Recipe of a Thriller.

'The thriller is a very difficult genre to pin down because it covers such a wide range of films. Thrillers are films of suspense...that are supposed to instil terror into the audience.' Susan Hayward, Key Concepts in Film Studies.

In class we discussed what a thriller is and this is what we came up with. 

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and over-lapping genres such as action and romance. 

They are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. For example spiderman and the green goblin. 

Suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers are used in thrillers.Psychological, social and political tensions are included in a thriller which can catch the attention of the audience and the genre is very flexible. The hero must thwart the plans of a villain rather than uncover a crime that has already happened and the identity of the villain is known all along. The crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. The hero often saves his own life and the lives of others. 

An action thriller is when there is a race against the clock and includes extreme amounts of violence and an obvious antagonist. They include weaponry such as guns and explosions. Examples of this are the James Bond films and The Transporter.

A conspiracy thriller is when the hero confronts a group of large and powerful enemies who's true extent only he or she recognizes. 

A crime thriller is when the film is focused on the criminal(s) and usually emphasize action on psychologist aspects using murders, robberies, chases, shootouts and double-crosses. Reservoir Dogs is an example of a crime thriller.

A spy thriller is when the film is focused on a certain mission for the good guy and the bad people trying to stop them get to what they want or need through captivation and many other things. Examples of this include The Bourne Legacy, Mr and Mrs Smith and the James Bond films. 

Political thrillers are ones which involve the government and can include The Last King of Scotland.

  

Where Were You? Sound Shots

Sound Shots

Where Were You?

This is a video made by myself Tania Begum and Ashleigh Westcott starring Tania and Taylor-Anne Corney. We used the microphones to capture sound and experiment with it.  

This video has diegetic sound, which means that it is coming from a source on film which is relevent to the events happening.

Camera Shot Exercise

Camera Shot Exercise

A Lovers Tiff

Myself, Tania Begum and Ashleigh Westcott filmed a short movie using different camera shots including over the shoulder, low angle, high angle etc. 

Evaluation.

We was asked to create a short video displaying some of the camera shots we learnt about in class. I worked with Tania Begum, who worked with me at directing, and Ashleigh Westcott, who starred in the video, and also Georgia Meakin who starred in the video. As our first video we hadn't really planned what it would be about when we began videoing, so we put our ideas together as we went along and this is what we created. We shot this film in Robert Clack lower school and I believe that we worked very well as a group. I believe that the final edit has turned out quite good. After shooting it we edited it through cutting out parts that we didn't need or want and blending camera shots together. We also slowed down the image to fit in with the audio we desired which is feels like home by Edwina Hayes. I believe that this fitted in well with this short drama and the final edit has turned out pretty good.

This video has non diegetic sound with music.

Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock.

Psycho.

This is a thriller about a woman, Marion Crane, who has stolen some money from her company and ran away. She comes across Bates Motel and meets Norman Bates, the owner of this rundown, solitary and unseen motel. She is murdered in the shower by his mother and he dumps her in the boot of her car in a river and claims that she never stayed to the detective who comes looking for her after she's been missing for a few days. He then gets caught out because she signed into a check-in book and reveals that she did stay however he says that they never spoke she just went to her room and left the next morning. His mother was meant to have died and she killed the private detective because hes seen her in the window. The sister and the boyfriend of Marion got police involved, telling them the whole story, and when they passed it off as though the detective had ran away with Marion they went to investigate at the hotel. There is a big twist at the end of this movie which I believe is very well though of by Hitchcock and makes the film very interesting.

In the shower scene we have a close up of Marion and in the background the curtain with a shadow. This shadow represents a musky figure, only the outline so we see no detail of a person. This creates tension and a thrilling image. There is the sound of running water, which is a diegetic sound representing the shower, which is a calm and relaxing. Then we have a non-diegetic sound of spine chilling music when the figure opens the curtain to reveal a woman with a knife in her hand. This creates a sense of danger. The characters facial expression is shown in this image and shows terror. 

Norman Bates is given a freaky look to match the characteristics of him. The character is given this gruel smile which makes us feel uncomfortable and uneasy, which is also what he seems to be when we first meet him at his Motel. 

I believe that this film is a very good one and is one of Hitchcock's finest, certainly the most thrilling.