I think the opening of a film needs to introduce the characters to the audience, set the scene, and grab the audience’s attention, and keep it.
What techniques can a director use to create suspense in a film?
The director can use a range of camera shots – short scenes with lots of cuts.
A handheld camera moving with the character, can sometimes give the impression that the audience are in the same position as the person in the film, and this could heighten emotions.
Adding music and sound effects in climatic parts could also add suspense.
How do you think a thriller film is defined?
A thriller is something that literally ‘thrills’ the audience. It creates suspense, and keeps the viewers ‘on the edge’ at all times – leaving them to wonder what will happen to see if their predictions are correct.
What films can you think of that would fit into the thriller genre?
The films that I think of when I think of the thriller genre are probably some of the most well known thrillers, such as: Goodfellas, Momento, Psycho, Fight Club, The Dark Knight, Rear Window, Silence of the Lambs and Se7en.
The thriller film can be divided into sub-genres – what different types of thriller films do you think exist?
I think there are also: Crime thrillers, Psychological thrillers, Political thrillers, Moral confrontation thrillers, Supernatural thrillers, Legal thrillers and Disaster thrillers.
What are the characteristics or conventions of a thriller film?
The usual conventions for a thriller film are shocks for the audience, mysteries, puzzles and enigmas, intrigue, cliff-hangers. Also the use of dark, impressionistic lighting, victims and familiar objects and places becoming menacing or dangerous.
What do you think is the audience pleasure of a thriller film?
I think the audience relish in the intrigue of what will happen next, they are kept on the edge of their seats and love the suspense that is created through the camera angles, music and overall impression of the film.
What do you think are the differences between a horror and a thriller film?
I think a horror film has more gore and violence, and is designed to scare you, but not make you think about the plot a great deal. A thriller, however, doesn’t (in some cases) have as much gore, but it makes you think about the story, keep you intrigued and makes you use your brain more to unearth the story behind what you see on screen.
Using the internet, research the ‘top 50 thriller films’. Look at the top twenty – which ones have you watched? If it’s not many, why do you think this is the case?
Out of the twenty top thriller films, I have only seen five of them (Inception, The Dark Knight, Fight Club, Se7en and Silence of the Lambs). It’s not many, but I think I do watch a lot of thriller films, but maybe they are more modern and are not classed as some of the greatest of all time. I am interested in watching more of the top thriller films, I just haven’t got round to it yet.
Using the internet, find three posters for three thrillers. Complete a brief semiotic analysis of the posters. What colours are used, what kind of imagery, taglines, certificate, narrative?
The poster is very confusing, with parts of a building at all angles, and the same with the characters. Some are even standing upside down. This could symbolise that the film will also be just as confusing and you will have to try and work it out, just as you do with the poster.
The use of the colour red, for the title suggests the film also has darker meanings, and that there will be an element of danger to the film – this is done very subtly though, so it suggests that the film won’t be full of violence, but there will be references to it.
The actors name ‘Leonardo Dicaprio’ is at the top in the biggest letters, so it shows that he is the films biggest star.
The tagline ‘Your mind is the crime scene’ is effective because it does what a good thriller should do: it makes the audience think about what they are being told.
This poster is very effective and one of the most well known thriller posters. Multiple elements suggest danger. The use of red behind the background suggests danger, as does the gun in the foreground.
The woman lying on the bed looks seductive, but also mysterious. She is wearing red lipstick, a black dress and heels, so she looks business like and the cigarette looks like something you would see years ago. The look on her face tells us she is someone not to get on the wrong side of.
The yellow contrasts with the red well, making it stand out and the overall presentation of it, makes it look like the front of an old magazine. The names down the side rather than at the top, also suggest the poster is from years ago, when actually the film isn’t as old as the poster makes it out to be.
This poster is one of the most interesting I have seen in the thriller genre – it doesn’t follow the stereotypical characteristics of many other thriller posters.
The font where the title is written, is in lower case, rather than capitals, this could suggest that the title doesn’t need to grab the attention of the audience because the picture has the power to do so.
The picture of a girl with an insect over her mouth is, I would say, more disturbing than any actual gore. It’s unnatural and the way she looks so innocent and vulnerable makes it even more strange. She doesn’t appear to be wearing make-up but there is a red-tint to her eyes, which suggests danger. The insect over the mouth also suggests and inability to speak, which links to the title, ‘the silence...’ Overall I think this poster speaks for itself.
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