As a group, Naomi, Maddie and I chose to explore the genre of thriller. This research will help us with our coursework as we intend to involve an enigmatic element to our film opening. Genre relies on signs, signifiers, and signifying practices, and this is what will be explored to see how 'thriller' is presented as a genre.
What is a thriller?
A thriller is usually a conflict between a protagonist and an antagonist. A film labelled 'thriller' tends to have a series of unfortunate events that build tension and lead to a climax. Thriller films are also liable to involve disruption of an equilibrium, and include justice in some way, most likely with the protagonist trying to save it, and the antagonist trying to destroy it.
History of Thriller
-1920s-1930s-
· 1926- Alfred Hitchcock “The Lodger”. Jack the Ripper, suspense.
· 1929- Hitchcock “Blackmail”
· 1935 onwards- Majority of Hitchcock’s outputs= thrillers.
· 1928- Fritz Lang “Spies”- Projected the James Bond films of the future.
· 1931- Fritz Lang “German Film”- serial killer Peter Kurten and his life.
· 1933- Edward Sutherland “Murders in The Zoo”.
· NOTABLE BRITISH DIRECTORS: Walter Forde, Victor Saville, George A, Cooper and the young Michael Powell.
-1940s-
· 1940- Hitchcock, suspense thrillers: “Rebecca”, “Foreign Correspondent”
· 1941- “Suspicion”- women in danger of her own husband.
· 1942- “Saboteur”
· 1943- “Shadow of a doubt”, Hitchcock’s personal favourite- based on a true case of a 1920s serial killer known as The Merry Widow Murderer.
· 1944- Psychological thriller “Gaslight”- husband who plotted to make his own Wife go insane in order to inherit her inheritance.
“Noir”- thrilling murder investigation made by police detective.
· 1946- “The Spiral Staircase”
· 1948- “The Lady from Shanghai”, “Sorry, Wrong Number”
· 1949- “The Third Man”
-1950s-
· 1950- Hitchcock, “Technicolor”.
· 1951- Classic film “Strangers On A Train”, staged battle of wits and traded murders with each other.
· 1953- “Niagara”- Henry Hathaway
· 1954- “Dial M for Murder”, about a husband who attempted to murder his wife. “Rear window”- about a man who was convinced his neighbour was a killer.
· 1955- “To Catch a Thief”, “Kiss Me Deadly”, “The Night of The Hunter”
· 1958- “Vertigo”, “Touch of Evil”
-1960s-
· 1960- “Peeping Tom”- psychopathic cameraman- released prior to “Psycho” (1960) - about a loner and a mother fixated motel owner.
· 1962- “Cape Fear” J Lee Thompson- featured a menacing character seeking revenge.
· 1963- “Charade” Stanley Donens- numerous plots and twists starring a pair of characters on the search for hidden loot which takes them to Paris.
· 1965- “Repulsion” Roman Polanski, English- frightening and surrealistic, featured a young woman who goes increasingly mad.
· 1967- “Wait Until Dark” Terrence Youngs- famous thriller of its release date, about a victimized blind woman in her Manhattan apartment and an evil con man in search for drugs.
· Harry palmer Spy trilogy were inspired by 007.
- “The Spy who Came In From The Cold” 1965.
- “The Deadly Affair” + “The Triple Cross”- 1967.
-1970s-1980s-
· 1971- “Duel” , Steven Spielberg, low budget TV movie.
· This period brought the first film about an individual being disturbingly obsessed with their idol. Clint Eastwood’s “Play Misty for Me”
· 1972- Hitchcock, “Frenzy” first British film in almost two decades, given “R” rating for its explicit content. “Deliverance”, John Boorman.
· 1973- “Don’t Look Now”, Nicolas Roegs, macabre- a tale of despair in Venice as a couple grieving the death of their daughter. Brian De Palmas psycho-thriller “Sisters”.
· 1974- “The Conversation” Francis Fords Coppolas (tense thriller).
· 1978- “The Eyes of Laura Mars”
· 1980- “Dressed to kill”
· 1981- “Blow Out”
· 1987- “Body Double”
-1990s-Present-
· 1990- “Misery” Rob Reiners, based on a book by Stephen King.
· 1991- “Sleeping With The Enemy”. “The Silence Of The Lambs”- Jonathan Demme- where a young FBI agent is in a psychological war against a cannibalistic psychiatrist.
· 1992- “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”, Curtis Hanson- about a nanny who was seeking revenge against her dead husband.
· 1995- “se7en”, David Fincher- about a search for a serial killer who conducted the seven deadly sins.
· 2001- “Joy Ride”.
· 2005- “Hostage”, “A History of Violence”.
· 2006- “Cellular”, “Firewall”.
· 2007- “Captivity”, “P2”.
· 2008- “Eden Lake”, “Funny Games”.
· 2009- “The Last House on the Left”.
· 2011- “Unknown”.
1990's
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The colour scheme is a stark black-and-white with highlight of brown and yellow. This also subverts from the modernised norm of red undertones, suggesting that before the 'naughties', the colour scheme associated with thriller films was of a similar essence. The significance of a death's-head hawk moth over the mouth of the victim is important as that particular moth itself carries connotations of death, and the title is of burnt orange colour, encouraging the notion of predators and prey. This idea emphasises the plot which includes psychopathic serial killers and an F.B.I agent, who is cast as a female, consequently being portrayed as a vulnerable character. The face in the background is lit from one side, resulting in the shadows being harsher on the right-hand side, implying that the unnamed person could schizophrenic, which is common amongst the 'bad guys' as they are less predictable.
Leon (1994)
The black background implies a sinister aspect to the film, and the juxtaposition of the white man drawn abstractly implies that this character prefers things simple and clear. It could also be inferred in the sense that because he is an assassin, he cannot afford to go wrong, demonstrated by the sharp contrast and lack of blurred lines/shading.The title is in bold, capital letters bar the letter 'n', which is in lower case; this may indicate that even though everything about the characters lives appears to be in order, there is still the twist of the orphaned girl learning to be an assassin, which is not normal, therefore being a disruption of the equilibrium. This further heightens the thrill and fear that is induced in the audience by the idea of emotionless psychopathy due to the girl and the man looking at the gun in a nonchalant way in the top right corner. Apart from this screenshot, the only other colour on the poster is the word 'Leon', which is in a dull yellow colour, subverting from the typical red highlights that are used in thriller films.
The cool colour scheme and the elongated shadows imply a mysterious element to the film. The faces of the main three characters are pictured in the top half of the film art and they are arranged in a slanted triangular formation, which may indicate a hierarchy amongst those three characters. The man on the right of the three is wearing sunglasses, suggesting that he does not want his identity known, that he wants to blend in with the crowd, and this supports his character as Robert De Niro plays Neil McCauley, who is the head of the criminal crew.The title is of the same sort of colours as the background but it is underlined in red, consequently emphasising it which may imply imminent danger. The five silhouetted figures are stood in a falsely relaxed manner as they are obviously on edge, best represented by the figure on the far left who is looking over his shoulder.
2000's
Momento (2002)
The poster for the thriller film, 'Momento' show a series of photos inside of each other in a cyclical way. This element of the poster adds to the storyline given and suggests a way that the main character overcomes his lack of short term memory and inability to create new ones. The photos are set at a dutch angle, implying a sense of disorientation that may be a reoccurring feature throughout the film. The photos have been filtered so that there are no cool colours involved, with burnt oranges being the main colour. This can be associated with action and a fast paced storyline. In order to make the title stand out, the creator of the poster has used a font which looks like it could be someone's handwriting and is in all capitals, making it even more noticeable as this tends to be identified with anger, panic or just someone trying to emphasise a certain point.
The Departed (2006)
'The Departed' uses a slightly different technique to draw in the audience; it uses a black background and the only image is inside the text of the main title. The text shows close up shots of faces of three men, all with intense facial expressions and the colours are cooler in the images. There are, however, connotations of red which signify danger and blood which may foreshadow events in the film. The title is also repeated on the poster, once in large, block-capitals filled out with coloured images, whereas the other time it appears on the poster is in a plain white, clearer text which is smaller than the other title, but is still larger than the 'fine print'. The text is has no clear layout and is broken up in some places, suggesting that the film is quick and shows an element of uncertainty which is then juxtaposed by the style of the text.
Inception (2010)
The poster for the film, 'Inception' is made up of entirely cool colours, bar the title of the film which is in red. The red has connotations of danger and death, and the simple, capitalised text adds to the atmosphere of fear and the task that the main character has to complete is as far from simplicity as it can get. The background of the media text is a city which appears to be folding in on itself, giving the audience a hint as to what challenges the characters have to face. Having Leonardo DiCaprio as the main character, made clear by him being stood centre shot and the light source coming from behind him, is a good selling point as he has a large fan base and is known to be associated with romance or action films and by looking at this film poster, the audience can tell it is not primarily a romantic story.
The Grey (2011)
This film poster stays relevant to the title when regarding the colour as the colours are slightly washed out, giving it an overall greying effect. The image in the background is a close up of the main character with a determined expression on his face. The injury on the character's face induces the idea of a thriller as it contrasts the rest of the colours dramatically. The text is of a whit, block-capital style which is harsh against the background image, consequently drawing attention to the title. Underneath the main title of the film there is a caption, "live or die on this day", and this provokes the audience into thinking about the film in further detail. This caption also is an exposition for the film, resulting in the audience being on edge and expecting the worst the whole way through the film.
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