Research

1. Zeel Sanatkumar
Genre: Crime Thriller
A thriller is a genre that uses suspense ,tension and excitement as the main elements.they
are mostly characterized as an atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder by
showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous. Thrillers significantly show literary devices
such as plot twists and cliffhangers. They also moods such as a high level of anticipation and
adrenaline.some examples of thriller movies are : Gone Girl ,Inception and Shutter Island.
The distorted picture of crime painted by the news media reflects the fact that news is a
social construction.
Here is a mood board of crime and thriller genres:
Analysis of Sin City-Robert Rodriguez (2005)
Technique Effect
Camera Over the shoulder
POV
Long shot
Close up shot
Canted Angle
Makes you feel as if you are
part of the action that is
going on. POV shot puts you
in perspective of the
character and what they're
senses may be relaying to
them. Close up shot shows
us the initial facial features
and the emotions behind the
characters. Thee canted
angle usually shows
suspension and
confusion.Long shots show
us the character and the
location
Editing Zoom in and Zoom Out
Straight cuts and long shots
Zooming in and Out create
an almost ambient effect

2. whereby it causes confusion.
Straight cuts and long cuts
cause suspension and build
up tension.
Sound Asynchronous Voice Over
Ambient sound such as car
horns Non Diegetic (realism)
Gunshot
Slow deep toned voice
creates pace and the
ambient sounds increase in
verisimilitude realism. The
sounds of gunshots create
an almost frightening and
unexpected.
MECS Black white red colours in
most costumes
Dimly lit
Stormy weather
Location: roof of a tall
building
The black colour is mainly
used for the protagonist as
well as to create a dark eerie
effect. Overall, the colour
black also has further
associations with evil and
death- which link to red
which is often used for
blood.
The audience are likely to expect certain film conventions in order to be identified as
thriller; however, if the film does not meet the conventions of a thriller the audiences
expectations may not be met. Furthermore, the usual expectations of a thriller include:
-Suspense
-Face paced
-Antagonist Vs Protagonist
-Investigations
-Enigma
-Storyline that requires thinking
-Extraordinary events.
Theorists:
Vladamir Propp
RUSSIAN CRITIC, THAT DEVELOPED A NARRATIVE THEORY. HE ANALYSED OVER 100 RUSSIAN
FAIRY TALES OF THE 1920'S. HE CONCLUDED THAT CHARACTER ROLES INCLUDE; HERO
SEEKING SOMETHING, THE VILLAIN WHO OPPOSES THE HERO.

3. Tzvetan Torodov
BULGARIAN LITERARY THEORIST. SUGGESTS MOST NARRATIVES FOLLOW EQUILIBRIUMIN
WHICH THE 'NORMAL LIFE' OF THE PROTAGONIST IS DISRUPTED IN WHICH THEY HAVE TO
FIGHT AGAINST THE ANTAGONIST. THIS IS A NARRATIVE CONVENTION WE WILL DEFINITELY
FOLLOW.
Daniel Chandler
PROTAGONISTS WILL OFTEN SEEK REFUGE IN ISOLATED LOCATIONS- FOR EXAMPLE THE
SHINING WITH JACK NICHOLSON AND THE HOTEL. THIS HELPS TO CREATE THE TENSION AND
MAKE IT SEEM AS IF THEY ARE TRAPPED AND LONELY.
For example, the equilibrium in The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne is hiding and has not
been Batman for the last 8 years because of the incident with the Joker in which he took the
blame and Batman is consequently seen as a vigilante. The disruption of the equilibrium
comes from the appearance of the mysterious and Bane adversary Bane. Bruce Wayne
consequently recognises the disruption and decides to become Batman once again. In this
effort he loses the fight and his back is broken.He then begins his campaign of attempting
to repair the damage. He does defeat Bane and Talia Al Ghul, but has to get rid of the
nuclear bomb. In doing so, he fakes his own death and a new equilibrium begins.
Evolution of the thriller genre
From a personal perspective there has been a rather drastic evolution of the crime-thriller
genre compared to films that were released in the 50’s and 60’s for example- Alfred
Hitchcock's’ classic Psycho and Rear Window. There has been an increase in the number of a
hybrid genre of horror however, there is often a negative stigma surrounded around films
which are considered as “cheap thrills”. From time to time, the media industry is blessed
with certain gems such as Gone Girl. New technology has seemed to take away from these
films with CGI and visual effects now being preferred over practical sets and the use of little
visual effects. The audience demographic has also seemed to dramatically changed with
teenagers often now being the target audience for the majority of thriller/horror hybrids
like Paranormal Activity.