The genre thriller is historically known for causing uncertainty, anxiety and nerve-wracking tension and because of this thriller's are still popular as people enjoy watching the unpredictable scenes which have them sat of the edge of their seats as well as this they take pleasure in the exhilaration they experience from watching a thriller film as they desire the feeling of being scared or the anticipation they feel while watching.
Thriller Time line
Thriller Time line
1930
Midnight At Madame Tussaud's was released in 1936 and is a British thriller film, it was directed by George Pearson. The film is about a financier who bets that he can spend a night in the chamber of horrors at Madam Tussaud's. However, he is hunted by a man who plans on killing him to stop the exposure of the fraud he has took part in, nevertheless the murdered is killed in a fall. Although the film is in black and white they still think about the use of colour as they use more of the colour black which is associated with death, evil and mystery. As well as this black is also associated with fear and the unknown which is shown through out the film as dark shadows are used in all the scenes while he is locked in the chamber of horrors. The representation of mystery let as know as the audience that something bad is going to happen this is because everything is quite dark therefore you know someone must be watching him. which in this case is the man who has committed fraud. Thrillers made in the 1930's are said to be some of the most key produced thrillers this is because they use techniques which are recognised as the codes and conventions for a thriller.
1940
Midnight At Madame Tussaud's was released in 1936 and is a British thriller film, it was directed by George Pearson. The film is about a financier who bets that he can spend a night in the chamber of horrors at Madam Tussaud's. However, he is hunted by a man who plans on killing him to stop the exposure of the fraud he has took part in, nevertheless the murdered is killed in a fall. Although the film is in black and white they still think about the use of colour as they use more of the colour black which is associated with death, evil and mystery. As well as this black is also associated with fear and the unknown which is shown through out the film as dark shadows are used in all the scenes while he is locked in the chamber of horrors. The representation of mystery let as know as the audience that something bad is going to happen this is because everything is quite dark therefore you know someone must be watching him. which in this case is the man who has committed fraud. Thrillers made in the 1930's are said to be some of the most key produced thrillers this is because they use techniques which are recognised as the codes and conventions for a thriller. 
1940
Nightmare is and American thriller which was made in 1942. The film was based on a book and in the film a secretary asks for help from a home invader in an attempt to dump the body of her murdered husband. From looking at the films cover photo I can tell that this is going to be a thriller from the type of font they use for the title 'Nightmare' this is because they use a style which is quite rigid and sinister. Additionally, wrote on the cover is 'A Sensation Of Suspense' which means this film is going to have a lot of uncertainty about what could happen it in. The films poster also uses colour but chooses dark colours to infer to us as the audience that something negative will happen. However, they have chosen yellow as a bright colour to make the title stand out and because yellow can be associated with being scared.
1950
Touch of evil (1958) is a film noir which has was named the best film at the 1958 Brussels world Fair. In this thriller a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S/Mexico boarder, because of this an Mexican drug enforcement agent, Miguel and a American police captain, Hank, begin their investigation. But, then Vargas begins to suspect that Hank and his shady partner are planting evidence on and innocent man to try and frame him and so he starts investigating into them which puts him as his new bride in danger. When looking at the thrillers cover photo it has the line 'The strangest vengeance plan ever!' which suggests that this film is very twisted and has a lot of cliff hangers also it suggests that it could be a nerve-wracking film from reading the plot. Furthermore, by watching this scene which shows the new bride in distress after her finding her husband dead, i can infer that compared to the two previous thriller films this one has a more nerve-racking and frightening plot.
Clip From Touch Of Evil (1958)
1960
The psychological thriller-horror 'Psycho' which was produced in 1960 has won three awards and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock who was one of lead suspense film makers of his era. The storyline of Psycho includes the famous shower scene which is the most influential and historical in thriller film history. The story is based upon a novel in which a real-estate secretary chooses the wrong place to spend the night, The Bates Motel, run by a strange creepy man. Psycho has grown to be one of the best suspense films of all time. From looking at Psycho's film cover i can see they have chose to use the colour yellow on the women to symbolise that she is young and happy but that she will soon become scared and vulnerable. The use of red of the film cover is to represent danger, blood and that she must beware because something bad is going to happen. Also, by analysing the font used for the title Psycho we know that someone will get hurt and maybe cut as the title has been cut through the middle and the title is yellow the same as the women suggesting that it is her who is in danger. Although, Psycho is in black and white around this era films started to be produced in colour. Alfred Hitchcock made a massive change to the thriller genre because he chose to cast glamorous blonde's to play the leading women roles. Further, Hitchcock's films were always unique as he made an appearance in everyone one in the background but only ever for a second.
Famous Psycho Shower Scene (1960)
1970
Duel released in 1971 was directed by Steven Steven Spielberg. In this era thriller films started to become closer to the genre horror as they started to add a lot more violence to the films however, there was still a clear difference between the genres. This thriller film is David Mann who is peacefully driving on a deserted two-lane highway when he suddenly comes across a oil tanker with a driver that throughout the film is never seen. The oil tank driver was being unpredictable and hazardous while driving, David was unable to escape and ended up finding himself stuck in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. In order to escape David creates a plan to trap oil tanker at cliff edge allowing him to run free, as seen in the clip below. Compared to the previous thrillers this one is in colour however, it still has a great amount os suspense to it and is still nerve-racking as you don't know what is going to happen to David and if he is going to successfully escape until you get to the final scene.
1980
A film from the 1980's is Dressed To Kill (1980) it is as erotic crime thriller about a prostitute, Liz Blake, who gets caught in an murderous situation when she witnesses Kate Miller get brutally murdered by a peculiar unseen women. The police think Liz is the killer but little do they know the real mysterious killer wants to silence Liz as she is the only witness to the crime. Kate's son, Peter believes that Liz is not the killer of his mum and so they team up together to catch the real perpetrator however, they soon realise she is good at hiding her identity and that she has a surprising and shocking motivation to kill. After watching Dressed To Kill's trailer i can infer from the type of music they use that it is quite sinister also, the films picture on the poster is in red which represents danger.
Dressed To Kill (1980) Trailer
1990
A well known psychological thriller from the 1990's is Misery (1990). This thriller is about an author, Paul Sheldon who is involved in a serious car crash while driving home in a snow storm, he is rescued by an ex-nurse, Annie Wilkes who also happens to be his number one fan. At first Annie cares for Paul and helps him recover from his injuries until she finds out he is killing off her favourite character in his next novel, this ultimately drives her over the edge and turns her into a violent and controlling maniac who won't then let Paul leave or go to a real hospital until he changes his story to suit Annie's strange fantasies. As seen from the clip below this thriller is on the edge of a horror as it includes many horror aspects such as a lot of blood and violence, also scenes from earlier on in the film show a lot of suspense as you are constantly wondering what is going to happen next and whether Paul is ever going to escape the crazy psychopath Annie. Many films were influenced by Misery in this decade as many thrillers then started to involve obsessions and wives battering their husbands.
Fight Scene From Misery (1990)
2000
Vanilla Sky is another psychological thriller it was released in 2001 and is based upon the Spanish film "Abre Los Ojos". It is about David Aames' who has been charged for murder, from his cell where he wears a prosthetic mask he tells his psychologist a story about his life. During his flashback of his life he is shown as a wealthy man and tells you about the time his best friend, Brian Shelby introduces him to Sofia Serrano, who he later falls in love with. However, things take a turn for the worst when Aames' former lover attempts to kill both herself and David in a car crash his injuries to his face were fatal which is why he now wears the prosthetic mask. By the end of the film David finds himself in the lobby of Life Extension with a man who claims to be Davids tech support, here he is then told that he has been asleep for the last 150 years in a lucid dream and he is given the choice to be put back in his lucid dream or to jump of the top of the Life extension roof where he would then apparently be brought back to reality. After that all we are shown is David jumping off there build where a flash of white light appears and there is a women's voice telling him to "open yours eye's" this is a recurring theme in the film. In comparison to other thrillers it has no specific ending which we can see in the clip below this creates suspense as we don't no the definite ending to the film, the director has done this to make our mind think about if the whole film was just a lucid dream, the plot to a book Brian is writing, "Tech Support" are telling the truth and 150 years has passed or if it is all and hallucination caused by the drugs given to Aames' during his reconstructive surgery. In addition this scene makes us as the audience shocked as he chose to jump and consequently maybe end his life rather than go back into his lucid dream which in reality was his fantasy world.
Final Scene Of Vanilla Sky (2001)
2010
A present day neo-noir psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorsese is Shutter Island (2010) staring Leonardo DiCaprio this thriller is about two marshals - Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule - in 1954 travel to Ashecliffe, located on a remote island, which is a hospital for the criminally insane. From which a women seems to have disappeared from her locked room, there are clues left that the hospital is committing terrible crimes and as Teddy gets more involved within the investigation he soon has to confront his own fears if he hopes to make it off shutter island alive. This thrillers movie poster uses a lot of shadows this to create the feeling that it is a dark and mysterious film also it uses the colour red in parts of its text to represent blood and danger and that something bad is going to occur but the white could symbolise the innocence of Teddy as deep down he doesn't really know what is going on. Furthermore, the way they have done a close of his Teddy's face with him holding a lit match in front of it shows that he is curious and wants to get to the bottom of Ashecliffe's mystery.
Below is a list of the top 10 thriller films. From looking at this chart I can see that Hannibal is the top thriller film made, released in 2001 it has made the most amount of money and although it was rated 18 and does not have as wide a target audience in comparison to other thrillers it has still done well as it's themes and characters are consistent throughout. Also, it includes a lot of intense scenes and special effects. Compared to Red Dragon which was released in 2002, this thriller's special effects was not as good as Hannibal's however, its intense and suspense scenes are equally as good as Hannibal's which is why it is number five out of the top ten. Furthermore, The Cell (2000) is last in the top ten thriller films this could be due to the fact that it does not have as good special effects or as good acting but it does have a consistent theme like Hannibal and other films in the ten thrillers chart.
Top 10 Thriller Films
By looking at the history of thriller films it has helped to gain a greater understanding as to what go's into creating a thriller film also, it has made me think about that type of thriller I want to create and that I want it to be a psychological thriller which contain horror aspects. As well as this I need to make sure it includes, suspense and shocking element's as they are what make a great thriller. In conclusion, I now know that within my own production I need to think about the colours, lighting and camera angles as this all helps in creating a thriller atmosphere for the film.
1950
Touch of evil (1958) is a film noir which has was named the best film at the 1958 Brussels world Fair. In this thriller a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S/Mexico boarder, because of this an Mexican drug enforcement agent, Miguel and a American police captain, Hank, begin their investigation. But, then Vargas begins to suspect that Hank and his shady partner are planting evidence on and innocent man to try and frame him and so he starts investigating into them which puts him as his new bride in danger. When looking at the thrillers cover photo it has the line 'The strangest vengeance plan ever!' which suggests that this film is very twisted and has a lot of cliff hangers also it suggests that it could be a nerve-wracking film from reading the plot. Furthermore, by watching this scene which shows the new bride in distress after her finding her husband dead, i can infer that compared to the two previous thriller films this one has a more nerve-racking and frightening plot.
Clip From Touch Of Evil (1958)
1960
The psychological thriller-horror 'Psycho' which was produced in 1960 has won three awards and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock who was one of lead suspense film makers of his era. The storyline of Psycho includes the famous shower scene which is the most influential and historical in thriller film history. The story is based upon a novel in which a real-estate secretary chooses the wrong place to spend the night, The Bates Motel, run by a strange creepy man. Psycho has grown to be one of the best suspense films of all time. From looking at Psycho's film cover i can see they have chose to use the colour yellow on the women to symbolise that she is young and happy but that she will soon become scared and vulnerable. The use of red of the film cover is to represent danger, blood and that she must beware because something bad is going to happen. Also, by analysing the font used for the title Psycho we know that someone will get hurt and maybe cut as the title has been cut through the middle and the title is yellow the same as the women suggesting that it is her who is in danger. Although, Psycho is in black and white around this era films started to be produced in colour. Alfred Hitchcock made a massive change to the thriller genre because he chose to cast glamorous blonde's to play the leading women roles. Further, Hitchcock's films were always unique as he made an appearance in everyone one in the background but only ever for a second.
Famous Psycho Shower Scene (1960)
1970
Duel released in 1971 was directed by Steven Steven Spielberg. In this era thriller films started to become closer to the genre horror as they started to add a lot more violence to the films however, there was still a clear difference between the genres. This thriller film is David Mann who is peacefully driving on a deserted two-lane highway when he suddenly comes across a oil tanker with a driver that throughout the film is never seen. The oil tank driver was being unpredictable and hazardous while driving, David was unable to escape and ended up finding himself stuck in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. In order to escape David creates a plan to trap oil tanker at cliff edge allowing him to run free, as seen in the clip below. Compared to the previous thrillers this one is in colour however, it still has a great amount os suspense to it and is still nerve-racking as you don't know what is going to happen to David and if he is going to successfully escape until you get to the final scene. 1980
A film from the 1980's is Dressed To Kill (1980) it is as erotic crime thriller about a prostitute, Liz Blake, who gets caught in an murderous situation when she witnesses Kate Miller get brutally murdered by a peculiar unseen women. The police think Liz is the killer but little do they know the real mysterious killer wants to silence Liz as she is the only witness to the crime. Kate's son, Peter believes that Liz is not the killer of his mum and so they team up together to catch the real perpetrator however, they soon realise she is good at hiding her identity and that she has a surprising and shocking motivation to kill. After watching Dressed To Kill's trailer i can infer from the type of music they use that it is quite sinister also, the films picture on the poster is in red which represents danger.
Dressed To Kill (1980) Trailer
1990
A well known psychological thriller from the 1990's is Misery (1990). This thriller is about an author, Paul Sheldon who is involved in a serious car crash while driving home in a snow storm, he is rescued by an ex-nurse, Annie Wilkes who also happens to be his number one fan. At first Annie cares for Paul and helps him recover from his injuries until she finds out he is killing off her favourite character in his next novel, this ultimately drives her over the edge and turns her into a violent and controlling maniac who won't then let Paul leave or go to a real hospital until he changes his story to suit Annie's strange fantasies. As seen from the clip below this thriller is on the edge of a horror as it includes many horror aspects such as a lot of blood and violence, also scenes from earlier on in the film show a lot of suspense as you are constantly wondering what is going to happen next and whether Paul is ever going to escape the crazy psychopath Annie. Many films were influenced by Misery in this decade as many thrillers then started to involve obsessions and wives battering their husbands.
Fight Scene From Misery (1990)
2000
Vanilla Sky is another psychological thriller it was released in 2001 and is based upon the Spanish film "Abre Los Ojos". It is about David Aames' who has been charged for murder, from his cell where he wears a prosthetic mask he tells his psychologist a story about his life. During his flashback of his life he is shown as a wealthy man and tells you about the time his best friend, Brian Shelby introduces him to Sofia Serrano, who he later falls in love with. However, things take a turn for the worst when Aames' former lover attempts to kill both herself and David in a car crash his injuries to his face were fatal which is why he now wears the prosthetic mask. By the end of the film David finds himself in the lobby of Life Extension with a man who claims to be Davids tech support, here he is then told that he has been asleep for the last 150 years in a lucid dream and he is given the choice to be put back in his lucid dream or to jump of the top of the Life extension roof where he would then apparently be brought back to reality. After that all we are shown is David jumping off there build where a flash of white light appears and there is a women's voice telling him to "open yours eye's" this is a recurring theme in the film. In comparison to other thrillers it has no specific ending which we can see in the clip below this creates suspense as we don't no the definite ending to the film, the director has done this to make our mind think about if the whole film was just a lucid dream, the plot to a book Brian is writing, "Tech Support" are telling the truth and 150 years has passed or if it is all and hallucination caused by the drugs given to Aames' during his reconstructive surgery. In addition this scene makes us as the audience shocked as he chose to jump and consequently maybe end his life rather than go back into his lucid dream which in reality was his fantasy world.
Final Scene Of Vanilla Sky (2001)
2010
A present day neo-noir psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorsese is Shutter Island (2010) staring Leonardo DiCaprio this thriller is about two marshals - Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule - in 1954 travel to Ashecliffe, located on a remote island, which is a hospital for the criminally insane. From which a women seems to have disappeared from her locked room, there are clues left that the hospital is committing terrible crimes and as Teddy gets more involved within the investigation he soon has to confront his own fears if he hopes to make it off shutter island alive. This thrillers movie poster uses a lot of shadows this to create the feeling that it is a dark and mysterious film also it uses the colour red in parts of its text to represent blood and danger and that something bad is going to occur but the white could symbolise the innocence of Teddy as deep down he doesn't really know what is going on. Furthermore, the way they have done a close of his Teddy's face with him holding a lit match in front of it shows that he is curious and wants to get to the bottom of Ashecliffe's mystery.
Below is a list of the top 10 thriller films. From looking at this chart I can see that Hannibal is the top thriller film made, released in 2001 it has made the most amount of money and although it was rated 18 and does not have as wide a target audience in comparison to other thrillers it has still done well as it's themes and characters are consistent throughout. Also, it includes a lot of intense scenes and special effects. Compared to Red Dragon which was released in 2002, this thriller's special effects was not as good as Hannibal's however, its intense and suspense scenes are equally as good as Hannibal's which is why it is number five out of the top ten. Furthermore, The Cell (2000) is last in the top ten thriller films this could be due to the fact that it does not have as good special effects or as good acting but it does have a consistent theme like Hannibal and other films in the ten thrillers chart.
Top 10 Thriller Films
By looking at the history of thriller films it has helped to gain a greater understanding as to what go's into creating a thriller film also, it has made me think about that type of thriller I want to create and that I want it to be a psychological thriller which contain horror aspects. As well as this I need to make sure it includes, suspense and shocking element's as they are what make a great thriller. In conclusion, I now know that within my own production I need to think about the colours, lighting and camera angles as this all helps in creating a thriller atmosphere for the film.
This post demonstrates some understanding of how thriller films have changed and developed over the years. You have selected a range of films to write about and have focused on the narrative element well.
ReplyDeleteAim- relate key scenes back to the conventions, to demonstrate further understanding of how the sequence is conventional to the thriller genre. This can be achieved, by watching the scenes again and by including specific examples, to explore your points further.