Powerpoint to accommodate my essay.

1. CRIME THRILLERS.
By Gavin McKay.

2. History of Crime Thrillers.
• Crime thrillers are a Sub genre of Thrillers.
• One of the inspirations of this genre is the early
Detective fiction novels, most popular being
Sherlock Holmes.
• A big inspiration is the early American
Gangsters, E.g. AL Capone.
• Directors like Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the
Genre of thriller and the Crime thriller sub
genre.

3. Crime thriller timeline
• 1903 - Great Train Robbery
• 1931 - The Lodger
• 1944 - Gaslight
• 1946 - The Spiral Staircase
• 1951 - Strangers on a Train
• 1958 - Touch of Evil
• 1960 - Psycho
• 1972 - Frenzy
• 1972 - The Godfather
• 1989 - Dead Calm
• 1991 - Silence of the Lambs
• 1994 - Pulp Fiction
• 1995 - Seven
• 2000 - Memento
• 2003 - Oldboy
• 2006 - The Departed
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• 2008 - The Dark Knight

4. Narrative
• Developed around the actions of the criminal or
gangster
• Glorify the rise and fall of the criminal
• Fast moving plot, it can be psychological,
mysterious, threatening.
• It can involve larger scale villainy such as
espionage, terrorism and conspiracy.
• The authorities trying to apprehend them

5. Todov’s 5 Stages to a narrative
1. Equilibrium - It starts happy
2. A disruption of this equilibrium - Something
bad happens
3. A realisation that a disruption has happened
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the
disruption - the problem is solved
5. The restoration of the equilibrium - Happy
ending

7. Settings/Location
• Normally set in larger crowded cities
• Nightclubs or dive bars
• Fancy cars
• Drugs
• Fancy houses

8. Audience reception
• People watch crime films because they mirror
society and satisfy our desire for mayhem and
cheering for the underdog.
• The reflect our ideas of moral order and justice
and good vs bad.
• They like to see the underdog work his up and
build an empire and then meet his demise.

9. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

10. British crime movies
• Tend to be a lot more
gritty
• Normally focused on a
male character who has
had a hard upbringing
• They are normally more
relatable as they focus
on the harsh upbringing
of the character

11. American crime movies
• Hollywood loves
gangster movies
• Normally gangsters are
very well dressed
• The glorify the rise and
fall of the gangster
• Based on morality
• Being pursued by the
law

12. Key Directors

13. Sir Alfred Hitchcock
Referred to as the master of
suspense, Hitchcock is the pioneer
of the thriller movie genre.
Hitchcock produced 50 movies in 60
years, some of his most famous
being:
• Psycho
• Rear window
• Vertigo
• North by northwest

14. Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is someone who is a man
for all genres, producing movies that range
from Gangster/Crime to musicals and
romance.
He has produced a lot of gritty
psychological thrillers and crime/gangster
movies.
Some of his most popular movies are:
•Taxi driver
•Goodfellas
•Shutter Island
•Gangs of New York

15. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is one of my favourite
directors.
Tarantino films are always known for their
storylines and great soundtracks.
Some of his most popular films are:
•Pulp Fiction
•Reservoir Dogs
•Django: Unchained
•Kill Bill

16. To Catch a Thief
• Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, regarded as the
pioneer of thriller
• Stars Cary Grant and Grace Kelly
• A reformed jewel Thief is wrongly accused of
stealing jewels and must find the real thief to prove
his innocence
• It was very well received with Tomatoes giving it
95%
Click here to see trailer.

17. The Untouchables
• Told from the perspective of the police
• They are trying to find criminal charges to arrest
notorious gangster Al Capone
• It Stars Kevin Costner (Elliot Ness) Sean Connery (
Jim Malone) and Robert De Niro (Al Capone)
• It was very well received (80% Rotten Tomatoes)
although Ebert said “But the big disappointment is
Robert De Niro's Al Capone.”
• Sean Connery won an Academy Award for his role
Click Here For the Trailer.

18. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• It’s a Swedish version of Steig Larsson’s popular
Dragon Tattoo trilogy
• Follows Disgraced Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and
Lisabeth Salander
• They are hired to investigate the disappearance of a
girl.
• It’s very graphic and gritty, it includes scenes of
torture and rape
• It is a detective/crime thriller
Click here for the trailer.

19. CODES AND CONVENTIONS

20. Typical Characters
The villan
The false hero
The princessThe hero
The helper The donor

21. CODES AND
CONVENTIO
NS
Storyline
Characters
Music
Shadows Flashbacks
Lighting
The protagonist will always
face a challenge - a mission,
an escape or a mystery.
the antagonist will have a
hidden past that will be unveiled
during the movie. Normally they
are out for revenge.
Used add a sense of time and space
disorientation to try and confuse the
audience. Used to show the audience
the characters past. Memento.
The storyline will
be designed so
the audience think
it will be possible to
happen to them to
help them feel more
scared. it will mostly
be complex and will
unravel during the
movie.
Can be used to add tension
and eeriness also can be used
to represent inner darkness of
the characters.
Music add suspense
and tension, it will
often start slow and
then build up to make
the scene more dramatic
Can be used to make the scene
more eerie and can be used to
show good and evil, e.g. light
vs dark.

22. CODES AND
CONVENTIO
NS
Mirrors
Black and WhiteEditing
Camera AnglesCan be used increase the feelings
of suspense and tension.
E.g. Quick Camera changes, jump clips.
To show the reflection of one’s
soul and inner self, Or to represent
darkness within some characters
(black swan, mirrors)
Increased use of shadows, appears
more creepy and dark. Psycho.
Camera angles can give different perspectives
to the characters. A came above the character
and looking down can make him seem weak
and powerless.

23. Camera angles

24. High Angle/Birds eye
This camera angle will look down on a character,
it’s purpose is to make them look small and vulnerable.
Here is a good example of high angle used well

25. Low Angle Shot
A camera angle that looks up at a character, this
is the opposite to a high angle shot and
makes a character look even more powerful and
the audience will feel small and vulnerable.
Example Here

26. Close ups
This shot focuses on the actor’s emotional response
to what has happened in the scene. It helps the
viewers understand the actors emotions and helps
them emphasise with them.
The Shinning reaction shot – Skip to 2.01

27. Establishing shot
This will contain a lot of
landscape
and is normally used at the
beginning of a scene to
establish
the setting.
Click here for example

28. Lighting
The most common lighting technique for thrillers is
low
key lighting because of the heavy darks shadows it
creates. It involves using one light which makes
heavy dark shadows. Example here – Skip to 1:22

29. Shadows are used to set the scene, they add a lot
of mystery and eeriness to a scene. Nighttime
shots with a high light create particularly eerie
scenes.

30. Synergies
Crime is a very popular genre in video games, the
most popular being:
• Grand theft auto
• Heavy Rain
• Metal Gear Solid
• Hitman
• Batman: Arkham City