the fear of death that many people have into the narrative and uses the characters reaction combined with cinematography and the props within the scene such as the ash falling to create a sad, scary atmosphere.

There is also the theme of visual McGuffins being used in the narrative as the storyline starts with the investigation of the missing murderess that is believed to be hiding nearby and turns into Daniels wanting to find the killer of his wife. This change in the narrative happens quite subtly without the audience catching on which is the function of a McGuffin.

All the micro-elements combine in a Thriller to create suspense. In Shutter Island this is done by using all the micro-elements of sound, cinematography, mise-en-scene and editing for example in the scene below when the characters are investigating the missing murderess’ cell this establishing shot is used create an uneasy atmosphere with suspense. This is down by the low angle establishing shot which connotations include mystery and creates a tense mood. The low lighting and the shadows casting on the door makes the room seem small and makes the audience feel locked away with no way of getting out, which interprets the fear of claustrophobia. The mise-en-scene of the typical prison bed and only the wardrobe in the room makes the audience feel helpless and further closed in. In addition, the cell door looks thick and hard to open making the audience feel trapped. All of these micro-elements create the tense atmosphere intended by the Director.

Bethany Jones ICT Media Studies AS Level

Shutter Island also presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen like the scene when the main character, Daniels, is dreaming; he dreams that he is holding his wife when she starts to bleed as shown in the mid shot below. The ordinary thing is him holding his wife with the usual connotations of love and affection but she is bleeding so this is an extraordinary event and makes an uneasy atmosphere. This in addition to this shows the audience another fear of theirs: the fear of becoming ill and dying slowly. This thrills the audience by seeing this in front of them.

The cleverest feature of a Thriller, in my opinion, has to be the important enigmas being set up in the establishing opening sequence of the film, which are further complicated throughout the first part of the film and it is not resolved until the very end. This is an important feature to think about when creating our own Thriller opening sequence as these are the key aspects that makes an audience interested in the film. By looking at the example of Shutter Island it helps generate ideas. The enigmas that the writer of Shutter Island has used are the information about the killer of Daniels’ wife being in that hospital and also the missing person. These two enigmas develop in the opening stages of the film and are not resolved until the very end when it comes clear to the audience of the characters mental state.

The objectification of women can be a common theme in thrillers and this is one convention that Shutter Island doesn’t use. In this thriller the women included are seen as either a criminally insane person or as a person who is missed. They are not seen in a sexual way like in other thrillers. This shows that not all thrillers use all of the conventions which proves the idea of ‘repetition and variation’. This idea states that Thrillers are not a completely separate genre as they have many hybrids such as a physiological, horror- thriller like Shutter Island as it includes gore which is a connotation of a horror film. Repetition and variation means that there are certain conventions that a thriller can use but each time it is used in a different way and also includes conventions from other genre creating a sub-genre or hybrid. This is the reason why Thrillers are so hard to define.