Genre Research
Research_01
11_14_18
11_14_18
- Genre:
Thriller
- Content Analysis:
Thrillers are films that generally create tension and suspense throughout the plot, often using action or mystery to progress the story. The combination of excitement, anticipation, and apprehension is what makes suspense such a powerful storytelling tool. Viewers are drawn to the edge of their seats, but simultaneously feel a sort of tender fear towards the end result. Thrillers often always seem to have a sense that something is amuck; a constant negative foreshadowing.
As I touched on earlier, thrillers are very diverse in their style of progression. Some thrillers are very action-heavy, while others use mystery and curiosity to entrance their viewers. Some thrillers even incorporate horror characteristics in order to capitalize on the tension created within the film, while continuing to keep the tone suspenseful.
Conflict often arises when the protagonist is placed in a very uncomfortable or dangerous situation, from which relief is difficult or unlikely. Characters attempt to outsmart or strong-arm one another as this conflict progresses. Criminal actions and psychological tampering are common within thrillers, as a form of the aforementioned battle between characters. Time is also a big theme in most thrillers. Time is always ticking down, and the further it winds, the more urgency our characters feel.
Most thrillers conclude with a satisfying resolution to the main conflict throughout the narrative: the kidnapped child is recovered, the prisoner gets away, the criminal is caught, etc. However, more so than in other genres, happy endings are not always a fitting end.
- Production Analysis:
Thrillers often thrive off of the discomfort of the viewer. In alignment with the creation of tension throughout the film, the viewer should also be shot in a manner to distinguish any sense of comfort or homeliness. Dutch angles and disorientating angles are often used to portray the cast or the environment, and upward angles often put the antagonist in a place of power. The protagonist is often shown using close-ups or extreme close-ups to display their anxiety or other emotions. Viewers are meant to feel like they’re in the protagonist’s position of peril, and camera shots do a good job in accomplishing this.
From a sound perspective, thrillers are often very similar to horror movies. They capitalize on silence and magnified diegetic sounds, such as crows cawing or doors creaking in order to create suspense, relying on the inner turmoil of the viewer. Music of a slow tempo is common to set the scene within thrillers, and eerie stings are also very common.
Within the mise-en-scene aspects of the film, costumes and props are generally made to be dark and dreary. Characters are dressed darkly, with low lighting and a mostly dark palette. Most thrillers take place in isolated and creepy settings, inducing even more suspense and tension.
- Marketing Analysis:
When marketing thriller films, the focus is often placed on the mystery and anticipation within the story. Posters don’t reveal very many details about the plot, and trailers often only show the source of conflict, but not many details of how it came about, and any bits about the resolution or falling action.
Thrillers thrive off of being interesting, but more intriguing. Viewers are meant to come in to film with a sense of anxiety as to how the movie will carry out its plot, and the film itself only compounds upon this initial angst.
- Example 1:
Get Out
Get Out was a wildly successful thriller, directed by Jordan Peele, and released in 2017. The film bordered the line between thriller and horror, with some expressions of gore, and periods of tension occasionally culminating in genuinely scary scenes or a jump-scare. The film created tension by constantly insinuating that the main character, played by Daniel Kaluuya, was in very big danger. As an African-American man visiting his girlfriend’s very traditional and white family, it is normal to expect a tad of discomfort. However, the people there seem to take an obsession toward him, and more specifically, his physical attributes and abilities. He is psychologically and physically tormented before eventually escaping.
- Example 2:
Gone Girl
Gone Girl was a mystery thriller based off of the book by Gillian Flynn, directed by David Fincher, and released in 2014. It focused more on the mystery and psychological aspects of thrillers, rather than action or horror. The story is told through 2 different characters’ perspectives, neither of which is very likable. They attempt to outwit and understand each other in a brilliant game of cat and mouse, as each of them face their own bumps in the road. The suspense of the story arrives as the truth begins to unravel and we further understand our characters and their conflict more and more.- Other Examples:
- The Dark Knight: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/?ref_=adv_li_tt
- The Silence of The Lambs: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/?ref_=adv_li_tt
- Psycho:
- Die Hard: