Gary Holder
Research into Thrillers
The Thriller genre is defined as a genre heavily focused on stimulating the viewer’s moods particularly heightening feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise anticipations and anxiety.Thrillers also often contain an element of mystery and are therefore often contain elements of crime.
A subgenre of Thrillers that I am particularly interested in is Psychological thrillers.
Psychological thrillers emphasize the psychology of the characters involved and also make the audience think deeply about the events of the film; examples of these are Limitless, Black Swan and inception,three of my favourite Thrillers.
Science-fiction is often hybridized with Thrillers and a famous example of this is The Hunger Games franchise. Films like this include Interstellar, The Matrix and Alien.
Inspiring Thrillers
Limitless is successful because the audience can think about what they would do in the same situation. The film also contains a very desirable situation (Being intelligent with no work) which people tend to enjoy. The idea of fantasising about a desirable situation appeals to most people and I think this is the main reason that Limitless is such a successful film. The visual effects in limitless have been widely praised by critics and this is perhaps another reason for its success, in the opening sequence a fractal zoom (endless zoom) effect is used, this reflects the narrative content of the film as it implies abnormal levels of detail. This shot has inspired me but looks quite hard to achieve, i will look into how to execute it well.Special effects are used throughout the film to show the effect of the drug , for example when Eddie first takes the drug and he watches himself come up the stairs multiple times, this gives the audience an idea of how the drug is affecting him, allowing for a more immersive film.
Limitless
In the shot above the fractal zoom is used to convey the passing of time as at this point Eddie has started having blackouts , this sequence depicts the events of the night even though Eddie does not remember it. The fractal zoom seems very unnatural usually and is used to convey the confusion experienced by Eddie and also the unnatural experience he is having (on the drug nzt)
The fractal zoom in the shot below is used to create more of a montage type scene, although the unnatural aspect is still present, proving an overtone that all this is happening whilst Eddie is on drugs.
The matrix adheres to some of the generic conventions of a thriller for example, the idea of the agents being able to change their appearance means the antagonists identity is unknown. Also the idea of a large cover up is central and the colouor schemes tend to be dark with many shadows and dark clothing.
Special effects are very significant in the film , especially in the climax (potentiality) stage. "Bullet time" is the name given to the effect used here to reflect Neo's newly-gained abilities as the objects in shot slow down and the camera pans around Neo.
The Matrix
The matrix was a hugely successful film, perhaps for a similar reason to Limitless, it allows for the audience to consider key ideas such as the nature of reality. The construction of this idea is so successful because as it is descibed as being covered up the audience considers that this could happen in the real world. Visual effects are also very signisficant in The Matrix to the point where the falling code has become iconic.
The matrix fits into George Dove's theory: Cumulation is at the start of the film when Neo is trying to track down Morpheus and we are not yet told why.
Postponementis when Neo is delayed in meeting Morpheus by the Agents.
Alternation is when the characters seem close to their goal but are delayed by cyphers betrayal. It is at this point that the plot seems as if it will not be as simple as expected.
Potentiality is when Neo finally gains confidence in his abilities and effortlessly destroys smith.
I think that the main lesson from both limitless and the matrix is that in order for the audience to be thrilled by the piece the situation has to be feasible for their own lives,the idea of cover ups work well because it means even if it were true the audience wouldn't know.
"In The Matrix, the camera path was pre-designed using computer-generated visualizations as a guide. Cameras were arranged, behind a green or blue screen, on a track and aligned through a laser targeting system, forming a complex curve through space. The cameras were then triggered at extremely close intervals, so the action continued to unfold, in extreme slow-motion, while the viewpoint moved. Additionally, the individual frames were scanned for computer processing. Using sophisticated interpolation software, extra frames could be inserted to slow down the action further and improve the fluidity of the movement (especially the frame rate of the images); frames could also be dropped to speed up the action. This approach provides greater flexibility than a purely photographic one. The same effect can also be simulated using pure CGI, motion capture and other approaches."
This was taken from a wikipedia article and describes how Bullet time was achieved in the Matrix. This effect takes a lot of specialist equipment to achieve and so I don't think I will be able to include this in my piece, however it is inspiring to me as slows down action to contrast when it speeds up again, for this reason i may look into using slow motion in my piece.
Inception
Inception (2010, Nolan) was a very successful thriller which popularized the psychological thriller while also providing some familiarity with a variation of a heist thriller. Inceptions visual effects are well documented as being a major part of the success of this film along witht the soundtrack.It is similar to the Matrix in the way that its distorted version of reality is portrayed through unrealistic camera shots and angles achieved with special effects. It also uses desireable situations to engage the audience and allow them to imagine themselves in the situation, the idea of being able to control a dream is both an attractive concept and an actual possibility, Christopher Nolan has said that the film was inspired by lucid dreaming, the phenomenon of becoming aware whilst dreaming.
Below is a short video on the soundtrack of Inception. The supernatural sounds used in the film are usually several different sounds recorded and then layed over eachother, for example some of the loud bassy sounds are things like whale moans mixed with weapons or impact noises. These all come together to create unsettling and thrilling sounds for the unnatural locations and scenarios of the film.
Seven
Seven is a very successful crime thriller first released in 1995 and distributed by New Line Cinema. It is centred around the story of a serial killer killing people with reference to the seven deadly sins. The fact that this film is centred around murder is relevant as this is a central theme of our idea. The most often praised aspect of this film is the atmosphere created. It is established early on that the murders are related to the seven deadly sins and this means the audience almost guesses how the murders will be committed before they actually happen , creating a very large amount of suspense. In our piece the opening sequence will show an attack but this will be revealed to be a dream, however the attack will take place in real life so this provides the same aspect of progressive revelation and foreshadowing. Below is a short clip from the film showing a chase sequence, this is one of the fe fast paced sequences in the film as it is centred mostry around investigation, the suspense created is therefore much more effective.
The Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs is widely acclaimed as one of the best thrillers of all time.It is an instalment in the Hannibal Lecter film series, which includes Hannibal, Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal Rising. The films antagonist is not actually Lecter himself as he is detained in prison for most of the film but is actually Buffalo Bill, a serial killer similar to Lecter. Lecter helps solve the case but does so to bargain for better living conditions for himself. It is perhaps this that makes Silence of the Lambs such a good thriller as you get to see a serial killer for the whole film while the identity of the current killer remains unknown therefore maintaining the enigma codes. One of the best scenes in the film is when both clarice starling and an entire swat team are making calls to different houses, the swat team believe Buffalo Bill is in the house they are at when infact he is at the house with Clarice who does not know he is Buffalo Bill. The editing at this point leaves it ambiguous as to which house Bill is in until the very last secoind, creating a large amount of suspense.
