A Thriller film genre well known for it's excitement-filled plot.
Narrative
Thrillers usually begin calmly with typical events such as family gatherings, dates etc.
Something then occurs to trigger the spark in tension. This 'Something" is usually disruptive to the equilibrium as said in Todorov's Theory (death, murder, assassinations, attacks).
-For example in the movie Zodiac (2007), we see a couple out on their date on the 4th of July. The atmosphere then changes when the Zodiac Killer makes his appearance.
-In some cases, this "tension" fluctuates. In the 1979 film "Alien" the first tense moment is when the Face hugger attaches itself onto Kane. This then lessens when the audience finds out that they are able to remove it from him and that he remains almost unharmed. After a happy event where the crew are having their dinner, the alien unexpectedly reappears, bursting from Kane's chest. Prior to that Kane nauseates to the point where his crew has to hold him down.
The tension then increases, accompanied by other devastating events (further deaths, more chaos...) reaching a climax. The protagonist(s) must deal with this disruption either to cease it or give in.
Characters
Protagonists
Antagonists
Themes
Psychological
Political: -Ideological clashes: Bridge of spies is set during the Cold War, a battle between 2 ideas
-Laddaland is about a father's financial struggle under the capitalist system, forcing him to move to the countryside and live in a haunted village
Crime: This can range from murders to terrorist attacks, which the plot will revolve around. Examples include Zodiac (2007) and London has fallen (2016)
Societal fears such as: -Terrorism
-Non-Human organisms
-A.I domination
-War
-Other threats to the human race such as GLOBAL WARMING (represented in 2012)
The Future: Children of Men is about the human's race's extinction and takes place in 2027.
This theme has diverse results since no one is certain about the future, film writers are at their freewill to dictate the plot.
Settings
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| This was the house used in the filming of the opening of "Scream". It is located next to fields of plantations emphasizing the feeling of being isolated and helpless. |
-Isolated places
-Mansions
-Abandoned property
-Urban areas
-Sacred places
-Schools
-Dark places
-Lakes/The ocean
Iconography
-The appearance of the antagonist in the film: -Not directly revealed. In Zodiac, we do not see the Zodiac Killer's face at the very beginning. This is often done to create tension as the plot revolves on finding out his true identity.
-Accompanied either by loud music or silence
-Diegetic sounds of breathing
-Music: -used to convey the characters emotions or sometimes inner feelings.
-creates the atmosphere and mood of a scene. EG: fast and loud music is used in tense scenes such as approaching the antagonist to add further tension.
-Jump scares which are made to appear unexpectedly when the audience thinks nothing will happen.
Filming techniques
-Close-ups: -to show significant props eg: the watch in Zodiac
-To convey the emotions of the characters more thoroughly
-Track-shots : Conveys Panic in a POV that the audience can empathise with.-Canted Angles: -Emphasizes on the violence in the scene and gives it a dramatic effect .
-High amounts of camera shots used per scene:
In the action/thriller movie Taken 3, there are 15 shots of the protagonist (Liam Neeson) climbing over a fence.
For effects such as:-symbolism
-tension
-creating an unsafe atmosphere
-"Jump cuts": making an unexpected switch from 1 scene to another. a.k.a not revealing every piece of information.
This creates suspense, tension and maintains the audience's curiosity throughout the film.
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