Summery:

Thriller is a large genre of film that uses emotions such as suspense, tension and excitement to keep the audience interested. Thrillers are good for stimulating the viewer’s brains because the narrative and the characters are complex and the audience need to pay close attention to what is going on. Thrillers tend to be adrenaline-rushing and fast-paced. There are 5 main conventions (crime, complex structure, twists and turns, plot build up and restricted questions) that are used to create a good thriller film. There are also certain character types that are typical for this genre of film. The main aim for thrillers is to keep people on the edge of their seats.

Tzvetan Todarov:

Todarov’s has a theory of narrative, he suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages;

1.A state of equilibrium at the outset2.A disruption of the equilibrium3.A recognition that there has been a disruption4.An attempt to repair the disruption5.A reinstatement of the equilibrium

This type of narrative structure is known to us and is used in many ‘mainstream’ film narratives.

Narrative is defined as “a chain of events in a cause-affect relationship occurring in time”. Thrillers tend to have a restricted narration, they only offer minimal information regarding the narrative.

Syd Field:

Field has a theory of narrative, he believes that each film is made up of three acts;1.Set Up –This is normally about 40 minutes long. According to Field within the first ten minutes the audience will decide if they like the film. This is where the film will give a sense of what it is going to be about, identify the main character(s) ect. In the other thirty minutes the audience should learn about the problem facing the hero .

2. Confrontation – This is often the longest act in the film. The protagonist is in problematic situations where they confront the antagonist quite helplessly. Quite often there is a mid-point where things begin to turn around for the protagonist and they win what looked like a helpless struggle.

4. Resolution – The protagonist finally takes control of their problems and the situation (often confronting the antagonist on their territory) and achieves a final, decisive victory.

There are 5 main narrative conventions of a thriller.

1.Crime is at the center of the narrative In Shutter Island, the detectives are called to the island because someone has been reported to have gone missing from her room.

2.Complex Structure (false paths) - PlotIn Case 39, the main character is lead to believe that the little girl is in danger living with her parents, only to find out that the girl is actually possessed and her parents where trying to kill her to protect themselves.

3.Twists and turnsIn The Lovely Bones, the girl is in an underground room and gets attacked by the old man, we believe that she manages to escape from the room. It’s not until she gets home that we understand that he did killed her.

4.Climax in the plotIn the Sixth Sense, you find out that the people the boy sees are dead and they need his help, and again it’s not until the end that we find out his therapists is also dead.

•Restricted questions and riddles In Shutter Island, we never really can tell what's going on e.g. he keeps seeing the same woman, we all want to know who it is, but we don’t find out until the end.

Antagonists are the villains/ bad guys of the film. They tend to be convicts, killers, terrorists, psychotic people. Psychotic people are often very intelligent people and because of there complex mind they are seen as invincible. There identity is fairly hidden until the end. (either actually or metaphorically in the case of Vincent in Collateral. Protagonists are the hero’s/good guys of the films. They are often innocent people that may have a dark past, cops, ex-cops. They are everyday people who are in the wrong place and the wrong time, they will have a flaw which makes then vulnerable and their ‘quest’ difficult to achieve and be placed in threatening situations. Vladimir Propp, when looking at folktales, had a theory the characters took on the role of narrative ‘spheres of action’ or functions, he came up with 7 different character types (which can be found in thrillers):• Hero: Usually male, restores the equilibrium by embarking on a quest (or search).For example: The dad, Liam Neeson, in Taken is the one who goes to find his daughter.• Villain: Creates the narrative disruption.For example: Dr Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins, in Silence of the Lambs.• Donor: Gives the hero something, it may be an object, information or advice.For example: In Silence of the Lambs because Dr Hannibal Lecter gives information to the hero, Jodie

Foster.• Helper: Aids the hero in restoring the equilibrium For example: Brad Pitt in Se7en as he comes in to replace Morgan Freeman but they end up being

partners.• Princess (victim): Usually most threatened by villain and has to be saved by hero.For example: Bruce Willis in the 6th sense, he believes he is still alive only to find that he is dead at the

end. • Dispatcher: Sends the hero on the task, can be princess fatherFor example: in Se7en John is also the dispatcher because he gives them information and clues all the

way through. • False hero: Appears to be good but is revealed to be bad at the end. For example: Brad Pitt in Shutter Island because he was originally there to find the lost girl.

Mise-en-scene is a French term for conventions that appear before the camera. There are 5 elements to it;1.SettingThe setting will be geographical, emotional and atmospheric to make it more realistic to the audience. The setting in thrillers are normally small quiet towns that don’t seem to have much going on, This is typical for thrillers because the tend to use places and things that are seen as normal. 2.Props The props will compliment the narrative, it will indicate what genre the film is and give us information about the characters. The décor lets us know the location and time period of the film. In thrillers there would be any abnormal props, they will be everyday objects and the décor will be ‘normal’ and something would see everyday. 3.Costumes and Make-upThe costumes and make-up could be historical or futuristic. It will let us know the social status and the situation of the characters and emphasis that person. In thrillers the costumes would be everyday outfits, normally for the currant time period and this is the same for make-up, it would be light and un-noticeable. 4.ExpressionExpression will involve eye contact, gestures, characters body postures and facial expression and proxemics – the distance between the characters will tell us there relationship. The expressions in thrillers will be different for each character e.g. the victim would show expressions that someone in the real life would act. 5.Lighting and ColourThe colour of the scene will be read by the audience, lighting generates moods and atmospheres. All the lighting in thrillers would be natural, it would mostly represent bad weather.

Camera Shot Types

1.Establishing Shot - This is normally at the beginning of a (new) scene. It gives us information about the people, location ect. This can static or moving. This is good for thrillers because it will normally show the location to be somewhere normal. For example, The opening of Shaw Shank Redemption is a good establishing shot. Thrillers don’t often use establishing shots because then it would make the film seem less real, if it goes straight into it, the audience would feel more involved. 2.Wide Angle Shot - This gives us a wide view of the scene. If it is of a person, they take up all the room in the shot leaving little space at the top and bottom (safety room). This shows you where people are in the room. 3.Long Shot - Long shots are good for showing the distance between the subject and the camera. The subject is shown in full. This is very similar to wide shot. For example, in Graduate when the boy is running to the church, he is running straight at the camera. This is good for showing time passing. These are good shots for thrillers because they let you know where people stand in the room, and it can make the audience feel that they are there in the film, part of what is going on. 4.Point Of View (POV) - This is through the subjects eyes, audience gets emotionally attached to character. APOV (associated point of view) is where the camera is just behind the subject. POV is good for thrillers because the audience will get emotionally attached to the character or feel emotions like tension/suspense ect. -Mid Shot/Med Close Up/Close up/Extreme Close Up - MS, The subject and its surrounds have equal space in the frame. MCU, head and shoulders. CU, small part of scene – the subject takes up most of the space. ECU, will focus on one thing in the shot. Close up/Extreme Close Ups are good for thrillers because the audience will connect with the characters emotionally.

- High Angle: A view from above, this shot makes the subject look venerable/weak.This angel is good for thrillers because the audience can see the victims emotion and the can

feel sorry for them, it could make the audience think about how they would feel if they were in that situation.

- Low Angle: A view from below, this makes the subject look powerful/dominant. This angle is good for thrillers because it puts the audience in the the victims shoes and

make them feel uncomfortable and panic about what the would feel if they were in the position.

- Hand Held: Camera is held in hand, this creates a shaky affect.Hand held is good for thrillers because it makes the audience think that someone is there,

watching over the subject or that the are in fact there and part of the film which would then make the audience feel emotions such as tension and worry about what is going to happen next.

- Track: The camera moved along with subject.Tracking is good for for thrillers because the audience can feel like they are there, going

along with/part of the action and thrillers are full of action packed scenes.- Reverse Tracking Shot/Dolly Zoom: The camera moves back but zooms in at the same

time. Hitchcock zoom. The camera does opposite to what it should be. This is a good movement for thrillers because it makes the audience feel uncomfortable.

In Collateral’s opening title sequence, there was a good example APOV when the characters have just bumped into each other. This helped with hiding Vincent's identity, you can see the emotions of the other character clearly. Also because they are trying to be secretive its like where not meant to be there, we are listening in on them when we’re not supposed to. There was also a good example of POV when the character, Max, was looking at the photo. It gives the audience clues about his personality for example, we can tell that he is very caring when it comes to his work, he is a neat person and that he likes to be alone. We get emotional attachment with him because we can see he would rather be there then where he is right now. The place looks secluded and not many people there which is the complete opposite to where he is at that moment in time.

Collateral’s Opening Sequence

APOV of them talking for the first time.

POV of Max looking at his photograph.

Diegetic (natural) and non-diegetic (not natural) sounds.

Diegetic: This sounds’ source is normally visible on the screen or implied to be present by the action; -Voices of characters-Sounds made by objects on the story.-Music represented as coming from instruments in the story spaceDiegetic is obviously used in Thrillers because there is a lot of dialect in Thriller films to help the audience understand the narrative and clearly understand what is going on.

Non – Diegetic: These types of sounds source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action;- Narrator’s commentary -Sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect-Mood musicNon-Diegetic sound may not be used as much in Thriller films because it wouldn't’t seem as real and natural as Thriller aim to be.

Ambient: Is normally diegetic sounds. The naturally occur e.g. trees, birds ect.This type of sound is used a lot in thrillers because it makes the setting more realistic for the viewers.

The placing of separate shots together. Often the editing is seamless ( continuity editing) and you rarely notice it but if you do, the director would have done it on purpose for effect/emotion. Used to imply something in the narrative, passage of time/end of scene.

Graphic Match:When the camera changes scene there is a familiar relationship between the two shots so it makes the change in scene smooth. E.g. in brick the camera is moving around her body, and they shows a mid close up shot of her arm, the next scene is the same arm and shot opening a locker.

Match on action:When the camera cuts on action for instance, a hero jumps for a window, the next shot will be taken from the floor and him landing. When this happens the audience tend not to notice the amount of scene changes. E.g. in Batman, he goes down in to the front of the car and shoots missiles into the wall in front. There about about 8 different shots to show that from all different angels.

Shot reverse shot:This is a film technique, the character is show looking at another character (often off screen) then the other character is shown looking at the first character. This is good for showing dialogue. This is good for Thrillers because the narrative is lead by the characters.

Parallel Editing:Can be called cross editing, the camera continually cuts between two or more scenes is two different places but normal at the same time. E.g. in Silence of the Lambs there is one place showing a man in his house walking round shouting at a girl in a hole about his dog in a dark room while the other shot shows a police team the are planning to break into a house, and right at the end of both scenes it builds up to us thinking that the police are going to the mans house but it turn out they are in completely different places.

The typical age rating for thriller films is normally 15 because there are often scenes that contain strong violence, frequent strong language (e.g. F***, or in strong cases C*** but if there is an over use it would be considered higher than 15), possible scenes of a sexual nature/strong verbal references/nudity, discriminatory language and/or drug taking. The age rating can change depending on the subgenre/hybrid film type, e.g. in horror/thrillers there can be a strong threat and menace (providing its not sadistic or sexualised) however, strong gory images wont be accepted as a 15. The audience we expect for Thrillers is for people to have emotions such as suspense, tension ect. The audience should has there brain stimulated through out the film because of how complex some parts can be. One of the main aims is to keep people on the edge of there seats through-out the film. •Age: Teens and adults would be the most common age of the audience because the film normally centres around people that are that age so the audience can relate to characters.•Gender: Both male and female people like watching thrillers, males like to watch because of the potential action that may be in the film and females like to watch thrillers because of the mystery and possible the male lead.

These are the guidelines for a film rated 12.

ThemeMature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers. The theme is very basic and would not affect anyone.ViolenceModerate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and must have a strong contextual justification. Unstoppable contains moderate threat.LanguageModerate language is allowed. The use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’) must be infrequent. The language in Unstoppable is infrequent.DiscriminationThere is no discrimination in Unstoppable.DrugsThere is no drug taking in Unstoppable. HorrorThere is no horror in Unstoppable.Imitable behaviorThere is no imitable behavior Unstoppable.NudityThere is no nudity in UnstoppableSexThere is no sex in Unstoppable.

DiscriminationThere is no discrimination in Case 39.DrugsThere is no use of drugs in Case 39. Imitable behaviorThere is no real imitable behavior in Case 39.NudityThere is no nudity in Case 39.SexThere is no sex in Case 39.LanguageThere is a brief use of language but nothing that is very noticeable.HorrorThere is a small amount of horror in Case 39 but nothing sexualizedThemeNo theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.ViolenceThere is strong use of bloody violence in Case 39, some viewers may find this disturbing. However its not to graphic to be considered to be an 18.