The Hitchhiker (Lupino 1953)
Psycho (Hitchcock 1960)
Vertigo (Hitchcock 1958)
Fight Club (Fincher 1999)
Se7en (Fincher 1995)
Pulp Fiction (Tarantino 1994)
The Godfather (Coppola 1972)
The Usual Suspects (Singer 1995)
The Shining (Kubrick 1980)
Sixth Sence (Shyamalan 1999)
The Dark Knight (Nolan 2008)
"My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film's story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it." Saul Bass 1920 - 1996
All the films above were successful towards being part of the thriller genre because they took on the conventions and forms. Any director of a thriller film will include these conventions deliberately:
- Build up to the action
- Creation of fear / apprehension / unserrling feeling / confusion / mystery
- Sence of suspicion between characters
- Hero / heroine seen in situations that threaten. Peril / danger
- Extrodinary events / behavior
- Hero(ine) in fallible
- Establishing mood and atmosphere throughtout the film
- Red Herrings
- Often theme of mirroring (reflections)
- Often include mistaken identity
- Flashbacks
Mazes & labarinths often used (real or psychological)- Twists and unexpected turns
- Delay in showing the face of significant character, or action of an important event by first showing the hand of the character
- Audience are put in the position of voyeurs
- Killer/villan ensures hero(ine) through series of intricale moves
- Build up to the action - The director has achieved this by the use of flash backs, non-digetic music, use of mirrors which show more than one view and shot/reverse shots which helps the scene flow.
- Creation of fear/apprehension/anticipation - The director has ahcieved this by using disorienting effects with the camera, darkness (making the audience un-able to see clearly) the use of crows that audiences connotate with enigma and a realistic setting.
- Dark, shadowy atmosphere - Created by the appearance of shots being filmed at night.
- Establishing mood and atmosphere throughtout the film - This is achieved by the use of camera movement which gives the impression of pace speeding up. The scenes hold onto silence for long periods.
- Delay in showing the face of a significant character, or an important event by first showing the hand of the character - In Flight Plan a plane ticket is shown before the characters face with a focus shot, this proves important in the film.
- Morally ambiguous central character - In Flight Plan the flight attendents appear to have more depth in them
- Realistic settings to create a sence of 'the unusual' occurring within a normal setting - the action revolves around an airport and airplane
- Flashbacks - in 'Flight Plan' the use of flashbacks shows the uncertainty brought up
- Hero(ine) in situation of threat or struggle - the heroine loses her daughter in the plane
- Red Herrings - A character of middle eastern origin is suspected of commiting the kidnap
- Twists and unexpected turns - The girl has been said to have passed away
- Making and keeping the audience tense and on the edge of our seats - use of showing the characters nature before the twist and then turning our views against her. The use of non digetic music adds tension.
- Build up to the action - The use of the voice-over without an visual pictures makes hightened to the opening.
- Creation of fear/apprehension/anticipation - The use of a calm, yet menacing voice over before the action brings in the audience
- Establishing mood and atmosphere throughtout the film - The use of lighting helps separate scenes and creates an undestanding of what is going to happen in the scene
- Morally ambiguous central character - use of voice over with no visual of character creates suspison
- Realistic settings to create a sence of 'the unusual' occurring within a normal setting - Created with diffetent locations. In the first scene a truck door is blown up
- Flashbacks - The use of flashbacks anchors the voice-over as the audience are able to gain insight to the context
- Twists and unexpected turns - Right at the start the door of a truck blows open
- Making and keeping the audience tense and on the edge of our seats - the use of the voice over creates an enigma and incite to the story so we are interested in what will happen
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