This document discusses genre theory and its application to defining the thriller genre. It explores different models of genre theory, from traditional views that see genres as having fixed conventions to more contemporary views that see genres as dynamic and blurring between other genres. The document uses examples like North by Northwest, The Shining, Alien, and Memento to examine how films may conform to or challenge genre conventions. It also notes some of the key texts and producers that are often associated with the thriller genre.

1. What is a thriller?
(Genre theory)
We will understand the theory of genre and apply our knowledge to
defining the thriller genre. We will evaluate examples to judge whether
they conform to or challenge the codes and conventions.

2. The media key concepts
• Genre
• Narrative
• Audience
• Representation
• Institution
Genre refers to the way films are
broken down according to the
conventions they use – in terms of how
they are filmed and what is filmed.
Steve Neale says: ‘Genres are instances
of repetition and difference.’ Films
repeat the conventions of other films in
their genre, but at the same time
‘successful’ films will challenge and
develop those conventions. What
makes a ‘thriller’ a thriller is what you
will focus your research on.

3. Key terms (note down unless you did GCSE Media and remember them)
• Media Language – everything that appears in the media text, and the way it is
put there, together form a ‘language’ or code that provides an audience with
meaning.
• Codes and conventions – codes are the hidden meanings in the media language
and conventions are the way these are linked to certain genres and media text
types.
• Technical codes – codes associated with the method by which the media text is
created (e.g. the camera angles in a film)
• Symbolic codes – codes associated by what actually appears within the media
text (e.g. a character’s costume). A.k.a. semantic codes.
• Syntactic codes – elements of theme and narrative within the text.
• Sound codes – Diegetic (heard within the text by the characters) and non-diegetic
(heard by the audience only – e.g. music and sound effects).
• Mise-en-scene – a French word meaning ‘contents of stage’ that we use as a term
for the diegetic (i.e. visible to all characters) symbolic codes (summarised as
props, costumes, make-up and actors).

4. North By Northwest
Based on your research so far, write down elements of North By
Northwest that you think make it a thriller.
Using appropriate key terms, write notes about:
• The cinematography and editing
• The action sequences
• The locations
• The characters
• The story/plot and the way that is presented as a narrative
• The lighting and mise-en-scene

5. GENRE THEORY

6. Rick Altman (1984) – argues that genres are usually defined in terms of
media language (SEMANTIC elements) and codes (in the Thriller, for
example: guns, urban landscape, victims, stalkers, menaced women or even
stars, like James Stewart or Jack Nicholson) or certain ideologies and
narratives (SYNTACTIC elements – Anxiety, tension, menacing situation)
Jonathan Culler (1978) – generic conventions exist to establish a contract
between creator and reader so as to make certain expectations operative,
allowing compliance and deviation from the accepted modes of
intelligibility. Acts of communication are rendered intelligible only within
the context of a shared conventional framework of expression.
In Cape Fear (J.L. Thompson, 1962) we see an innocent protagonist
(Gregory Peck) being menaced and stalked by an unhinged antagonist
(Robert Mitchum). In the era this film was made, certain actors were
closely associated with certain roles within certain genres. Both actors
played similar archetypes in other films.
Genre Theory – Traditional models

7. Genre Theory – Traditional models
Daniel Chandler (1997) – Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based
on the notion that they constitute particular fixed conventions of content (such
as themes or settings - iconography) and/or form (including structure and style)
which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them.
Tom Ryall (1978) – Genre provides a framework of structuring rules, in the
shape of patterns/forms/styles/structures, which act as a form of ‘supervision’
over the work of production of filmmakers and the work of reading by the
audience.
The Shining (S. Kubrick, 1980) could be read according to this theory as
conventionally, thrillers will seek to place protagonists in an isolated location –
The Overlook Hotel. This convention is emphasised in the film’s climax when
Jack Nicholson’s character pursues his wife into a bathroom, where she cannot
escape while he smashes the door in. Pursuit of an innocent victim as another
thematic convention.
Applying some of these ideas (QUOTE THEM), what view would these
theorists adopt about how North By Northwest fits into a genre?

8. Steve Neale (1980) – Genres are a result of the tension between repetition,
giving the audience the gratification of social integration through shared
recognition, and difference, which creates interest in new texts and is
described as “absolutely essential to the economy of genre.”
David Buckingham (1993) – argues that 'genre is not... simply "given" by the
culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change'
(Buckingham 1993).
The film Memento (C. Nolan, 2000) follows the classic pattern of a whodunit
– where a man named Leonard (Guy Pearce) tries to solve the mystery of his
own wife’s murder. However, the conventional syntactic elements of the
thriller genre are developed and negotiated by the narrative structure:
because Leonard has short-term memory loss, the story is told in short
chunks that run backwards in sequence.
Is there anything unusual about North By Northwest that suggests
Hitchcock was attempting to subvert the “rules” of the thriller genre?
Genre Theory – Contemporary models

9. John Hartley (1994) – notes that 'the same text can belong to different
genres in different countries or times' (O'Sullivan et al. 1994).
David Bordwell (1989) - 'any theme may appear in any genre' ‘One
could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can
mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or
ordinary film-goers would find acceptable‘ This argues against Altman’s
idea that genres have fixed syntactic elements.
The film Alien (R. Scott, 1979) contains all the semantic and syntactic
codes and conventions of a Science Fiction film (heavy use of wide,
cinematic shots, alien planets/life, exploration, danger, spaceships and
technology) but also contains those of a horror film (“haunted house”
setting, extreme close-ups and heavy use of low-key lighting to unsettle
audience) and the thriller (mystery, confined spaces, isolation – the
famous ‘In space, no-one can hear you scream’ tagline, ‘everyman’
protagonists).
Does North By Northwest, in your opinion, borrow any semantic or
syntactic elements from other genres (e.g. spy)?
Genre Theory – sub-genres and hybridisation

10. PROBLEMS WITH GENRE CLASSIFICATION
Rick Altman (1999) came up with a list of points he found problematic with genre
classification .
a) Genre is a useful category, because it bridges multiple concerns.
b) Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass
audience.
c) Genres have clear, stable identities and borders.
d) Individual films belong wholly and permanently to a single genre.
e) Genres are transhistorical.
f) Genres undergo predictable development.
g) Genres are located in particular topic, structure and corpus.
h) Genre films share certain fundamental characteristic.
i) Genres have either a ritual or ideological function.
j) Genre critics are distanced from the practice of genre.

11. Thrillers – Key Texts and Producers
• Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Vertigo, North By
Northwest, Rear Window, Dial M For Murder)
• Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception,
Memento, Insomnia)
• Martin Scorcese (Shutter Island, Taxi Driver, The
Departed)
• Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, Argo, The Town)
• David Fincher (Seven, The Girl With The Dragon
Tattoo, Gone Girl)
• Steven Spielberg (Sugarland Express, Jaws,
Munich, Jurassic Park)
• Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, The
Counsellor, Body of Lies, Thelma And Louise,
Matchstick Men)
• Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs,
Kill Bill, Django Unchained)
• The Coen Brothers (Blood Simple, Miller’s
Crossing, Fargo, No Country For Old Men)
• Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice, Blackhat,
Public Enemies)
Other texts
• Nightcrawler (D. Gilroy, 2014)
• Leon: The Professional (L. Besson, 1994)
• Casino Royale (M. Campbell, 2006)
• Snatch (G. Ritchie, 2000)
• John Wick (D. Lietch, 2014)
• Locke (S. Knight, 2014)
• Kingsman (M. Vaughn, 2015)