The Thriller: Generic Conventions

The Generic Conventions Include:

• Thrillers rely on an intricate plot in order to create nerve wracking tension and apprehension within the viewer.
• The hero or heroin (usually the main character) is seen in a situation of threat or peril,which is usually life threatening. They are usually fallible, making them more relatable to the audience. The situation they are in occurrs before the narrative is resolved.
• The female characters in a thriller are often objectified through a series of gazes.
• The narrative of a thriller has to have a build up of suspense that plays with the viewers senses and emotions. It also is usually centered on a crime-often a murder.
• An occurrance that often happens in thrillers is that extraordinary things happen in ordinary situations.
• The killer in a thriller will often ensnare their victim in a chain of intricate moves.
• The audience in thriller films are often positioned as viewers.
• Thriller films often include themes of loss and/or mistaken identity.
• Mirroring is often involved in thriller films.
• Labyrinths and mazes are often motifs, these could be physical or psychological.

Thriller Films

What is a Thriller Film?



Thriller films and suspense films are films which are known to promote excitement at an intense level. They create suspense, anticipation of a high level, ultra-heightened expectations, anxiety, uncertainty and nail biting, nerve wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous with similar characteristics and attributes.



Other Genres that are linked to Thriller films:



Other films of a similar nature that aim to create the same level of tension, taking the viewer through elements of anxiety and fear can be closely linked to thriller films. Examples of these are: Action or Adventure Thrillers; Sci-fi Thrillers; Erotic Thrillers and Legal Thrillers.



Features of a Thriller films:



A Thriller film is a film that relentlessly pursues a goal of providing thrills for the audience. The film must have 'cliff hanging' elements in order to keep viewers on the edge of their seats in suspense. The plot of the film should build up towards a hopefully dramatic climax. In order to create tension throughout the thriller film, the main character should be placed in a mysterious or menacing situation. Another scenario could involve the character in a dangerous situation in which it seems impossible to escape. To keep the audience engaged, the life of the main character should be threatned, keeping the viewers in suspense whilst watching a potentially deadly situation.

Characters in Thriller films:

To make a thriller film as full of suspense and tension and possible, it needs to have a vast variety of different characters to help create the appropriate atmosphere. Characters you may often find in a thriller or suspense film are: convicts; criminals; stalkers; assassins, down-on-their-luck losers; innocent victims; prison inmates; menaced women; characters with dark pasts; psychotic individuals; terrorists; cops and escaped cons; fugitives; private eyes; drifters; duplicitious individuals; people involved in 'twisted' relationships; world-weary men and/or women; psycho-fiends and many many more.

Themes of Thriller Films:

Frequent themes that often occurr in Thriller Films in order for the film to have a solid background may include: terrorism; political conspiracy; pursuit or romantic triangles that lead to abuse or murder.

Top 3 most Thrilling Films:

In the world of film there are hundreds of nerve wracking thrillers. Many people may have drawn their own conclusions as to what may be the most thrilling film, however the AFI have decided their choice of the top 3. These include:

• Psycho
• JAWS
• The Exorcist

'The Master of Suspense':

English film-maker/director Alfred Hitchcock has been dubbed 'The Master of Suspense' and is world reknown for his 'cliff hanging' films which have shaped the modern-day thriller genre.

Why?

Hitchcock is considered as the acknowledged master of the Thriller and Suspense genre, he manipulates the viewers fears and desires which takes them into a state of association with the representation of reality facing the character. To achieve a different and successful approach to the Thriller genre, Hitchock would often raise and include taboo subjects of the time, often these were sexually related. In addition to this, he also included themes of homosexuality; voyeurism and obsession.

Hitchcock's First

Hitchcock's first film as a director was 'The Pleasure Garden' which was released in 1925 and starred Virgina Valli. The noticeable difference in Hitchcock's first film compared to those of today was that it was shot in black and white and was a silent film.

What did Hitchcock do in each of his films?

In each of his films, Hitchcock had a cameo part and can be seen for a very short space of time in each of them. An example of this, is in his hit 1960 film 'Psycho', he can be seen standing in the street outside of the window. The exception to this is 'The Wrong Man' (1956) in which Hitchcock did not appear.

What are the conventions of Hitchcock's films?

Hitchcock used various cinematic techniques such as the 'first British talking' picture, extreme zoom shots; dolly-zoom shots; or the long pull-back shot from inside a building to the outside street to heighten anticipation. Hitchcock also used visually expressive motifs in his films, using silhouettes; reflections; the concept of 'pairs' or the making of technically challenging films. In many of his films there was the inevitable life and death chase reaching a dramatic climax, and he also liked to use confined spaces in order to create heightened anticipation.