Thriller in Film.: Your-Thriller-And-Why

LO4- Task 1
Thriller in Film.
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Genre
Many thrillers have sub genres which enable the director to develop the
plot further, and appeal to an even wider target audience.
For example, psychological thrillers. An example of a psychological thriller
is Hitchcock's Psycho, in which the mentally deranged Norman Bates
murders a number of innocent victims dressed as his mother. The strange
acts committed in this film cause it to fit exactly into the sub-genre of
'psychological thriller'- which would feature emotional or mental conflict.
Another sub-genre would be conspiracy thriller. This is where the innocent
victim discovers the hidden intentions of the enemy and attempts to
confront them, foiling their plans. An example of a conspiracy thriller is
The Da Vinci Code in which a professor of religious iconography from
Harvard University is the prime suspect in a violent murder.
Distribution Methods
You can distribute thriller films, games and TV Shows through TV- BBC,
Channel 4, Film4; the internet- YouTube, Facebook, Social Media Sites,
IMDB; posters; Mobile Phones- Apps- ITunes;
Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the
plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information from
the viewer 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 he or she presents obstacles that the
protagonist must overcome.
Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest stories in the Western world and is
regarded as an early prototype of the thriller. One of the earliest thriller
films was Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last! (1923), with a character
performing a daredevil stunt on the side of a skyscraper
Alfred Hitchcock's first thriller was his third silent film The Lodger (1926), a
suspenseful Jack the Ripper story. His next thriller was Blackmail (1929),
his and Britain's first sound film. But, one his most famous thrillers was
Psycho. As the first film of its kind, Hitchcock changed 'slasher' films,
where the victim was attacked, and killed by the use of a knife.
Psycho features one of the most well-known scenes in all of cinematic
history, 'The Shower Scene,' where lead female protagonist Marion Crane
is attacked and murdered. This one scene features 77 different camera
angles, and 50 different cuts. Due to the lack of editing technology

available to Hitchcock in the 60's, the scene required this many camera
angles and shots in order to make the scene seem realistic and
threatening to the audience, as it disguised the fact that no images of
actual violence were included in the sequence.
During the 1950's thriller films began to take off, with stars such as
Marilyn Monroe being cast in them. Starring in Henry Hathaway's 1953
thriller Niagra, Monroe played the part of a femme fatale who plans to
murder her psychotic husband.
Also, in the 1990's was the rise of the Scream film series, directed by Wes
Craven, which centres on main protagonist and targeted victim Sydney
Prescott, who is stalked by a number of attackers dressed in the
formidable, yet iconic, ghostface costume.
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The target audience for thrillers would mainly be 18+. This is because of
the general nature of the films that include psychological issues and
scenes of violence which may be a bit disturbing for younger viewers.
According to research, females are apparently more attracted to thrillers
as they enjoy the intellectual side of the story and the story behind the
events itself. Whereas, males are more likely to watch action thrillers
compared to females as they enjoy the high intense action.
Thrillers, depending on its subgenre, are more aimed at an older audience
(18+) as with thrillers there is more of a storyline meaning the audience
would have to think more. So, this is a main reason why a younger
audience arent likely to enjoy it as much.
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Codes and Conventions of a thriller

Conventions of a Thriller usually consist of:
Shadows
Low key lighting- low key lighting is used to create a tense

atmosphere for the scene. When low key lighting is used, the
audience can usually sense that something bad it going to happen.
Quick cuts
Montage of shots
Protagonist is in the mercy of the Antagonist
Tension music
Black and white shots
Diegetic sound of breathing
Changes in the angle of shot
Characters
The protagonist in a thriller is usually a brave male whose mission is to
restore the equilibrium. In a thriller, the Antagonist will usually be
revealed as the story goes on, and not straight away in order to keep the
suspense and the audience guessing. This antagonist will most likely know
the protagonist from a past event in which the want revenge from.
Thrillers are created in a way in which they can get into the audiences mind and
scare them. They do this by creating a plot that can happen to anyone.
Mise-En-Scene
The antagonist will often be in dark clothes, whereas the protagonist will
be in ordinary everyday clothes.
Colour palette- Black and White, fine-grain or grainy, or colour.
The locations will help to establish the theme and type of thriller that it is.
Iconography
Typical iconography in a Thriller would be weapons, cars, urban settings,
fast paced editing.
With thrillers, there are many different themes that come with the story.
These themes include: action; psychological mind games; spies; chase
scenes; terrorism; crime; suspense; assassination; supernatural events;
political conspiracy.
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LO4- Task 1

angles, and 50 different cuts. Due to the lack of editing technology

Codes and Conventions of a thriller

Low key lighting- low key lighting is used to create a tense

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