Media-Thrillers V1.0

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WithreferencetoHitchcock’s“Psycho”(1960)andatleasttwootherthrillersyouhavestudied,aswellasyourwiderresearch,discussthethrilleranditsformsandconventions.Thrillersareaverysuccessfulgenretypeandtheyarealsonormallyquiteheavilylinkedwithinothergenresaswell.Alotofmoderngenresarelinkedwiththethrillergenreduetoitspopularity.AlfredHitchcockisprobablyoneofthemostnotablethrillerdirectorswithafairlynotoriousfilmofhisbeingPsycho.Thewholeideaofathrilleristoengagetheaudienceandkeepthemontheedgeoftheirseats.Theyoftenareaboutcrimeorsomesortofmurderwhicharequitegripping.Thrillersareoftenmixedwiththeactiongenreduetothenatureofthem.Thrillersoftenbuildsuspenseinanumberofways,thiscouldincludefastpacedcutsbetweendifferentcameraanglestoincreasethespeedofthemovietoincreasetheamountofactionorlongdrawnoutclipstoslowdownthespeedwhichcreatesatotallydifferentaffect.Musicisoftenusedinthrillersasmusiccancreateatenseratmosphereandcreatethesuspenseandtensionnecessaryforthethrillergenre.Thestorylineisanimportantpartofathrillerasapoorstorylineinathrillerwouldnotbesuccessful.Thestorylinesofthrillerswillhavemanytwistsinthem,leadingyoutobelieveonethingwhichlaterturnsouttobewrong.Thrillerssometimesendwithandunresolvedstorylineoracliff-hangerattheendasforone,thisleavesitopenforanotherfilmbutitallowstheaudiencetomaketheirownmindupbasedontheevents.Thisisnotascommonaspeoplebyhumannaturelikeanending.Oftenthrillerswillincludealotofviolencewhetherthatbeinhandtohandcombatorsomeonegettingshot,thisistypicalofathrillergenreandiscommonlyusedtointensifythestoryline.Moderndayfilmsgetquitegoryasitismoreacceptableandthereismoretechnologyavailabletoaddcomputergeneratedimages(CGI)andeffectson.Themoremodernaudienceisusedtomoregoreandspecialeffectswhichmeansthattheycanfeelundersoldorboredifafilmlacksthem.Thecharactersareanotherpartofanymoviehowevertheyhaveastrongersignificanceinathriller.Charactersarethepeopleyoulikeordislikeorevenhate,thisisallbuiltonthereabilitytoact–iftheycannotactaseriouspartwell,itlookscomedic.CharactersarealldesignedbystereotypesandhowwealreadyunderstandcinematobehowevermanynewfilmssuchasStarWars:TheForceAwakensappeartocastablackmaleasamaincharacterwhichisunusualasblackpeopleorforeignpeoplearenormallyanenemyinafilm(TerminatorGenisyscastsArnoldSchwarzeneggerasanally).Theprotagonistsattirenormallyconsistsoflighterclothingorasuit,asuitsuggestsaposhgentlemanwhichisassociatedwithspiesandspymovies.Theantagonistsattireisnormallymainlyblackincolourandtheywilloftenwearclotheswhichsubvertstheexpectationsofthatstyleofclothing–likeonKingsman:TheSecretService,Valentinewhoistheenemywillweardifferentstylesofsuitscomparedtowhatatraditionalsuitlookslike.

Media-Thrillers V1.0

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Psycho(1960)Arguablyoneofthemostnotoriousthrillers.PsychoisdirectedbyAlfredHitchcockwhoisrenownforhisthrillerfilms.Hehasrevolutionisedthethrillergenreinmanyways,heusedgraphicviolencewhichaudienceswerenotusedtobeforeitwasquiteashockconsideringthepaceoftherestofthefilm.OneofthemainreasonsthatitwasfilmedinblackandwhiteotherthantocutcostswasbecauseHitchcockknewhewouldnotpastthecensorsofthattimewithredbloodgoingeverywhere.TheBBCsaid,“To get the scene past the censors Hitchcock claimed the knife never touched the victim, but studies have since suggested it does”.Thiswasalsooneofthefirstfilmsofitstimetohavesympathyforthekillersuggested.Hitchcocksettoplaywiththeaudience’ssympathiesinawaythatnoonehaddonebefore.OtherdirectorsofthetimeusedathirdpersonneutralperspectivewhenfilmingkeycharactershoweverHitchcockusesfirstpersoncamerashotswhichbuildacloserconnectiontothecharacterwiththeaudience.Hitchcockalsowentoutofhiswaytomakesurethattheendingtothefilmwasnotspoiledwithpromotionalsloganssuchas,“Don’tgiveawaytheending–it’stheonlyonewehave!”.Thefilmwasalsonotscreenedforcriticsorcinema-ownersbeforereleaseandallofthecastandcrewhadtosignnon-disclosureagreements.HitchcockusesmusicinPsychowhichchangedthewayitwasusedinallofcinema,theviolinsfromtheshowersceneareoneofthemostrecreatedscenes.However,thewholesoundtracksaddstherightatmospheretothefilmtocreatesuspenseandtensionplusanunknownfuture.CameraanglesandeditingwereanimportantpartofPsychoasHitchcockusedthemtomaketheaudiencefeelandseewhathewanted.Theshowerscenewasamontageoffasteditinganddifferentcameraangleswhichmadeitlookalotmoreviolentthenitactuallywas.

Kingsman:TheSecretService(2015)Kingsman:TheSecretServiceisdirectedbyMatthewVaughnandhasbeenaverysuccessfulfilm.Alotofcriticscomplainedofitsoverthetopviolenceandgraphicsceneswithlotsofbloodeffects.YoucouldsaythatthissortofactionhasbeeninspiredfromAlfredHitchcock’spsychoastheywerethefirsttopushthecinemaboundariesofthetimeandthankstothatthisfilmwasabletoonceagainpushtheboundaries.Thewholefilmisaboutamaleteenagerwhoisgrowingupinaroughareawherehismotherisinanabusiveandviolentrelationshipwithherpartner.HethendecidestoapplytobeaKingsmanspyandhepassesallofthetestsapartfromonewhichmeanshecannolongerbeaspyandhegoesbackhome.CollinFurthplayshismentorwhotakeshimbacktohishousetotellhimnottogiveup.ItisallthenaboutstoppingValentinefromendingtheworldandhowthemaincharacterhastosavetheworld.Stereotypesareusedwithinthisfilmasthemainenemyisablackmalewhoisaccompaniedbyatypicalfemalevillain.Themainprotagonistisayoungerpersoncomparedtonormal

Media-Thrillers V1.0

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spyfilmshowevertherearethesamecharacteristicsasheisshowntobecaring,brave,strongandpowerfulwhenultimatelyhedefeatstheenemyattheend.Italsoshowsthemainprotagonistwithrealworldproblemsthatotherpeoplemaybeabletorelatetowhichallowstheaudiencetobetterengagewiththefilm.Theattirewasamajorpartofthefilmaseachpersonwasgivenspeciallymadedesignerclothesjustforthefilm.EachpieceofclothingwasbrandedKingsmanwiththelogoonitaswell.Infact,alloftheclothinginthefilmisavailabletopurchasefromMrPorterawellknowndesignerretailer.Thisisshowingjusthasimportantitisandtowhatlengthstheyarewillingtobuildtheconnectionwiththeaudience.Italsoshowsthepopularityofthefilmandtheexpensivelypricedmerchandise.Theclothesmainlyfeaturesuitsofwhichistypicaloftheaveragespyfilm–givingtheideaofaposhgentlemenspy.

Youcanseefromtheshotabovethatoneofthemainprotagonistsiswalkingawayfromagangofpeoplewhichmostpeoplewouldfindquitedauntinghoweverheiswalkingawaycalmly.YoucantellthisbythewaythatCollinFurthholdshispostureandhehasawideopenstance,hisbodylanguagesuggestspowerashehasnotgothisarmsfoldedacrosshiminanyway.Thesuitgiveshimapowerfullookasitistidyandsmartandisalwayswarnbypeopleinpower.Pleaseturnover.

Media-Thrillers V1.0

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Thisisshowinghowthemaincharacteristalkingtothepeoplewherebyheisoutnumberedandhehashisbacktothem.Thisisquiteavulnerablepositionasyoucannotseebehindyounordefendyourselffrombehind.Thisisshowinghowconfidentheis.

Theythenproceedtoattackhimhoweverheisabletodefendhimselfandwell.ThisisprobablythemostcloselyrelatedtoPsychoasthisiswheretherehasbeenalotofbloodandviolenceusedwhichbytodaysstandardsPsychoseemsquitedulleddowncomparedtothishoweverIimaginetheyarequitesimilarinimpactwiththeprogressionoftechnologyandwhatpeopledeemtobeacceptable.ThisparticularversionisanextractfromtheYouTubevideowhichservedsortofasatrailerbyshowingthisonescenehowevercomparedtotheactualfilmthereishardlyanybloodorexcessiveviolence.Therewassceneisthispartofactionwhereoneofthecharactersgetsstabbedandtherearelotsofaddedbloodandgraphicimagerywhichisverysimilartopsychosphilosophy.

Media-Thrillers V1.0

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AlsothereisalotofgadgetsshownonthefilmaswellandIfeelthatthisstemsdownfromJamesBondwhichisoneofthemostpopularspyfranchisesintheworldwhichisnotoriousforgivingtheiragentloadsofgadgetshowevernotsomuchrecently.MostmodernspyfilmswhetherthatbecomedybasedornormalwithgivetheircharacterssomeformofgadgetsforthemtouseasthisiswhataudienceshavetocomeexpectasJamesBondisprobablythelongestrunningfranchisewhichmostpeoplewillhaveseenandmeansthatthisiswhattheaudiencesareusedto.

Misery(1990)MiseryisanothergreatthrillerwhichhasbeenrankedhighlyonthelikesofRottenTomato’s.Itmanagestokeepaudience’sengagementwiththeslightlystrangeatmospherefeltthroughouthis“capture”untilitisfinallyrealisedthatshewon’tlethimleave.Miseryismainlyathrillerhoweveritdoeshavelinkswiththehorrorgenreaswell.

Media-Thrillers V1.0

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Youcantellfromthisclipjusthowpoweringandstrangethewomanis.Shehastiedthemaincharacter,whotheaudiencehasbeenmadetoempathisewith,downtothebedsohecannotescape.Thestrangewayinwhichsheactswithaquickchangeintempercreatesascaryandtenseatmospheretensionisbuiltfromnotknowingifsheissuddenlygoingtogetreallyangry.ItseemstolookalotlikePsychoespeciallyasthisissetinabedroomandaroundahousemuchlikePsycho.

Thecharacterherselflooksquitescaryandevenscarierwithaknife.AlotofthrillerfilmsseemtouseknifesinthemafterPsychodid.Ithinkthereissomethingalotmorescaryaboutaknifethanagunasmaybeaknifeismorepersonalthanjustshootingsomeone.

Media-Thrillers V1.0

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Shealsobreakshisanklessothathecannotescapefromherwhichisquiteaterrifyingsceneasitisactedsowellthattheaudiencecanalmostexperiencethepainwhichthemaincharactergoesthrough.Overallthrillersareanimportantpartofcinemawhichappealtoavastamountofpeople.Theyhavemanyhybridconnectionstoothergenresandtendtobeaboutcrimeofsomesortofviolencelikemurder.Violencesignificantlyincreasesinthrillerfilmswiththeincreaseintheamountsoftechnologyandhowweareabletoexceptitinsociety.WithmildviolenceinPsycho(althoughatthetimeseenasquiteexcessive)allthewaytoKingsman:TheSecretServicewhichhasalotofstrongexcessiveviolenceevenbytodaysstandards.Storylineisanimportantpartofathrillerastheyoftenhavemanycliff-hangersandhavetokeeppeopleinsuspensewantingtokeeponwatching.