1. 9/14/2018
9/14/2018
Thrillers
Thrillers
“Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.” - Alfred Hitchcock 1 1

2. What is the Thriller Genre?
9/14/2018
9/14/2018
What is the Thriller Genre?
A Thriller is a genre of film which is trying to achieve one thing, to make the audience remain in a high state of tension as if to keep them at the 'edge of their seats' whilst the plot builds towards a climactic point.
In terms of narrative expectations, it may be contrasted with mystery or curiosity and surprise. The objective is to deliver a story with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending doom. A thriller aims to keep its audience alert. As described by film director Alfred Hitchcock, an audience experiences suspense when they expect something bad to happen and have (or believe they have) a superior perspective on events in the drama's hierarchy of knowledge, yet they are powerless to intervene to prevent it from happening.
Most modern thrillers are mixed with other genres, these are sub-genres. Some examples of well know sub- genres are:
Action- or adventure- thrillers
Sci-fi thrillers (such as Alien (1979))
Crime-caper thrillers (such as The French Connection (1971))
Western-thrillers (such as High Noon (1952))
Film-noir thrillers (such as Double Indemnity (1944))
Even romantic comedy-thrillers (such as Safety Last (1923)) 2

3. A time-line of Thrillers
9/14/2018
Film-makers have been combining the thrillers with other genres for almost as long as cinema itself. With the first audiences quickly tiring of the technical marvels of new mediums, directors sought more innovative ways to thrill their viewers.
Borrowing a trick from hugely popular literature of the time, producers began to churn out weekly installments of long-running franchises, each ending with a cliff hanger that sees the hero in mortal danger. The most famous of these was the series ‘Perils of Pauline’, notorious for featuring a villainous character who bound our heroine to rail tracks as a locomotive approached.

4. A time-line of Thrillers (Continued)
9/14/2018
A time-line of Thrillers (Continued)
No list of suspense or thriller films can be complete without mention of English film-maker/director Alfred Hitchcock. He helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre, beginning with his early silent film The Lodger (1927), a suspenseful Jack-the-Ripper story, followed by his next thriller Blackmail (1929), his first sound film (but also released in a silent version).
Hitchcock would make a signature cameo appearance in his feature films, beginning with his third film The Lodger (1927). After 1940, he appeared in every one of his films with the exception of The Wrong Man (1956).
More modern thrillers include the likes of Se7en (1995), Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Brick (2005)

5. Narrative in Thrillers
9/14/2018
Narrative in Thrillers
A typical thriller narrative would feature lots of suspenseful moments as it is a key part in Thrillers. It gives the viewer a feeling of pleasurable fascination and excitement mixed with apprehension, uncertainty, anticipation, tension, and anxiety. These develop from unpredictable, mysterious and rousing events during the narrative, which make the viewer or reader think about the outcome of certain actions.
It also gives the person the so-called "on-edge" feeling. Suspense builds in order to make those final moments, no matter how short, the most memorable. They are the defining features in a thriller.
The suspense in a story keeps the person hooked to reading or watching more until the climax is reached, and the thrill and amusement of being suspended, so to speak, finally come to a close. Suspense is about conflict and the obstacles between the protagonist and his goal.

6. The typical thriller will generally conform to these plot devices
The protagonist(s) faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's.
The force(s) of the antagonist's must initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down.
The main plot line focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in their representation on screen.
The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.

7. Characters in Thrillers
9/14/2018
Characters in Thrillers
Characters usually include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, characters with deep dark pasts, psychotic individuals, spree killers, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.
The protagonists are frequently ordinary citizens unaccustomed to danger, although commonly in crime thrillers, they may also be "hard men" accustomed to danger such as police officers and detectives. While protagonists of thrillers have traditionally been men, women lead characters are increasingly common. In psychological thrillers, the protagonists are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with the antagonist or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind.
The suspense often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state

8. Mise-en-Scene
9/14/2018
Mise en scene is a term derived from a French term meaning what is in the films shot. It can also be defined as an arrangement of scenery and objects to represent a place referring the films premise. Mise-en-scene can help to establish what genre a film is by setting the tone through lighting, costumes, props, settings, body language, facial expressions and positions of characters.
A good example of mise en scene establishing the genre of a film would be the opening title sequence of David Fincher’s se7en. The lighting is dark and gloomy, there are notebooks with hardly legible handwriting and disturbing self developed photographs. Theses elements can effectively give the audience the impression that they will be watching a thriller within only a few minutes of the film

9. Cinematography
Establishing shot is a shot which sets the scene and to show the action taking place within the scene. These types of shots are uncommon in thrillers as the directors want to keep the audience guessing to what is going through the whole film. Mid shot are from the actors waist and above, often used to portray body language. Close-ups are shots close to the actors face to emphasise the effects of emotions. Medium close-up show the face and chest of an actor, similar to mid shots but are more used for finer details such as clothing. Extreme close-up are used to draw maximum attention to a subject or object, often used to show something significant to the plot of the film. Angled Shots are when the camera is at an angle to cause unrest in audiences and are very popular in thrillers.

10. High and low angled shots are used to add a sense of scale to a point of interest such as to make an actor look small compared to their surroundings or to show dominance. P.O.V shots show the action from the perspective of the actor. They are very common in thrillers as they can be used to show a killer stalking their next victim. Pan shots are used to reveal points of interest slowly or to show a landscape.

11. Sound
There are a variety of sounds in thrillers : Diegetic is sound which is naturally occurring within the scene like dialogue or footsteps Non-diegetic is sound which has been added in post production such a film score or SFX Ambiance is sound which is sound that is normal for that location such as traffic in new York city Pleonastic sound matches the action on the screen Contrapuntal is when sound is a juxtaposition of what is going on in the shot which can cause unrest within the audience.

12. Editing
9/14/2018
Editing is a process which involves composing all of the shots together whilst making any necessary amendments. This is all done in post-production. Continuity editing involves making sure the shots flow nicely e.g. making sure that something that can be seen in two shots do not move position. Match-on-action is a form of continuity editing which splits the action between shots making sure that the subject is doing the same thing in the next shot. Colour correction is a process which involves making sure that the colours and contrast of the shots are the same.

13. Shot reverse shot is when two characters are facing each other but one shot focuses on one character whilst the next shot focuses on the other characters. 180 degree rule is making sure that the camera stays the same side of the subjects and not crossing the centre line.

14. Audience expectation
When somebody watches a thriller, they generally want to be thrilled and remain in a high state of suspense throughout the length of a film.
The audience expect the antagonist to be triumphed by the protagonist generally by outwitting the antagonist. Some thrillers don’t follow this like in se7en when john doe manages to achieve his goal.
Thrillers aren’t trying to horrify the audience, they are more trying to twist their minds with unusual plot devices.