Anna's Studio: Thriller Genre

Definition

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the thriller genre is a book, a play, or a film that has an exciting story, often about solving a crime. The purpose of the genre is to create excitement and tension for the audience, it is also considered the main element of a thriller movie. There is a range of sub-genre that pair well with thrillers and based on Masterclass, they include psychological, action, crime, political, mystery, spy, legal, and science-fiction.

Technical codes

Camera

Close-up: Close-ups are used very frequently in thriller movies, often to capture the change in emotions of the character as they witness the ‘thriller elements’. During the movie, the characters when through different stages of feelings, and therefore, close-ups are used to showcase their changes.

Dutch tilt: Dutch tilt is often used to enhance the tension, generate fear, and exacerbate unsteadiness. Besides showing the character’s feelings, dutch tilt is also seen when showcasing ominous is looming just ahead, alarming the audience.

Establishing shot: Most thriller movies take place in a specific place and establishing shot helps to set the whole atmosphere for the film, allowing viewers to have a better understanding of the situation and upcoming events.

Sound

Diegetic: Sound plays a very important role, especially in thriller movies. They act as one of the main ‘thriller elements’ besides what appears on screen. Diegetic sound in thriller films includes dialogue of characters, the sound of objects, and weird unknown sounds that help to raise the tension for the film. These diegetic sound often adds a mysterious feel to the movie.

Non-diegetic: Non-diegetic sound was used mostly for the jump-scare effect (an element that appears frequently in thriller movies). These could be a song (like heard in Black Swan) or sound effects (like heard in Identity) and they all bring in the same tension for the movies. These are normally abrupt sounds that appear suddenly without any warning, creating the jump-scare effect that all thriller movies have.

Lighting

Low-key lighting: An element that is easy to spot in both of the genre studies of Identity and Black Swan is the use of low-key lighting. Low-key lighting brings a mysterious, dramatic, and scary feel to the scene, that raises the tension for the audience. It also limits the audience's view which causes them to develop a thrilling feel as they watch the movie, not knowing what will happen next. Furthermore, the lighting creates a contrast between the dark and white (as seen in Black Swan) and shadows for the scene, 2 important elements for thriller movies.

Symbolic codes

Blood: Blood is considered a symbolic code for any thriller movie as it brings in a scary feeling for the audience. Blood symbolizes life and death (in the context of the thriller genre, the latter is often used), massacre, and injuries (as seen in Identity). Despite not being seen in the opening sequence, blood is seen throughout Black Swan as well.

Flashbacks: Flashbacks are used exceptionally frequently during the 7-minute sequence of Identity to display the past action that caused the current event. This helps the audience to understand the character better and why they acted so

Photograph: For sub-genres like mystery or crime, photographs are seen in different scenes. These are normally evidence for the case (as seen in Identity) and give the audience a hint or guide for the whole movie.

Mirrors: Mirrors that appear in thriller films can portray the reflection of the character and their inner-self. Most of the time, mirrors are used to help the character show their deep thoughts and dark side that they don’t want to reveal to others

Shadows: Due to the use of excessive low-key lighting, shadows are seen many times during a thriller movie. Shadow is used to showcase the action of a character (usually the murderer) and their inner darkness. Since shadow doesn’t reveal the identity of the character, it creates a mysterious feel to the scene.

Symbolic and technical codes (condensed)

Low-key lighting
Dark color scheme
Blood
High-tension music/Unexpected sound
Close-up shots

Conventions

Flashbacks
Clues and red herrings (followed the wrong path)
Investigation
Moral Ambiguity
Unreliable narrators

Themes

Hero vs villain
Psychopath
Revenge
Nightmare
Dark inner self

Characters

Villains
Heroes
False heroes
Convicts
Escaped convicts
Victims
Innocent victims
Criminal
Psychotic people
Police

Takeaways

After analyzing the 5 film openings and researching the thriller genre, I’ve taken away some ideas that I want to apply in my film opening.

Low-key lighting

Firstly is the use of low-key lighting, as I intended to mainly set my opening film in the school and low-key lighting will help to symbolize the genre of thriller that I chose. The lighting will also help me to raise the tension of the film and add to the mysteriousness of it. I also planned to have only one source of light seen during scene where low-key lighting is used, to better enhance the thriller effect. Since my theme is about a character who has to fight with her dark inner self, the use of low-key lighting will further help me to achieve my idea.

Blueish tone

Secondly is the color scheme that I could use for my film opening. After all 5 genre studies, I've found a similarity in the way they set the atmosphere for the opening sequence, by using a blueish tone for the scenes. This applies to both Shutter Island and The Silence of the Lambs. The use of the tone creates a cold atmosphere, making the scene feel mysterious and complements the genre very well. A murder attempt will be happening during my opening sequence, therefore the blueish tone could also further emphasize the cold personality of the murderer

High tension music

Identity's opening sequence uses a range of high-tension music, like thunderstorms, followed by flashing lights that signify lightning. The initial idea for my film opening was to be set in the evening, in the school's hallway, therefore having the diegetic sound of thunderstorms and lightning flashing might bring in the tension for the scene, setting the atmosphere for the upcoming events. The sound could also be an alert for the audience to be mentally prepared for what is about to come.

Flashbacks

Flashbacks are one of the conventions of thriller movies and they help viewers to know the background and past of a character, to understand their action. My protagonist in the opening sequence suffers from fighting against her dark self and by using flashbacks, I could tell the viewers her background stories and why she acted so. I planned to use flashbacks as the character remembers her actions when she was taken over by her dark inner self, bringing in the thriller effect.

Investigation

With the protagonist being an amateur investigator, I think that setting up the character, their appearance, and personality to match with the convention is very important. Out of the 5 genre studies that I have done, Vigilante and Shutter Island have a similar character to my protagonist. For Vigilante, the stereotypical appearance of a 'murderer' could be applied in my film. Despite the difference in their purpose of murdering people, the black hoodie that was used in Vigilante complements the stereotypical image of a murderer very well, based on Stuart Hall's theory.

Since my character has 2 identities, the investigator identity could be inspired by how the Shutter Island protagonist, Teddy dresses. According to what Stuart Hall mentioned about stereotypes, the long brown coat and the hat that Teddy is wearing is the view of the media industry of how an investigator looks like. Therefore, I wanted to use the same image that has been set by the industry for many decades, to dress my protagonist similarly and show that she is an investigator.

Anna's Studio

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Thriller Genre