Unit 10 - LEARNING AIM A

What Is A Thriller?

Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping sub genres. Thrillers are characterised and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement , surprise ,anticipation and anxiety. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information is a common element. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby they present obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

What are the conventions of a film opening?

The purpose of a film opening is to entice the audience into carrying on watching a film. A film opening should also establish characters and genre. Directors can do this in many ways.
Flashback - A scene that the narrative back in time usually to a key event for a couple of minutes or the whole movie.
Planning of landscape/establishing shot - This is used to set the scene and inform the audience where the film is taking place.
Narrations - Easy and effective way of getting the audience involved straight away. Technique used to give background information on what has been happening or who the characters are, giving the audience an insight so the rest of the film make sense.
Action scene - A fast paced opening to a film attracts the audience straight away and will make them want to carry on watching. As well it automatically shows the genre of the film if included in the opening.
Chase scene - Similar to the action scene, also catches the audiences attention. It involves them as they will want to see what happens after the chase.
Production Logos - At the start of most films they will always show the production or distribution logos. If the film has a high budget the logo will be adapted to reflect the genre and story line of the film.
Title sequence - All films have title scenes too, these show the cast and production team for the films. The titles can be a way of building up suspense and can show the genre of the film.
Animation - To portray the beginning of the film in a creative way and visibly show the difference between the film itself and the opening sequence. e.g. Juno
Compilation of photographs - For example, Blue Valentine which is a romantic film, shows photographs to portray to the audience the theme and the relationship between the couple.
Narrative content - This includes the context (Where/when/who). As well the pace of the narrative increases as level of engagement increases
Soundtrack - This is the use of tone, volume, and tempo, which will generically start quiet and slow-paced.
Some directors prefer to have an unconventional opening to portray a sense of mystery or giving the film an artistic edge.E.g. Lack of credits, Lack of establishing shot, Main characters are not introduced.

Spy/Action thrillers often feature a male protagonist who accidentally stumbles into a plot from a villain poised on world domination. The film will often disregard death and show police as pathetic in favour of the protagonist who is shown as an exceedingly strong character.

Thriller Sub-Genres

Crime thrillers are often based around a criminal pursuit where a detective is looking to find the responsible of the crime. The films often show the aftermaths of killings and they often rely on the mystery to generate suspense.

Contained thrillers often show the protagonist being trapped in an enclosed space by the antagonist. Often, there are be of isolation throughout the Thriller. Throughout the Thriller, it shows different ways the protagonist tries to escape.

Psychological thrillers often emphasises the unstable mental state of a character. They are often from the view of someone with a distorted view of the world. There are many themes of vulnerability throughout the Thriller.

Erotic thrillers often feature the protagonist committing adultery which leads to their partner seeking revenge. The antagonist and protagonist can be either gender and the films use most typical thriller techniques. There are often families that are threatened by the antagonist.

Medical thrillers often feature a disease outbreak that has wiped out a large portion of humanity. The protagonist is one of the very few last people left and will have to face the apocalyptic world. There are often themes of isolation within this.

Conspiracy thrillers often feature a plot where the protagonist uncovers a government secret and is hunted down so the secret is prevented from coming out. There are also themes of isolation although they are conveyed through the entire world being out to get the protagonist.

Thriller Opening Analysis

Psycho :

The Net:

Thriller Movie Reviews

The Hateful Eight

Unit 10 L.A.A assignment

Introduction to the thriller genre

Whilst researching the thriller genre, I have found that thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterised and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Thrillers generally keep the audience on “the edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information is a common element. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby they present obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. In this essay, I intend to analyse the codes and conventions of fiction film production across a minimum of two extracts from two different genre feature films or two different entire short genre films. The analysis will include comment on narrative structure, such as how the two genres open or end and the stylistic codes that support the narrative and indicate the genres. In this essay I will analyse key sequences from ‘Legend’ and ‘Psycho’. Thriller films often interest young adults as they find the plots interesting, they like feeling the suspense and mystery. Thriller films are usually certificated 15 due to the content of the film being violent and frightening.

Legend Introduction

In ‘Legend’ the suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray (Tom Hardy) and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960's. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety. We learn that the main character is Reggie as he has the most lines throughout the film and is in shot more than anyone else. The film helps show the lives of the Kray Brothers as it is mainly showing their perspective of what is happening to them and others around them. Stylistically the film is more of a crime thriller as it uses relatively low level lighting in some scenes with a tense and somewhat daunting atmosphere throughout the film.

Legend Opening Scene

In ‘Legend’, the audience is first introduced to the different company’s title which are ‘Studiocanal’ and ‘Working Title’. There is jazz music playing in the background of the credits and throughout the opening scene. The camera first overshots the city with a low level lighting with the voiceover of the character Frances Shea. The camera then moves to a longshot of Reggie and Ronnie Kray in a car with low level lighting in the city. The background appears to be busy as there are people walking around everywhere. The camera then pans to a two shot of both of them in the back of the car where they are both shown to be smoking. The voiceover begins to introduce who both the characters are. The camera shows close ups of both characters as they are being introduced. The camera then cuts to a black screen with jazz music becoming louder. It then Introduces the films title ‘Legend’.

Psycho Introduction

In ‘Psycho,’ Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the run after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), is overcome by exhaustion during a heavy rainstorm. Traveling on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the ramshackle Bates Motel and meets the polite but highly strung proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a young man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother. Throughout Psycho, Hitchcock prefers to isolate his characters in the frame, using mostly alternating close-ups even during close conversations and/or intimate encounters. The close-up both intensifies and isolates.

Psycho Opening Scene

In ‘Psycho’, the audience first see the opening credits introducing the film with eerie and suspenseful music throughout . The camera then cuts to an establishing shot of the city. It then pans across the city. Text then appears on the screen to tell the audience where the scene is set in ‘Phoenix, Ariona’. The camera then continues to pan across the city. More text then comes on the screen telling the audience what day it is which is ‘Friday, December The Eleventh’. The film then tells the audience what the time is which is ‘Two Forty-Three P.M’. The camera then pans into a bedroom window and towards Marion Crane and Sam Loomis. The music then begins to get quiet and the characters begin exchanging dialogue. The camera then cuts towards a bedside desk that has sandwiches and cigarettes on top of it. The camera then cuts back towards Marion and Sam sitting on the bed. Sam then tells Marion to call her boss and ‘take the afternoon off’.

Comparison

As both films are two different types of thrillers, they will have similarities and differences. One example of a difference is that ‘Legend’ is a crime thriller whereas ‘Psycho’ is a psychological thriller. The two differences between these thrillers is that a crime thriller is a genre that revolves around the action of a criminal mastermind. A crime film will often revolve around the criminal themselves, showing their rise and fall. A psychological thriller contains main traits within the thriller genre by building up suspense and danger around the main character. However, a psychological thriller, the suspense comes from the mind rather than a physical threat. This also means that ‘Psycho’ would be shot in more confined spaces to create suspense and danger, whereas ‘Legend’ is more based in the city and in quite open spaces.Both ‘Psycho’ and ‘Legend’ have lowkey lighting during the films which help create an uneasy atmosphere and can have the audience on the edge of their seats as they might believe something is going to happen to one of the characters.

Conclusion

Overall, the two contrasting films ‘Legend’ and ‘Psycho’ have lots of differences which include the setting and the plot which highlight the many different types of genres inside a thriller. These different types of thriller genres would then attract different audiences.