Thriller Films Charlie Funnell Thriller is a mainstream genre of film which uses suspense, excitement and tension to draw in audiences. The reason they are so popular is because the audience enjoy being thrilled. Thrillers are usually very fast paced, and a lot of the time, very dark and gritty. There are many subgenres of Thrillers such as Psychological Thrillers, Crime Thrillers , Mystery Thrillers and Religious Thrillers.

Thriller Films: Narrative themes and conventions In a typical Thriller narrative, there is usually a crime such or a mysterious incident, such as a murder or a robbery. It is then up to the protagonist of the film to uncover why the incident took place, discover the identity of the antagonist, and put a stop to the plans of the antagonist. A typical thriller narrative usually has a restricted narrative to keep the audience guessing and to add to the element of suspense. The plot of a Thriller is usually full of plot twists, unexpected events to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and make watching the film an exiting experience. The events in thriller films usually relate to Tzvetan Todorov’s 5 stages of narrative. Todorov was a Bulgarian linguist who published work on narrative since the 1960’s. Todorov suggested that there were 5 stages to narrative. 1. Equilibrium – A happy start 2. A disruption of this equilibrium by an event – A problem occurs 3. A realisation that a disruption has happened 4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption – the problem is solved 5. A restoration of the equilibrium – A happy ending An example of this, is how the events in Se7en (David Fincher, 1995) effect the family of Detective Mills. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YV2_TcCoE Another element which adds to the experience of a Thriller is the fact that the plot of a thriller involves extraordinary events happening to ordinary people. This adds greatly to the excitement, and keeps the audience coming back to experience thrills like these again.

Thriller Films: Characters In Thrillers the typical characters are usually: A Hero ( the protagonist) and a Villain (the antagonist). Although there are many other important characters such as someone who helps the hero, or someone close to the hero who appear in certain Thrillers to help with the plot. The Hero (or protagonist) of a Thriller is normally an ordinary person or law enforcer (usually a male), who is thrown into an extraordinary situation; usually against their own will. This person usually has a flaw which is exploited by the villain . For example Teddy Daniels in Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iaYLCiq5RM The Villain (antagonist) of a Thriller is normally a very intelligent individual who is very hard to track down, possesses a certain set of skills and who is very unpredictable. An example of this is John Doe from Se7en. The villain will usually aim to confuse the hero with their wits and leave the hero to figure out what is going on along with the audience, which makes the Villain of a Thriller an exiting and mysterious character as their identity is also hidden from the audience. The characters of Hero and Villain in a Thriller can also depend on the subgenre of the film. For example, in a crime thriller the Hero is likely to be a Detective rather than an average person.

Thriller Films: Characters Propp’s Character Theory: Vladimir Propp was a Russian Folklorist who analysed the plot of Russian folk tales. He came up with 7 character archetypes who reoccurred in many different tales. In a thriller film you would also usually find these character types. “1. The villain—struggles against the hero 2. The donor—prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object 3. The (magical) helper—helps the hero in the quest 4. The princess and her father—gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished 5. The dispatcher—character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off. 6. The hero or victim/seeker hero—reacts to the donor, weds the princess 7. False hero—takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.” Description From: http://www.ealmanac.com/3114/numbers/the-seven-character-types-of-vladimir-propp/

Thriller Films: Mise-en-scene Costume In Thrillers the costume for the protagonist is usually normal clothes, whereas the antagonist often wears dark clothing to emphasise the fact that they are a sinister character Location Thrillers are often set in ordinary places but in a dark area, such as an alleyway, a warehouse or a rundown building. Lighting Low key lighting is used to create lots of shadows, adding to the dark feeling of the film. Colour Thrillers normally have a blue or yellow grade. These colours make the world that the film is set in look like a bleak place where terrible things happen Props Props which have sinister connotations are often used in Thrillers, for example guns knifes and blood are all associated with crime. Subtle hints about the identity and plan of the antagonist, such as a prop or set piece which give away key information are also used.

Thriller Films: Cinematography In Thrillers, different camera shots and angles are used for different effects or emphasise something in the shot. A few examples of shots used widely in thrillers are: Close ups, which are used as they are very intense and create lots of tension Canted angles are used to make whatever is in the frame look not quite right, this is another element of cinematography used for the build of tension Scenes in thrillers also rarely have an establishing shot to make the setting more of a mystery to the audience for example the opening sequence of Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005) www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrnDZ8DDL9 o Camera work in thrillers can also sometimes involve handheld shots to add intensity to a scene,

Thriller Films: Editing Editing is another important element of thriller. Continuity editing is something commonly used in thriller films as it closely follows the action in a scene and helps the audience to become absorbed in the exiting narrative. The edits of certain scenes in thrillers are also fast paced, this is to keep the audience interested in the action and increase the level of intensity.

Thriller Films: Sound Sound is an extremely important element of Thriller films as it is what makes a lot of scenes thrilling or scary. A good example is in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, when high pitched sharp sounding music (which is pleonastic meaning it works with the actions in the scene) is used in the shower scene to emphasise the stabbing action happening in the scene. The way the music has been used helps to make the scene a lot more scary. Lots of diegetic sound Is used in thrillers for example footsteps or the sound of heavy breathing could be used for an eerie or suspenseful feeling, and in terms of non-diegetic sound, Thrillers have a very carefully chosen soundtrack as it must fit the tone of the film well and help with the overall mysterious and suspenseful feel of the film. Thrillers usually have fast paced and intense soundtracks to match the action, for example this fast paced and intense piece, used in a chase scene in The Bourne Supremacy (Paul Greengrass, 2004) https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=-Snuy-Pm5oA