Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements.Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced.
A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions and excitement that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace thrills. It keeps the audience cliff-hanging at the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. Literary devices such as 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. (wikipedia)
There has been a large number of famous thrillers throughout the years and this blog will describe how they have changed and what has been produced over the past 50 years.
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The first main thriller film which was controversial at the time was Alfred Hitchcocks 1960 film 'psycho' It was the first thriller film that really showed a murder scene in as much detail as possible for the time. Hitchcock used a number of techniques such as breaking the 180 degree rule, diagetic sound and iconography to create the thrilling murder scene. He managed to shock and surprise the audience leaving them in suspense. This was groundbreaking and really opened the floodgates to murder in thriller films.
In the next decade, directors started to realise that the audience liked to be scared. They wanted to be on the edge of their seat. This lead to more makeup being used to make something scary rather than the horror of killing someone. Williams Freikins 1973 hit 'The Exorcist' used two things to really entice the audience. He used award winning makeup and played on what people think are most scary. In this case the devil and how a child is possessed by the devil.
A short time afterwards, more groundbreaking movies were made such as the 1975 film 'jaws' by Stephen Spielberg. I feel he used 3 things to really push this film to the limit. The use of sound and blood like in psycho really put the audience on edge. Spielberg did not hold back with adding as much dramatic effects as possible. Another convention he used was using an idea that the audience can relate too. It was a fact that after the film came out, people were afraid to enter the ocean. It made people panic enough to think this actually could happen and he also used cutting edge technology for the time with a nine million dollar budget.
In 1980, Stanley Kubrick brought out 'The shining' This was a new direction for thriller films. This film proves that you don't need a real life situation or a lot of gore to keep the audience in suspense. This film was psychological and the director made the audience afraid of the character. The use on camera angles, iconography and mysteriousness created enigma among the audience and really opened up the playing field to future physiological thrillers.
The final film is Danny Boyle's 2002 film '28 days later' This film really represents modern day thrillers. Even though it is ten years old, thriller films have consisted of this material ever since because it works on the audience. It contains all the characteristics that stun the audience and scares them which leads them to wanting the small thrill over and over again. Some of the features you see in this film are the gore and urgency. It is based on a disease that makes people into zombies.
I will take all these films into consideration when making my own thriller film so i can have a greater understanding in how to really keep the audience on the edge of their seats. I will take the psycho's idea of murder, exorcist's idea of character, jaw's idea of real life situation, shining's idea of isolation and mentality and 28 days later's idea of urgency in a life or death situation. I have taken great inspiration from these films and they have really broadened my view of ideas I can use for my thriller. Looking at these I can also also estimate what people people want to see from a thriller. This leads me on to this table taken from wikipedia.
Halfway down the list is the film seven which made 13,000,000 dollars in the first weekend. This is about two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. (IMDB) The reason for this films success could be the star studded line up which includes Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Sometimes people are more likely to see a film depending on its cast.
Towards the bottom I see saw 3D. This film comes after a number of saw films and some say it is unsurprising to see it down there. The story line is As a deadly battle rages over Jigsaw's brutal legacy, a group of Jigsaw survivors gathers to seek the support of self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen, a man whose own dark secrets unleash a new wave of terror. (IMDB) Looking at this, the plot looks old and shallow. This could be because they are running out of ideas. However earlier saws are ranked higher up the list because when it was fresh, it was an amazing idea for a thriller movie.
This post demonstrates some understanding of how thriller have changed and developed over the years. You have identified a variety of films, which helps to show your understanding of conventional narratives. But you need to ensure that you have elaborated on the examples, by providing further detail on the plots, characters, themes, etc.
ReplyDeleteWithin your summary, you need to consider what inspirations you will use and consider within your own narrative in more detail.
The box office information that you have included, helps to demonstrate a slightly more understanding of how thriller films appeal to an audience. You have also started to consider the box office figures and the narratives of the films. But further discussion of how the films appeal to an audience are needed, to expand on the points that you have already included.
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