Research Task 1

Genre Genre – The word genre comes from the French meaning ‘type’ or ‘class’. Media genres could be grouped within a category like ‘horror’ or ‘romance’. A genre can be recognised by its distinguishing features, this could be by the music, lighting, character types and particular settings. The film will have distinguishing elements to it, like if it was a romance film, the two main characters at the end will realise their in love and live happily ever after. Thriller Genre – Uses physical action to create suspense within the film,it is a genre of a film that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its typically main elements. The thriller genre films change the mood of the viewer by doing different things, they usually create anticipation, climax, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety, adrenaline rush. The characteristic's a thriller film use are, Heroes and villains, A Murder, an underdog, parts with action, tension building music. The narrative of a thriller would be to keep the audience guessing all the way through the film this is called restricted narrative, and also by giving them little amounts of information and creating twists, that end up surprising the audience, The plot will always build towards a climax. In thriller films there is always a protagonist and a antagonist (hero and villain), the protagonist is usually just a normal guy/girl and the antagonist is normally either a psycho or a psychopath. Another main thing thriller films do is having ordinary people and places, with extra ordinary events. This is used because it makes the audience feel like they are not safe, and can even make them think that things that are included in the film could happen to a place near them, making the person scared and think about if it happened to them. Hybrids and sub-genres – Hybrids are a mixture of two or more main genres e.g. Action thriller, Medical Thriller. A sub-genre is a more specific generalization of similar types of genre, thriller with conventions of another genre e.g. Crime, medical, eco, romance, serial killer, psychological, legal, spy, action.

A timeline of the genre An early film was by Harold Lloyd called ‘safety at last’, Alfred Hitchcock said his intensions were “to give public good healthy mental shake-ups ” He was able to create tension and build ups by using certain techniques The thriller genre dates back very far, these films contain very similar narrative techniques as modern day thrillers. Alfred Hitchcock is considered the be one of the first people to ever create a thriller, and also considered to be the ‘master of the thriller genre’ by the way he creates films filled with lots of suspense, reality, making the audience relate to the film and therefore becoming more scared as they feel like they are joining in with the film. His first film was ‘The Lodger ‘(1929) Which was produced as a silent movie, this was followed by a film called ‘Blackmail’ (1929) which was produced as a film with sound and a silent film. Since then thriller has been put into many sub genres. Physiological thriller Crime thrillers Romantic Thrillers Action Thrillers

Narrative & conventions The narrative is the plot of a film ‘chain of events in a cause – effect relationship occurring in the time’,the way it is set out, in a thriller film it always seems to have a pattern. Typically the film will be told from the protagonist’s point of view, by following events they have to go along with. This makes the audience become a lot more interested in the character and feel like they are more connected to the main character. Conventions of a thriller are that there is a crime creating the disruption of the film (Toderov) e.g. a murder,crime. They also include a complex narrative structure like false paths, clues and resolutions. A popular theme in thriller themes used is Revenge, it is presented throughout films and is still very popular. Thrillers have a restricted narrative which gives a little bit of information at a time, about the plot. The narrative of a thriller film will usually start with a crime or mystery The narrative has unforeseen events, leaving the audience in suspense and disbelief when something shocking occurs, and also leaves them actively looking for clues. Thriller narratives have riddles,clues,sometimes and resolutions but sometimes unresolved endings, keeping the audience guessing. Thriller films that include this are films like seven, psycho.

Characters Propps Theory – He believed that is the 100 tales he analyses there were 7 broad characters types these are 1.The Villain 2.The Donor 3.The Helper 4.The princess 5.The false Hero 6.The Dispatcher 7.The Hero Antagonist – this is the villain in the thriller film, they could be a murder a robber a criminal or a terrorist. The antagonist often have psychotic traits to them, with very selfish ideas. The antagonist is normally never shown through the film,this is so that it keeps the audience thinking of what is going to happen, and makes the audience keep on guessing who it is. This also builds suspense throughout the whole film, so that the audience can wait until the end to see who the villain is. E.g. John Doe (se7en), Jack Torrance (The Shinning), Hannibal Lector (The Silence of The Lambs). Protagonist – This is the good person, the one who saves the day. This person is normally a very innocent person who could either be a ordinary person or involved in policing.The character is normally unwillingly chosen to be the protagonist. The protagonist is usually the character that is in danger or saving peoples lives and can also be a duo in crime films, putting their life at risk to save others. In thriller movies there tends to be a hero and a villain, the hero being the person who is a innocent normal person who usually then ends up being the saviour of the day or for another human being, and there is also the villain who is the cause for the hero being the ‘hero’. The villain normally has committed a crime like murder, robbery.

Mise-en-scene Mise – en – scene is everything in the film/set like props, costume, lighting, makeup, figure of expression and body language. Thriller films use different levels of low key lighting to create suspense and atmosphere. The writing of the title of the film could be written in a specific way to portray the film. Location – the location is very important as it can make the scene a lot more effective, by giving it more of an atmosphere and giving that certain scene a certain boost. Most thriller's would set this in a dark eerie place e.g. like a tunnel, a abandoned house or woods, ordinary places, urban settings. Props – Props can relate things to people, making it more obvious who the person is or what their role / status is. In thriller movies we expect to see blood, knifes, guns, fast cars, money, drugs Colour and lighting – Different colours and lighting show different meanings in films, light and bright colours can show signs of innocence, and maybe being smaller or younger or more innocent and sometimes colder, Whereas if it was a dark colour it could be associated with death, murder, or a horrible person. In thrillers they tend to use low key lighting, to create shadows and darkness and also to help create a mood or atmosphere. E.g. if someone is in a serious position, the innocent person may have blue or bright white colours to show their innocence, where as the bad character may have a dark colour or a red colour. E.g. Voldemort from Harry Potter in thriller is always seen with a dark. background. The colorings in this left image is very bright and full of light, shows innocence to other characters

Costume and makeup – it can show when the film is set, it can emphasise characters and show their situation their class/ stereotype/Status. E.g. in se7en the character that Brad Pitt plays, wears a suit, this shows he is middle classed professional, and that he is probably a very good detective with a good paid job. Where as Morgan Freeman wears a costume that shows that he has been in the business for a longer time than Brad Pitt’s character Figure of expression/Body language – Body language shows a lot about a character and their personality, it can show if a character is an aggressive character, or if there are a lot more calm and collected character. The way characters are together and their body language towards each other can show the relationship between them too. It can either be very aggressive or it could be a lot softer and show that they are friends and like each other.

Audience Expectation Audience Expectations - A thriller is made so interesting because the unrevealing of the narrative as it plays out in the film this is called restricted narrative. Allows audiences to be active in working it out whilst watching the film which attracts older audiences the this specific genre as they're often complex narratives. The audience expectation is to feel scared and worried while watching a thriller, the main key expectation is to be on edge, this keeps the audience watching because they want to find out what happens next in that certain film. Another audience expectation is to be interested in the story and compelled to watch it this gives empathy with hero. The audience expect suspense and to be scared throughout the film of a thriller. The audience expect to see a protagonist beat the antagonist and create a happy ending. How ever in thriller films this isn't always the case as sometimes to change it around or to leave it on a cliff-hanger the good person dies or they haven't ‘yet’ defeated the bad person because the film are making more series of the film. Thriller films and all films have an age certification, this is because some on the films may include sex, violence, crime. And this is unacceptable for people who are under the age of 16 or 18.

Cinematography Establishing shot – intended to show the audience where the action is taking place e.g a school etc. In thriller films they don’t tend to use this alot because they want to give the least information out as possible. This keeps the audience guessing where the characters are and what they are doing. mid shot – This is from the characters waist and up, this shot is good at capturing the persons body language like what they are doing with their arms, this can tell a lot about a character and also used for conversations. Medium close up shot – This shows from the chest up and the face, you can see more detail of the characters expressions and facial area. The opening title for films use this to draw the audience into watching it. Close up – used to show the intensity of the emotions of the characters, the more closer the camera is the more closer you feel to them, this shot is very personal and quite in the personal space area, this makes the audience feel more connected to the character because, you normally only go very close to someone if they are family of a long time family friend or on significant object. Canted angle shots – when the camera is at an angle, Thrillers use these shots a lot because they make the audience feel uncomfortable and feel like it is them witch then can make them feel quite uneasy. Long Shot – Long shot shows the entire figure of a object of a human figure.

Extreme close up shot – Shows major detail in the certain object it is focusing on e.g. hands, face, mouth area, teeth. This makes the object that is being focused on more important and makes it easier for the audience to focus on, If focused on a character it doesn't show the whole face this can make the audience wonder who the character is or what is going on and can also restrict view. P.O.V Shot – You see from the point of view from the character (Through their eyes),this can make the audience feel like they are with the character or even being the character. This makes the audience get a sense of what the character is seeing and puts them inside the detion. and feel what the character is. In thriller films they like to use the technique where it looks like the character is holding the camera, this can make the audience feel un easy and uncomfortable because they have no choice but to think that they are with them and doing what they are doing High angle/ low angle shot – When using a high angle it can make characters and objects seem smaller, and make it seem quite weak/vulnerable, In thrillers they use this low angle technique to show that a character is bigger or better or is in a higher class. Low angle shot can make the character seem vulnerable and weak and a lot smaller showing that they are scared etc. these angles show/convey power of certain characters. Pan – this camera shot moves left to right (or vice versa) on a tripod, it is good with building up suspense as it might only slowly reveal information to viewer.

Sound ( The sound of the film will usually start really slow and then start to build up creating suspense, it will also have an eerie feel to it or sometimes even no music, just silence it creates tension and panic ). Typical thriller conventions would be in a haunted house or a dark tunnel etc. Diegetic – Sound that is naturalistic, and that is naturally occurring in that scene. In a thriller it could be a door slamming, screaming and maybe the sound of a creaky floorboard. Non- diagetic sound – This is a fake artificial sound put in by the editor's e.g. voiceover, sfx, sound effects witch is added to make a action seem more realistic. This also includes a soundtrack that goes with the scene to make it more dramatic, this is used in thriller films to build suspense and create a tense atmosphere. Ambient sound – Ambient sound it the background noise and the sound that is naturally occurring in that specific atmosphere. In thrillers this is to do with the location like in a city, you would hear cars and people or in the woods you would her wind and the sound of trees moving. Pleonastic sound – Imitates the action on the screen. E.g. psycho – shower scene Contrupuntal sound – When the sound doesn't’t fit the action on the screen creating discomfort, this could be done with a soundtrack e.g. the shining Silence – silence can play a big part in thriller films as it can make the scenes a lot more tense, and build up to a climax.

Editing Editing is placing separate shots together to get continuity. Continuity editing makes it so that it runs smoothly and you can not see the cuts of editing 180 degree rule means that the camera doesn't go past a visible line between the camera and characters. Match on action - When the ‘cut’ is made on an action.

Bibliography Psycho – Shower Scene Orphan Se7en Harry potter The lodger Blackmail