Thriller Analysis

1. CONVENTIONS OF THE THRILLER
FILM GENRE.
MARIA KINASH

2. Characteristics of a thriller?
• Characters:
-spies, -soldiers, -convicts, -stalkers, -assassins, -
criminals, -prison inmates, -psychotic characters.
• Feelings thrillers create:
- Excitement, -suspense, -anticipation, -Anxiety,
-uncertainty,
• Iconography:
-cars, -weapons, -urban settings, -tension
building music, -fast pace editing, -low lighting.

3. Characteristics of a thriller:
• Themes:
-terrorism, -political conspiracy, -crime, -spies, -
chase, -suspense, -assassination.
• Thriller narratives:
•-A genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly
pursues a single-minded goal - to provide
thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at
the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds
towards a climax.

4. PSYCHO (Hitchcock, 1960)
• CONVENTIONS USED:
• Black and white is a convention of a thriller.
• Use of murder,
• Ambigious claustraphobic locations,
• Sound creates eerie feel.
Psycho is a Alfred Hitchcock thriller film made in 1960 starring
Anthony Perkins and Vera miles. It is the story about a young
female named Marion steals $40,000, she leaves town and
encounters a motel proprietor named Norman Bates who seems
dominated by his mother.

5. • Claustrophobic locations make us the
audience feel nervous as if we ourselves have
nowhere to hide just like the character on
screen.
• As visible in the still to the bottom
Marion closes the door and essentially
confines herself creating a claustrophobic
environment and building suspense.

6. • Black and white is a convention of a thriller.
It is used in this film as it accentuates shadows and
creates greater contrasts appearing to us the viewer
as eerie and dark.
• The use of black and white film is particularly
effective at this stage as the silhouette would
appear less sinister and mysterious if it didn't
contrast with the whiteness of the shower
curtain; the blackness of the silhouette also
creates strong connotation to death and evil.

7. • The use of murder is common in the thriller genre:
• In the famous shower scene, the shots are swift and
last no longer than a few seconds which has been done
perhaps to highlight the brutality of the stabbing.
• Each separate shot shocks the 1960's audience and
even us today.
• After the stabbings the camera slowly pans down tow
the bottom of the bath that is now flowing with blood,
shocking the audience as it displays the severity of his
murder.
• The use of slow motion or slow camera movements
makes sure the audience stays captivated in the scene
that has just occurred – in this case to highten our
horror of this scene.

8. • We hear non-diegetic music which creates a
sympathetic atmosphere, within the audience towards
Marion as she is pictured alone sitting in an hotel room
doing calculations and writing down figures, she looks
at them and sighs, then tears them up. The music also
feels quite eerie and we are constantly kept on edge as
we feel as if something bad is about to occur.
• Then, in the murder scene in the bathroom, the
diegetic music heightens the tension within the scene
as it is; loud, urgent and resembles screams.
• Sound plays an important aspect in any thriller genre
as it adds another dimension of feeling and
atmosphere to a scene.
SOUND

9. TAKEN SERIES: (2) (Megaton 2012)
• Contemporary thriller.
• Uses common thriller conventions such as:
- All is well at the start however cuts to
extraordinary action,
- Character is ex secret agent,
- Dark low lit lighting in action scenes,
- -Dramatic sound effects/music
- -Flashbacks,
- - weapons, guns destruction.

10. FILM OPENING:
• The first scene we see a young 5 year old girl with her mum
opening her presents. This is similar to the referred ‘all is well’
at the beginning of thrillers.
• This clip is shown through a home video and we can tell this as
the quality is low. The clip is then cut to a man who appears to
have a flash back.
• A flashback is seen as a very common thriller convention. In this
instance it is used to show a form of mental instability in this
character and how he may long for the past. – This feature
entices us to know more about his past?
• After showing the flashback the camera zooms in on a young
girl and her family but this scene is cut off as the title series
appears. This could hint that the family has been torn apart just
like the subtle hint of the title sequence cutting mid shot?
• These subtle hints commonly used in thrillers keep us interested
and hooked and longing to watch more.

11. LOCATION, THEME:
• Themes of thrillers are also usually brought up around crime,
murder theft etc.
• The narrative starts at an everyday situation and then
escalates to something out of the ordinary. In taken 2 the first
scenes are Liam Neeson spending time with his wife and
daughter and later on scenes are packed with action fighting
and drama.
• Taken 2 is set in Russia on a business trip, the family then join
him later in the film as they are taken and must fight in the
streets of Russia.

12. SOUND:
• The sound during the opening is diegetic, we are listening to a
home movie which adds authenticity to the scene as well as
gives hints and importance of these clips in the future scenes
of the film.
• During the action scenes the non diegetic music soundtrack is
very loud and crashing matching the atmosphere of the crazy
action packed scenes and the violence we see constantly
throughout the film.
• During the end where we see a happy ending this is
accompanied with joyful upbeat soft music to suggest all the
action and horror has finally ended.