The history of thriller films
The thriller film genre can be defined in many ways, some would say it's about someone trying to solve something most of the time it is crime but can be a range of different mysteries the protagonist tries to solve, another would say it is the protagonist trying to get the antagonist whilst facing many obstacles, which can be like trying to solve a crime and it could also be a film that builds up suspense creatively. A thriller film consists of the three S's, suspense, shock and surprise.
However it's up for argument when it did begin but I will start with a film made in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock called "Rebecca". The film is about a woman who gets married to Mr de winter, she finds out that he had wife before and everyone seems to think that the new Mrs de Winters is not a good replacement and that she needs to go. The reason that this film is a thriller is because the music is very atmospheric and creates suspense throughout the scene. The reason the music creates the whole atmosphere is because that the music gets louder and higher as it keeps building up as we see our protagonist look around the house. This is conventional to a thriller film as the scene builds up suspense for the audience.
Another example of a thriller also made and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and one of the most well known thrillers in cinema history, the film is about a woman who is trying to escape the police and is then killed while staying at the bates motel. This film may have been the biggest leap forward in the thriller genre as this was a psychological thriller, which means you need to pay close attention to the whole film, It also means that the story may have the main aspects of a thriller (shock,surprise and suspense). The film has on the most famous scenes in cinema history known as the shower scene, the reason this scene is so famous is because of the amount of edits that are in just one scene, the editing before and after the attack is slow and long however when she is being attacked the edits a fast and short to create a sense of panic for the audience. This is conventional to a thriller as it makes the audience feel as though they are there in this situation as the editing is quick so it feels as if youre there trying to quickly fight back or narrowly avoid death.
The next film was made by Stanley Kubrick based on a novel called the Shining, it's about a family that is snowed in at the overlook hotel, and the dad slowly goes insane from the isolation. The reason behind this film being a thriller was that the music was constant and would always build up suspense, the music as well was very creepy and always gave the audience the sense that something horrible was going to happen. This was a leap forward in thrillers as this film heavily focused building that suspense up instead of giving you jump scares. An example of the music building up suspense is this scene called " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". The music is always high in the background as this is supposed to connect with the mid of jack as he is going insane slowly, but the music emphasizes the fact that something bad is going to happen as it is always high and loud. This is convetnional to the thriller genre.
The next film was released in the 2000's, it's called memento directed by Christopher Nolan, staring Guy Pearce and it's all about him trying to track down his wife's killer and his attacker while he suffers from short term memory loss. This plot alone is unique and the narrative is told is completley original, The reason this builds up suspense and then turns it into shock is because in the whole film they pretty much just keeping droping you right in the middle of it all. For example There is a scene where Guy Pierce is running, his narration even ensures you he doesn't what is happening and if he is running for someone or running away from someone. This builds suspense and then shocks the audience as we didn't know what the finishing result would be, this does enable a relationship to be built with the audience as his narration went alongside the audiences first intial responses tot he start of this scene. This is conventional to a thriller as they try to make the audience build a relationship with the characters on screen.
The last film that is a clear example of a thriller was released in 2010, directed by Martin Scorsese and staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. It's about 2 US marshels that go to an island for the criminaly insane, and one of the prisoners have escaped and he has to find her. The way this film creates suspense is through the use of low-key lighting or mise-en-scene to be precise. The scene I am refering to is the rat in a maze scene where Dicaprio is talking to George in the prison cell. The reason this is supenseful is because George seems quite disfunctional compared to our protagonist. The reason the lighting is key here is because the limited and small source of light can be associated with George, Dicaprio doesn't seem to recognise him nor do the audience or the protagonist know him at all, this coincides with the limited light as we have limited understanding of George. The audience then build a relationship with the protagonist. This is again conventional because this is the aim of the director, to make sure you build up a relationship with the characters.
1
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$165,092,268
|
3,292
|
$58,003,121
|
3,230
| |||
2
|
$130,742,922
|
1,642
|
$13,766,814
|
1,497
| |||
3
|
$117,727,224
|
1,884
|
$15,129,385
|
1,567
| |||
4
|
$100,125,643
|
2,528
|
$13,949,807
|
2,441
| |||
5
|
$93,149,898
|
3,363
|
$36,540,945
|
3,357
| |||
6
|
$87,039,965
|
2,949
|
$31,725,652
|
2,949
| |||
7
|
$80,238,724
|
3,167
|
$33,610,391
|
3,167
| |||
8
|
$66,518,655
|
2,623
|
$16,712,020
|
2,587
| |||
9
|
$63,300,095
|
3,183
|
$31,756,764
|
3,183
| |||
10
|
$61,334,059
|
2,476
|
$17,515,050
|
2,411
|
| ||
What this table shows is the box office of many of the thrillers that have been produced over recent years. the top two of the list have a narrative that connect together, hannibal has more of a box office because people who had seen the first may have said the first was good so the sequel will be good as well, most likely. There is another film in this series at fifth this probably because the series slowly lost momentum and people had probably suggested that they may have been cash grabs, but it still made a commendable box office so it means it must have stayed true to the series and was quite influential to the thriller genre, to highlight this is the actor playing the terrifying killer Hannibal, Anthony Hopkins as his portrayal of this particular antagonist was excellent. Saw is another series on the list, the reason this is here is because the narrative of each of the films is very gritty and hard hitting but it also shows many victims in the film which are conventional to the thriller genre.
This post demonstrates a limited understanding of how thriller films have developed over the years. You have made a start in researching into different films to create a timeline, but you need to elaborate on the points that you have made. This is because the points are too vague and does not demonstrate enough understanding of the thriller film that you have selected.
ReplyDeleteTherefore you need to elaborate on the narrative of the film and consider the codes and conventions of a thriller sequence in more detail, which will enable you to develop your points further.
Also when you are considering the box office information you need to elaborate on the table, by referring to the narrative, audience ratings and success, to demonstrate further understanding.
This post now demonstrates some understanding of how thriller films have changed and developed over the years. You have made a start on elaborating on your examples, by focusing on specific scenes. However, you need to expand on your points in your summary, by explaining how thrillers have changed.
ReplyDelete