Thriller

Thriller

1. Conventions of a Thriller

   • low key lighting
   • quick cuts
   • shadows
   • tension music
   • changes in the angle of shots
   • diegetic sound of breathing
   • black and white shots
   • protagonist in the mercy of antagonist

2. Iconography

   • shadows and silhouettes
   • weapons
   • drugs
   • dark urban setting
   • cars

3. Examples of Thrillers

   • Strangers on a Train - 1951
   • Rear Window - 1954
   • Vertigo - 1958
   • Psycho - 1960
   • The Silence of the Lambs -1991
   • Seven - 1995
   • Shutter Island - 2010
   • Black Swan - 2010
   • I Saw the Devil - 2010
   • Prisoners - 2013
   • Gone Girl - 2014

4. Mise-en-scene

   • low-key lighting
   • costume
     • antagonist in dark clothes
     • protagonist in light or normal clothes
   • film stoke
     • black and white, colour
     • fine grain, grainy

5. Editing of a Thriller

   • jump cuts
   • cross cutting
   • continuity

6. What do I think when I hear the word "thriller"?

   • suspense and excitement
   • busy streets/urban/suburban
   • narrative revolves around investigation of an enigma
   • hero is often an outsider
   • violence
   • rational rather than supernatural explanation
   • centres on injustice in society
   • hero and villain often share characteristics