List of thriller sub-genres and which ones inspire you at the moment

  

Thriller movies that have more than one genre in it are called hybrid thrillers. Some of the hybrid thrillers are:

• Action thriller e.g momento
• supernatural thriller e.g signs
• murderous passion e.g fatal attractions
• political thriller e.g. enemy of the state
• psychological thriller e.g the shining
• crime thriller e.g deja vu

The sub-genre that inspires me the most is psychological thrillers. This is because these sort of thrillers make you think more and they play with mystery and drama which creates intrigue for the audience and keeps them interested. Also, characters are more reliant on their minds and intellect rather than their physical ability which is different to the other thrillers, which again, creates intrgiue for the audience.

A film that uses psychological thriller as a sub-genre very well is 'Pyscho' by Alfred Hitchcock (1960) because it keeps the viewers in suspense while playing with their minds. Hitchcock used different techniques to create suspense and one of them was German expressionism. That is when lighting is used to represent a person. (Whether they are good or bad) Hitchcock used this well in the famous shower scene.

In this scene there is more light than darkness showing that she is seen to be the innocent character. The next scenes have more shadows and darker lighting foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen.

Detailed analysis of Thriller Clip- What Lies Beneath

As a class we looked at five different opening clips for Thriller films. Momento, He Loves Me He Loves Me Not, What Lies Beneath, Deja Vu and Enemy of the State. Each clip had a different hybrid and the mise en scense, camera, editing and sound seemed to make them distictive to eachother.

The Sub-Genre for the Movie 'What Lies Beneath' is a Supernatural Thriller.  

The sound in this short clip are very engaging and adds a lot of suspense, it’s as if howling noises where being enclosed and creepy weird sounds helped to add a bit of tension and suspense. While we reach to the actual scene the character begins to breathe heavily after she had been suffocating herself in the bath tub for an unknown reason. Her reaction does seem however as if she were having a nightmare. The editing of this scene is very slow and steady. At the beginning we have a wide shot of the bathroom and the woman in the centre of the frame. This can show that she is the main character and is primarily the target for the plot. As we get further into the bathroom; this makes us aware and shows that something typical is going to happen. The scene just continues to emphasise how something is probably going to appear suddenly while she’s blow-drying her hair.

The different titles are shown at the beginning while the music plays. It moves like waves and the background of the opening clip is actually supposed to be water. This is further reinforced when a face is slightly discovered very faintly and then and then it becomes clear as it is the face of the female in the bathroom. At the end of the scene the Hair Dryer becomes the main mise en scene and adds the most suspense to the whole clip. We are first introduced as she attempts to dry her hair but it cuts out, as she tries to turn it off but the socket she gets an electric shock which in my eyes startles the audience. As it begins to work after she gradually dries the condensed water on the mirror. The camera movement slowly zooms in. Unfortunately the clip ends there and in turn creates many questions being asked by the audience.

List of Thiller Sub-Genres & which inspires me at the moment and why.

Hybrid Genre- Thriller mixed with another Genre.

SUPERNATURAL THRILLER- Example (Signs), In which the film brings in an otherworldly element mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists
PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER- Example (The Shinning),areusually based on mind games, stalking, deathtraps, and obsessions
ACTION THRILLER- Example (Phone Booth), In which usually consists of car chases, active characters and explosions
POLITICAL THRILLER- Example (The Firm),  In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him
CRIME THRILLERS- Example (Hostage), are based on revenge and kidnappings

Psychological thrillers seems to inspire me the most out of all of the others. This is probably beacuse it really engages the audience and make them feel as if the experience is happening in their own lives. It also seems the most interesting to me and i guess it's easier to show ur ideas as its all about thoughts and tricking characters. The characters are also able to interact with eachother on a much more emotional and mental level which i feel often intriges the audience.

The clip is from the Shining from 1980 is a prime example of a Psychological Thriller. One specific part in the movie is when we as an audience are following the boy on the bike riding around the hotel corridor. The camera is positioned in a low angle at the back of the bike near to the floor this way we are directly following the boy.This creates  a little bit of tension of the strange atmosphere and we are also left in a vulnerable position as we are on the ground as we are looking up, this makes the audience feel on edge and makes us wonder what is going to happen next.

Video-Jaws Trailer

The camera work was used in two ways, the first way was that the camera was leveled with the water. This way the audience was able to feel as if they were in the water with the other characters. it protrayed a point of view shot on behalf of the audeince. Another camera work that was used was for the point of view of the shark were it was able to establish the legs of the characters.

False Plateau is used within this trailer it was able to lull the audince into a false sense of securty where we were engaging in the visceral effect as we throught that the shark was in the water as everyone was panicking. it turns out that there wasnt so the feeling of the visceral effect died down. Then at the end of the clip the 'REAL' shark appeared and vigioursoly attacked a man while ripping off his leg.

Jaws video

Throughout Jaws there is 2 different camera shots which relate with making the audience feel as if they are
feeling that experience in reality for example the shot in the sea where the camera is half in the water and half up makes us, the audience, feel as if we are there because what the camera shot shows is what we would see if we was there. Furthermore, the shot where the camera is deep in the water and is looking up at the peoples legs shows us the point of view of the shark because it will be swimming looking up at people's legs the way it was shown. 

Suspense

What is suspense?


Suspense is the feeling of uncertainty and insecurity. It usually has false plateau.


What creates suspense?

• Tense music
• Pauses
• Darkness
• False plateau
• Dramatic irony

What is the effect of suspense?

• visceral effect - physical (clenching your fists)
• creates intrigue for the audience
• keeps the audience interested for the rest of the film

Suspense

SUSPENSE- A feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, This may refer to an audience's perceptions.

• Darkness
• Victim
• Intriguing towards the audience
• Heavy breathing
• often a sequence of events leading up to the disaster or decision
• Tense music
• Pauses
• The audience know more than the character on the screen- Alfred Hitchcock "Bomb Theory"
• VISCERAL EFFECT- A Physical effect, On the edge of our seats (Jumpy, fast heatbeat, Big eyes & screams)
• FALSE PLATEAU- Lulls audience ionyo a false sense of secuirty.