Thriller

What does this genre mean: Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television
programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main
elements.

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high
level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise,
anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty,
rousing and fast-paced.
A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, and exhilaration
that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a
constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats",
akin to a sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax.
Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used
extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she
presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.
Common subgenres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers, erotic thrillers
and mystery thrillers.
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Another common subgenre of thriller is the spy genre
which deals with fictional espionage. Successful examples of thrillers are the
films of Alfred Hitchcock. The horror and action genres often overlap with the
thriller. Thrillers tend to be psychological, threatening, and mysterious and at
times involve larger-scale villainy such as espionage, terrorism and conspiracy.
The protagonist in these films is set against a problem an escape, a mission,
or a mystery. No matter what sub-genre a Thriller film falls into, it will
emphasize the danger that the protagonist faces. The tension with the main
problem is built on throughout the film and leads to a highly stressful climax.
The codes and conventions:
Low key lighting
Quick cuts
Shadows
Tension music
Changes in angles and shots
Diegetic sounds of breathing
Back and white shots
Protagonist in the mercy of antagonist
Montage of shots
The protagonist is often a brave male who seeks to restore equilibrium
The antagonist will have a hidden identity that the audience will find out
as the film goes on, often the antagonist goes out on revenge for past
events

Themes:
The storyline can be made so that the audience feel like this could
happen to them which will make them feel scared.

Cinematography of a thriller:
There should be a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the
protagonist top show their emotions it can also be used to show the
props and to further help explain the narrative.
The shots of the antagonistic character should be cut quickly and will
help to hide their identity. E.g. a shot from the back of them or a low key
shot or a silhouette or shadow of the character.

Editing:
The director should include lots of jump cuts because there will be things
happening that the audience is unaware of but is still essential for the
film to make sense. Cross cutting is a key part of editing because it helps
to build suspense which is important for a thriller.

Sound:
Music is essential to any film to help understand the mood of the
characters and hint at significant parts of the film in a thriller it adds to
the suspense and tension.

Mise en scene:
The location is important in a film because it helps the audience
the establish the theme.
Low lighting is key
Costumes the antagonist should be in dark clothes and the
protagonist can be in normal everyday clothes.
Makeup and hair
Composition
Acting
The history of thrillers
Director Alfred Hitchcock made the first thriller film in 1926 it was called
the lodger it was a jack the ripper type film filled with suspense. His next
thriller was in 1929 it was called blackmail. it was notable for being his
and Britains first sound film. in 1928 the earliest spy films were made by
Fritz Lang it was called spies these films were like the James bond of
today. in 1931 fritz Lang made another film called german film starring
peter Lorre this film was the story of a serial killer.

There were many British directors that made thrillers such as; Walter
Forde, victor Saville and George A. Cooper.


The atmosphere in a thriller film is also enhanced through the lighting
and use of music. An example of this is from the opening of the film
Alien by Ridley Scott in 1979. In the opening of this film, the lighting is
minimal and dull, this creates the atmosphere of suspense and mystery
which links into the thriller genre.
One of the most well-known and popular thriller films is Psycho
which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was produced during
1960. This film is a psychological thriller based on the American
1960s time period. The film was adapted from the1959 novel,
which was written by Robert Bloch also called psycho. Both the
film and novel are based on the cases on convicted serial killer Ed
Gein, this therefore allowed the directors of the film to associate
the film with other genres such as horror, drama and mystery, as
well as the thriller.




Top ten thriller films

Pulp Fiction


The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a
pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and
redemption. (154 mins.)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis



The Dark Knight

When Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent launch an assault on the
mob, they let the clown out of the box, the Joker, bent on
turning Gotham on itself and bringing any heroes down to his
level. (152 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine





Heat

A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from
police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest
heist.(170 mins.)
Director: Michael Mann
Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight




Inception


A thief who steals corporate secrets through use of dream-
sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea
into the mind of a CEO. (148 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe

The Dark Knight Rises


A new menace emerges and the Dark Knight rises again to
protect the city from a merciless terrorist with the help of anti-
heroine Selina Kyle. (165 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman



Run Lola Run
A young woman in Germany has twenty minutes to find and bring
100,000 Deutschmarks to her boyfriend before he robs a
supermarket. (81 mins.)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Stars: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri
The Departed

An undercover state cop who has infiltrated an Irish gang and a
mole in the police force working for the same mob race to track
down and identify each other before being exposed to the enemy,
after both sides realize their outfit has a rat. (151 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg


Lon
A professional assassin rescues a young girl whose family were
killed in a police raid. (110 mins.)
Director: Luc Besson
Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello


Black Swan


A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for
the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly
loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the
Black Swan. (108 mins.)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder

Se7en
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who
uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. (127 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker