GENREGenre- definition Genre is a French word which consists of identifiable codes and conventions (key ingredients). When choosing a film audiences often rely on genre to be the decider as they are prone to those key ingredients of that genre, they expect a certain element. The Greeks invented genre (Aristotle). Films genre can be identified by: setting& location, props& costume, narrative elements, characters, mood (emotional tone), lighting, actors/ stars.

Thriller genreThe thriller genre consists of a hero and an anti hero and often something or someone of value to fight for. Thrillers main aim is to build and create suspense, release adrenaline to shock and keep you gripped. Thrillers don’t usually leave the audience with a resolved story they leave you in slight suspense, as this is one of the key ingredients that the audience seeks.

Audience expectationsWhen audiences go to watch a thriller they expect the key ingredients to supply them with the following feelings: adrenaline, shock, suspense, sometimes fear and to be gripped throughout. Without an audience feeling those emotions it isn’t a successful thriller.

A timeline to thriller genreHistory of Genre - Thrilller

Genre is a French word yet it was the Greeks idea, they came up with the meaning for genre. Genre began as an absolute classification system for ancient Greek literature. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are dismissed. Thriller has been developed and changed through history.

1930- Warner Bros. inaugurated the crime-gangster film, with director Mervyn LeRoy's

 Little Caesar. The first talkie gangster film. Controversial as it began the sub-genre of

‘crime-gangster thriller’.

1960- A few years later the thriller sub-genres had really set off and Alfred Hitchcock

released his best film Psycho in 1960, this is said to be a big part of thriller history as

it is now ranked one of the greatest films of all time and it also set a new level of acceptance

in American films for violence, deviant behaviour and sexuality.

1997- By this point the thriller genre had really taken off; Jean- Pierre Jeunet’s film

Alien Resurrection was released and this was shocking as it was something new.

It reinvented the thriller genre mixing in the codes of two other sub genres: sci-fi and action.

2010- After a century of iconic thriller films being produced the only sub genre left is parody,

Jason Friedberg released his film Vampires Suck which is mocking a previous thriller hybrid

‘Twilight’, it features the thrilling codes but making them less suspenseful with a high comedy factor.

Hybrids/Sub Genres - ThrillerHybrids/ sub genres

Genre hybrids are films that incorporate two or more genres. Hybrids are more original and ground-breaking, as they take more talent and precision. Sub-genres are the different types of film categories within a genre, under thriller you have: crime-thrillers, action-thrillers, supernatural thrillers, psychological thrillers. A good example of a hybrid would be Jan De Bont’s film Speed (1994) it incorporates three different genres: crime, thriller, action. Also an example of a hybrid would be Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho it’s a psychological thriller. A sub genre to thriller.

CHARACTERISATIONNarrative Conventions- ThrillerNarrative conventions is the storyline in a film. It refers to both the story structure that films employ and the specific narrative devices that are used in the construction. Narrative theory is looking at storylines and how we can analyse them by looking at their structures: Propp analysed character types he concluded that there’s a hero, a villain and a damsel in distress. Whereas as Todorov looked at narrative structure coming up with the following sequence: equilibrium, disequilibrium, realisation followed by new equilibrium. In thriller, generally the plot shows good and evil fighting against each other with an overall feeling of suspense. Most often, the identity of the antagonist is known and the protagonist must intervene with their plans; thrillers usually have a growing sense of threat and danger.

Thriller CharacterisationCharacter representation

On the whole there are two main types of characters: the hero and the anti-hero. To represent a character you need to take into consideration iconography, characters props, their costume & make-up, their figure expression/ body language. A typical thriller villain character would have a weapon as their main prop to show they’re the evil in the film or something that displays their cunning tendency's. They, typically speaking, would have creepy eye make up to emphasise their evil twisted character. Their facial expressions would be constantly inquisitive due to the fact they’re trying to intervene with plans. For example, Ben Kingsley in Shutter Island is a good example of character representation especially for the ‘inquisitive facial expression’ as his character Dr. Cawley is seen as the one intervening and ruining the plans of Leonardo DiCaprio.

CONSTRUCTION of THRILLER

Camerawork in ThrillerThe camera work of a film is a key thing, done badly and you’ll notice even if it’s not something you notice usually when watching a film. In thriller the camera work plays a big role as it creates certain atmospheres which are out of the ordinary therefore meaning you may need slightly unnatural shots such as a handheld shot (a good thriller film displaying this being Blair Witch Project), or extreme close up shots which focus on one feature for example the characters eye for emphasis. This draws you in so much so that you can’t see the surroundings so the rest is left to imagination proving the success of this camera shot within the thriller genre. There’s a wide array of different camera shots which come together to fit within a certain genre to make it flow.

EditingEditing techniques involve lots of talent and precision to bring a film together without making it seem obvious (allowing it to flow). There are many techniques such as overlapping,

SoundThe sound can make or break a film, people always seem to comment on it. It can even be a decider for films, especially in the younger generations. It’s a key element to making a good film. Typically in thriller the sound is fast paced to mirror the suspense being created, often using something with a big ‘drop’ suggesting the intervening the evil is doing with the good.

Bibliography

Resources: wikipedia, imdb, my notes

By Olivia Baragwanath