Genre research (Thrillers)

1. T H R I L L E R S
G E N R E R E
S E A R C H
B Y P H O E B E
G I B S O N

2. Thrillers
They are films that traditionally create suspense that provokes an
audience to feel intense excitement or anticipation.
Restlessly pursues
a single-minded
goal
What makes it a
Thriller?
Cliff hanger
Plot with
climax
Dangerous/po
tential deadly
situation
Menacing
moments or
mystery
Closely related
to Horror Si-fi
thriller
Psychological
thriller
Action
thriller
Action
thriller

3. Conventions of a
Psychological Thriller
My Film Opening
will be a
Psychological
Thriller and
I’ll included
some of these
elements
Lighting + colour Sound Costume + Make up Setting + Props
• Low key lighting
create suspense,
shadows
• black and white
colours
• Colour/font of
the Film title
• Colour linking
to direct
emotion
• Starts with slow
tempo and
relatively quite
• Eerie music to
create suspense
• Beats on
specific events
or moments
• Silence that
creates tension
or panic
• Naturalistic
costume to create
realistic
impression
• Lack of make up
can make a
character seem
more natural
• Smudged make up
can suggest
crying
• A dark house or
alley way
• Shadowy/dark
spaces
• Weapons e.g.
knifes, guns
• Claustrophobic
spaces to create
tensions and
panic

4. Early
Thrillers
Directed by: Carol Meed
Starring: Orson Welles,
Joseph Cotten, Alida
Valli
Story by: Alexander
Korda, Graham Greene
Safety
Last
(1923)
Gaslight
(1944)
The Third
Man
(1949)
Directed by: Fred C.
Newmeyer and Sam
Taylor
Starring: Harold Lloyd,
Mildred Davis, Noah
Young
Budget: $121,000
Directed by: George
Cukor
Starring: Ingrid
Burgman, Charles Boyer,
Angela Lansbury
Budget: $2.068 million

5. Actors and Directors
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock directed around 60
films throughout his lifetime
Thriller Films:
• ‘The Lodger’-1926
• ‘Psycho’ -1960
• ‘Vertigo’-1958
• ‘The Birds’-1963
Early: Late:
Director: Ridley Scott
An English Film director and producer
Thriller Films:
• ‘Prometheus’-2012 (Fantasy Thriller)
• ‘Alien’-1979 (Fantasy Thriller)
• ‘Alien Covenant’-2017 (Sci-fi Thriller)
• ‘Hannibal’ -2001 (Drama Thriller)
Actor: Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE, is a
Welsh actor of film, stage, and television.
Thriller Films:
• ‘Red Dragon’-1926
• ‘Hannibal’ -1960
• ‘The Silence of the Lambs’-1958
• ‘The Rite’-1963
Actress: Ingrid Bergman
A Swedish actress who starred in a
variety of European and American
films.
Thriller Films:
• ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’-1941
• ‘Notorious’-1946
• ‘Gaslight’-1944

6. HOW HAVE THRILLERS CHANGED
OVER TIME? 1950’s and 60’s alien and monster
movies were created to take away
some of the nations fear during the
cold war, by allowing human kind to
seem in control. During this era
movies such as Godzilla and Them!
were produced.
Thriller have changed a long with
peoples fears:
e.g. Psycho (Hithcock, 1960) about a
woman wanting to escape her normal
life and running into trouble in a
motel.
Its realistic and could happen to
anyone.
In the 1930’s based on
literature such as Frankenstein
and Dracula
1970’s realism was introduced to
the genre. More relatable films
generated more fright during this
time. Films such as the legendary
Psycho and Halloween were created.
In the 80’s slashers were the most
popular such as Nightmare on Elm
Street. Also special effects were
used more and creating monsters as
the villains resulting in films
such as An American Werewolf in
London and The Thing
•1990’s psychological thrillers are
introduced and fear of the unknown
is used widely. Films such as The
Blair Witch Project, which was the
first of its kind, introducing a
completely unique style.

7. Modern ThrillersExamples
Memento
(2000) American Phycho
(2001)
The Butterfly effect
(2001)
Black Swan
(2010)
Silence of the
Lambs
(1991)Gone Girl
(2014)
The Girl On the
Train
(2014)
Shutter
Island
(2010)
Inception
(2010)
Many Thrillers nowadays have a twist
ending that shock audiences. Endings like
this have a great effect in Thrillers as
they create a lot of anticipation and
suspense which make an unexpected ending
even more shocking as its different to
what the audience were anticipating.
e.g.
Christopher Nolan's Memento (2000), a tale
told backwards, with Guy Pearce as a
tattooed man without short-term memory,
who hunts down the alleged rapist-killer
of his wife.

8. B o x O f
f i c e...
Between 1995
and 2016:
Movies Total Box Office
873 $16,841,433,216
Tickets Share
2,552,274,560 8.53%

9. Target
Audience
Thrillers
are often 15+
as they can
be gory or
scary and may
include
Psychological
issues that a
younger
audience may
not
understand.
Female audience as the
protagonist is female
and they may be able
to relate
Between 15 – 19 as
this is the closest
range to the
protagonist.
Between 15+ as
it would
contain
psychological
themes and
violence
People who
enjoy a mystery
Fans of the
horror genre as
its very
closely related
People who enjoy a film
you have to think about
People who enjoy a
film that has a lot of
suspence