WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
CHARACTERISTICS
Thrillers often take place in exotic settings such as foreign cites, deserts, polar regions or high seas, The heroes most thrillers are frequently strong-minded people who are prone to dangerous situation either spy, solider or law enforcement officer, although they can also be ordinary people who are they by accent.
Narrative
The narrative usually begins with something disrupting the equilibrium, it could some sort of mystery that needs answering or questions that need to be asked this is a common occurrence in Thrillers as it puts the audience in a state of uncomfortableness and feel ill. There is usually one main goal or plot line in Thrillers with provides thrills for the audience as they start to prepare fro either a cliff-hanger or a climax. Cliff-hangers are a method of exaggerating suspense, which often occurs towards the end of the film. There are often complex story lines with multiple identities for each character this can make the audience more confused meaning they will not be prepared for what will happen later on in the film. Plot twists are a considerable change in direction or create a new conclusions as it adds an element of surprise and play's on the audiences mind. Flashbacks are also used in Thrillers to help take the audience back in time to the characters past helping reveal previous events that may lead up to the big climax. Normally the plot contains simple events that turn into something bigger as something/an issue is tied to it, this leads to a series of conflicts and obstacles that build tension and suspense, tension is usually created when the protagonist is placed in a life-threatening situation. A film that disrupts the equilibrium and uses plot twists, climax ect... is Unfriended by Stephen Susco. This film is a Horror Thriller, the way it was filmed is different as it all based on "Skype" or on the computer. It's about a man called Matias who "stole" someones laptop only to discover the worst. There are a lot of plot twists in the film to throw the audience of guard. A Scene that helps proves this is when Matias discovers the hidden files of what happens to the women. This makes the audience feel unwell and queasy especially the females as they were all so vulnerable
Editing
In Thrillers there is a lot of face pace and slow pace editing, this is how they create suspense and tension also to help show the emotions of the characters. Slow paced editing is often used right before something big happens this creates suspense for the audience which makes them more intrigues this means when the scare happens they would not have expected it, so they will be more scared. Fast pace editing is often used in Action Thrillers this is because it is mainly used when he protagonist and antagonist are fighting this is used to help covey the emotion of the scene often is anger, for example Joker and how him and Batman are arguing, the cuts get shorter as they switch from different angle. In Psychological Thrillers editing is key, if the editing is bad it can give away the whole plot twist straight away meaning there will be no climax. Quick editing is used in psychological thrillers as it prepares the audience also a lot of flashbacks are included in this sub-genre because they help give the audience and insight and idea of why the characters have done what they have done and ended up in that situation, an example of this is Shutter Island, this film uses a flashback at the end to show how Teddy Daniels ended up on Shutter Island as a patient.
Shutter Island - Flashback scene
Joker - Batman arguing
Lighting and Colour
Lighting is essential in Thrillers because it can set the whole feeling of the scene. The lighting is usually able to make the audience feel suspense and tension throughout the scene. During thriller films, low key lighting is most commonly used the lighting can help create shadows and characters appearing from them — this helps reflects the characters role in the plot of the film whether they are the protagonist or antagonists. There are two-forms of lighting there is high key and low key. Thrillers tend to use low key lighting, this is when one source of lighting has been used this makes the object in focus very strong on the eye. This lighting is more dominant in thriller films as it gives selective lighting, covering half an object and leaving the other in darkness this creates a feeling of suspense and tension because the audience are unaware of what is going on within the darkness. This also helps allow the audience to understand the situation that the characters are in. Under lighting can be used to help give a more eerie and mysterious feeling. The colour of the film also helps create suspense and tension. The darker the colour/saturation of the scene the more sinister the scene seems. The darkness of the scene makes the scene more scary because the unknowing of what will happen is what will keep the audience intrigued.
This video is showing how suspense is created with lighting
Location
The location where a thriller is filmed is one on the most important characteristics of the genre. Thrillers are mainly set in wet, dark and dismal street or in tight closed off areas. If a character is introduced in one of these settings the audience can foreshadow what will happen in later scenes. Location is key because it shows the viewers where the scene is filmed this is done normally by using an establishing shot. A longer shot can cause people to decode the message which could be the sense of being trapped or in an inescapable place, whereas fast shots give off the feeling of intensity. Location can set the scene, the setting can create a whole feeling to the sequence because if it is in a dark eerie place then the audience will be scared as this is the stereotype of whole people are more on suspense than normal. A common location used by thrillers is an abandoned house or building such as an asylum/hospital that is based in or around the woods. The abandoned nature of the building means that the audience is unaware of anything inside that could potentially be lurking within the shadows. The building itself usually appears worn away and brittle, with minim furniture which is quite often broken and unusable this creates an unsafe hazardous location for the protagonist. However, not all thrillers are based in creepy and unsettling environments due the director wanting to create a realistic day to day environment to create more suspense and worry for the audience as they feel like it can happen to them.The location sets the whole tone of the scene an example would be Don't Breathe as it is set in someones house on a random street.
Sound
Sound in thrillers is mainly used when the film is starting to reach some form of climax or tense part of the film it would normally be a non-diegetic sound (the characters cannot hear the music) however, the audience can hear the music, so when the pace of the music gets faster and louder will build up tension and create the mood for that scene/film. Most sound used in the thrillers is some form of dark and eerie music. In the clips below you can see how the sound is very important as it can change the entire mood of the scene. Non-diegetic sounds are most useful in thrillers because of the wide choice that can be used — the directors can play around with music and the pace and try and scare people more whereas you cannot speed up the way people talk like you can with sounds. An example of how diegetic sound can be used is by using non stop rain which can connote sadness and stress whereas if the pitter patter of slow rain could connote a long wait or tension. As you can tell in the videos below the non-diegetic sounds give a more dramatic feeling in the film. In the Shining you can hear the scream of the women, which send shivers down the spine because it is so realistic and the banging on the door with the axe these are all the diegetic sounds in The Shining.
- Females are normally shown as the victim that the protagonist (male) has to save — this also has the representation of that women are more weak, vulnerable and need a man to save them and how men are big and strong — this stereotype has changed throughout the years and now both genders are being seen know as equal people and both as protagonist partners.
- The female victims are normally saved after being captured and probably tortured by the male antagonist — this represents women a being easy targets and that men would do that when nowadays it can be seen as the other way around. Males are portrayed as being more important than female characters this is because they are normally the hero who is normally from an upper class, because lower class people are stereotyped for not having as much common sense whereas if people said that there would be a lot of problems with the audience as it can be seen as rude
- An example of the stereotype of Thrillers in when Catherine gets kidnapped by Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. It shows a female victim being kidnapped by the strong male antagonist. This is shown in the scene below.
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