T H R I L L E R SG E N R E R E S E A R C H B Y P H O E B E G I B S O N

Thrillers They are films that traditionally create suspense that provokes an

audience to feel intense excitement or anticipation.

Restlessly pursues a

single-minded goal

What makes it a Thriller?

Cliff hanger

Plot with

climax

Dangerous/potential deadly

situation Menacing moments

or mystery

Closely related to

Horror Si-fi

thriller

Psychological thrillerAction

thriller

Action thriller

Conventions of a Psychological Thriller

My Film Opening will be a Psychological Thriller and I’ll included some of these elements

Lighting + colour

Sound Costume + Make up

Setting + Props

• Low key lighting create suspense, shadows

• black and white colours

• Colour/font of the Film title

• Colour linking to direct emotion

• Starts with slow tempo and relatively quite

• Eerie music to create suspense

• Beats on specific events or moments

• Silence that creates tension or panic

• Naturalistic costume to create realistic impression

• Lack of make up can make a character seem more natural

• Smudged make up can suggest crying

• A dark house or alley way

• Shadowy/dark spaces

• Weapons e.g. knifes, guns

• Claustrophobic spaces to create tensions and panic

Early Thrillers

Directed by: Carol Meed

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli

Story by: Alexander Korda, Graham Greene

Safety Last

(1923)

Gaslight

(1944)

The Third Man

(1949)Directed by: Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor

Starring: Harold Lloyd,Mildred Davis, Noah Young

Budget: $121,000

Directed by: George Cukor

Starring: Ingrid Burgman, Charles Boyer, Angela Lansbury

Budget: $2.068 million

Actors and Directors

Director: Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock directed around

60 films throughout his lifetimeThriller Films:

• ‘The Lodger’-1926• ‘Psycho’ -1960• ‘Vertigo’-1958• ‘The Birds’-1963

Early: Late:Director: Ridley ScottAn English Film director and producer Thriller Films: • ‘Prometheus’-2012 (Fantasy Thriller)• ‘Alien’-1979 (Fantasy Thriller)• ‘Alien Covenant’-2017 (Sci-fi Thriller)• ‘Hannibal’ -2001 (Drama Thriller)

Actor: Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE, is a Welsh actor of film, stage, and television.Thriller Films: • ‘Red Dragon’-1926• ‘Hannibal’ -1960• ‘The Silence of the Lambs’-1958• ‘The Rite’-1963

Actress: Ingrid Bergman A Swedish actress who starred

in a variety of European and American films.Thriller Films:

• ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’-1941• ‘Notorious’-1946• ‘Gaslight’-1944

HOW HAVE THRILLERS CHANGED OVER TIME? 1950’s and 60’s alien and monster

movies were created to take away some of the nations fear during the cold war, by allowing human kind to seem in control. During this era movies such as Godzilla and Them!

were produced.

Thriller have changed a long with peoples fears:

e.g. Psycho (Hithcock, 1960) about a woman wanting to escape her normal life and running into trouble in a

motel. Its realistic and could happen to

anyone.

In the 1930’s based on literature such as Frankenstein

and Dracula

1970’s realism was introduced to the genre. More relatable films generated more fright during this time. Films such as the legendary Psycho and Halloween were created.

In the 80’s slashers were the most popular such as Nightmare on Elm Street. Also special effects were used more and creating monsters as the villains resulting in films such as An American Werewolf in

London and The Thing

•1990’s psychological thrillers are introduced and fear of the unknown is used widely. Films such as The Blair Witch Project, which was the first of its kind, introducing a

completely unique style.

Modern ThrillersEx

ampl

es

Memento (2000) American Phycho

(2001)

The Butterfly effect(2001)

Black Swan(2010)

Silence of the Lambs(1991)Gone Girl

(2014)

The Girl On the Train(2014)

Shutter Island(2010)

Inception(2010)

Many Thrillers nowadays have a twist ending that shock audiences. Endings like this have a great effect in Thrillers as

they create a lot of anticipation and suspense which make an unexpected ending even more shocking as its different to

what the audience were anticipating.

e.g.Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000), a tale

told backwards, with Guy Pearce as a tattooed man without short-term memory, who hunts down the alleged rapist-killer

of his wife.

B o x O f f i c e... Between 1995

and 2016:

Movies Total Box Office 873 $16,841,433,216

Tickets Share2,552,274,560 8.53%

Target Audience

Thrillers are often 15+

as they can be gory or

scary and may include

Psychological issues that a

younger audience may

not understand.

Female audience as the protagonist is female and they may be able

to relate Between 15 – 19 as this is the closest range to the protagonist.

Between 15+ as it would contain psychological themes and violence

People who enjoy a mystery

Fans of the horror genre as

its very closely related

People who enjoy a film you have to think about

People who enjoy a film that has a lot of suspence