Thrillers

A thriller is a genre of literature, film and telivision which uses tension, suspense & excitement as it's key elements. For my media project I am going to be looking first & foremost on films and I will be using the information which I find out about thrillers to help myself & my group to film our own thriller.

The primary subgenres of thrillers are, crime, mystery & psychological thrillers, however, political and paranoid thrillers have become more popular. The other subgenres of thrillers include: conspiracy, diaster, legal, medical, religious, supernatural and techno thrillers. The thriller genre can also link with other genres too, such as the horror, spy & action/adventure genres.

A thriller has conventions, just like any other film genre. Firstly the narrative of a thriller is often shown from the points of view of two characters, these characters are normally the protagonist who is shown to the audience to gain empathy for this character, the other character is normally the villain who is shown to the audience in order to show them what has led them to carry out their actions. Most of the time, the storyline of a thriller will include events which will cause the audience to guess at what is going to happen, this adds to suspense as the audience is quite often wrong about this. The characters in a thriller often include a vulnerable female, a slightly psychotic/troubled male & a male who will save the day, as standard. However the female can quite often find courage from somewhere when she needs to fight back again the antagonist or if she needs to help her hero. The costume in a thriller can depend on what subgenre the film is, although most likely the female may be dressed seductively in order to lure in the hero who she is hoping will save her.  He will most likely be a well-dressed, attractive male who will then fend off the villain, whose appearance depends greatly on the type of subgenre category the thriller belongs to. The setting of a thriller is more than likely going to be an isolated place, like a quiet little village or an abandoned apartment block. Mis-En-Scene of thrillers include weapons like knives & pistols, dim lighting which adds to the tension & suspense, colours can often play a part in the mis-en-scene of a thriller as the colour is shown throughout the film & connects scenes together, music helps to create tension & suspense and it can either be diegetic or non-diegetic music, the choosing of which to use is very important as it can create a better atmosphere. Camera shots range from close-ups to point of view shots & establishing shots which are most commonly used when setting the scene. Finally, the themes used in thrillers are often related to the fears of society at the time the film is released, this is to create better effect for the audience.

There are many, many thrillers which I could talk about, however, I am going to focus on just three of them. I am going to be analysing them & listing the conventions of thrillers, which I will then look at with my group members to get idea of which ones we can include in our thriller. The thrillers I will be analysing in this blog post are Psycho, Jaws & Awake. Although I have chosen these three films, I could've chosen from many more such as Rosemary's Baby, The Hitcher, The Silence Of The Lambs, What Lies Beneath, Hannibal, Open Water 2: Adrift, Angels & Demons or a long list of others. I have chosen to work with the 3 I have because I would like to look at the contrast between them as they are spread across a period of nearly 50 years, I have also tried to choose a variety of different types of thriller.

Psycho (1960)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho is probably one of the most popular thrillers of all time, despite it being one of the earliest. Psycho follows the obvious character set-up aswell as a fairly obvious narrative, but the way in which it was directed & filmed made it a success.

Marion Crane, fed up of being treated badly by life decides to run away with the $40 000 cash which has been given to her in order for her to bank it for someone she works with. She drives fearfully, constantly checking her rearview mirror worrying that she has been found out. Not wanting to drive in bad conditions any longer, she pulls in for the night at The Bates Motel, owned by the seemingly harmless Norman Bates. However, Bates' mannerisms soon change & it is revealed to the viewer that maybe he is not as shy as was first thought. After sharing supper with Norman, Marion returns to her motel room to shower, which is the last thing she ever does. Her lover comes looking for her however, he doesn't make it very far either. The question which remains for the viewer is "who-dunnit?" Perhaps the reason why Psycho is & has remained popular.

Above I have included a clip of the most famous scene from Psycho. I feel that the most effective part of this scene in the music which is used as this is what really makes this scene tense. The shrill violins really build up the tension & add to the effect which the viewer can see on-screen, however if they were to close their eyes they would know that something dramatic & shocking were happening. Alot of quick shots are used when the victim is being stabbed to show the pace of what is happening, however the close up which zooms out from the victims face is drawn out to give the viewer time to focus on her lifeless face & I think that the trickling water which is heard is used in the background to try to restore some calm & piece after the event that has just taken place. The graphic match which is used is a nice smooth way of linking from the water trickling down the plug hole to the shot of her eye zooming out the medium shot of her face/body.

Although this is one of the oldest thrillers it is still a timeless classic in its own right. Presumably black & white film was used because it was cheaper than filming in colour in 1960, however, I still feel that it works best for this film as it adds to the effect & mood of the thriller.

Jaws (1975)

Directed by Steven Spielburg, Jaws is another thriller which remains popular with viewers. Although now-a-days it probably doesn't have the same affect as what it once did, as the special effects are no longer seen as being the highest standard. However, just like Psycho, Jaws was a first for viewers. The difference is that Psycho was a never before done genre & shocked viewers, whereas Jaws was bang-up-to-date with the special effects which it used. So although viewers today now look at it & automatically recoginise it is a plastic shark, viewers in '75 would have been terrified by the realness of the creature.

Jaws is the story of a great white shark which begins to menace a small island called Amity. When it attacks some young party-goers the police chief watches & waits for it to strike again. After a few more shark attacks, the police chief, a marine scientist & a fisherman set off to put a stop to the killings by finding the shark responsible. They kill a shark which they believe to be Jaws, however, now we can not help but wonder if they did get Jaws because of the follow on films Jaws II & Jaws III.

Above, is the Jaws trailer which gives a brief overview of what happens in the thriller. Just as the music played an important role in Psycho, it is also a key feature in Jaws. The most affective musical device used in this thriller is the leitmotif which is used throughout the film, this helps to build tension as the viewer hears this piece of music & knows that the shark is on its way. However, sometimes the music used is similar to the leitmotif which makes the audience second-guess on whether or not the shark is going to appear. The character set-up in the film is pretty obvious as it is females & young children who are the main prey for the shark, and the males set off to try & save the day. I feel that the setting of Jaws is very important, this is because it is at sea/in the ocean which is a very wide-spread place & is almost never ending. The murky water gives a sense of the fear of the unknown as people don't really know what's lurking in its depths. The camera shots used also help to build the suspense in the thriller because when the main bits of action are going on they are often fairly drawn out, but never show the shark which is again, hiding the antagonist from the audience. Close ups are used on the victim's faces, however, rarely on the shark, most likely because the crew had to be careful not to reveal how poor their fake shark actually was as it would ruin the affect for viewers.

Awake (2007)

Directed by Joby Harold, Awake is one of the best thrillers of the 21st Century in my opinion. I think this is because it focuses on one of the worst fears a person could have & it is a real issue, which makes it all the more terrifying for an audience to watch. I think that this is the main difference between my first choice of thriller, Psycho & this choice, Awake, my first choice focuses on something which is almost definately fiction, as opposed to Awake which deals with a real life, important subect called 'anesthetic awareness'. 

Clay Beresford is the chief of a capital-investment firm who is in a relationship with a girl called Sam, however this relationship is being kept secret from his mother. When he has to have heart surgery which is to be performed by a surgeon & his good friend, his mother tries to dissude him from going through with it until he can find a better surgeon, however he ignores her pleas. During the surgery Clay suffers from anesthetic awareness & is still able to hear and feel everything which is going on so tries to focus on having an out-body experience & focus on Sam, now his wife, however, in doing this he also uncovers a murder plot against him. His mother eventually works out that the surgeon & Sam have planned to kill him & manages to save her son & the two are arrested.

 The clip above is of the trailer for Awake, which contains some key scenes from the film. The music once again plays an important part in creating an atmosphere in this thriller. The music in this trailer is a piano piece which is quite chilling & does help to create some tension. The thing I find interesting about this film is that the character set-up has been swapped; instead of the victim being a vulnerable female, it is a male & the bad guy is a shared role between a female and a male, however it is slightly more the female in this instance. The setting is relevant to the story plot of the film & a hosptial is also a good choice because it is a place which many people do not like to be in as they associate it with gloom & misery. The quick pace which the camera moves at shows how quickly the drama is unfolding & builds up tension because the audience gets a sense of it not slowing down anytime soon.