Conventions of Thrillers

Conventions of The Thriller Genre

Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)

A Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.

Bio

Mise en Scene

She’s in her hotel room, alone. Creating an eery

atmosphere

She’s in a closed room, having a shower behind curtain, suggesting she

private and safe.

Her facial expression makes her seem content, safe and happy. Fooling

the audience.

No dialogue used before creating atmosphere but her

screaming in the shower scares the audience.

Blood in the shower to show the audience she

is dead.

Knife used by murderer to stab her, the weapon

adds danger to situation.

Sound

• We see sound used throughout to create atmosphere and scare the audience.

• At the start of the clip we hear a classic, low tempo, quiet melody to ease the audience.

• This melody fades out and into the scene being completely digetic sounds.

• The main sound we hear is the running of the shower when she gets in the shower, it’s a calming, natural sound, easing the viewer.

• But, it’s suddenly cut into with loud high pitched screeches as the murderer pulls open the shower curtain.

• Screaming then follows from the girl, coupled with the easing of the eerie music into more deeper sounds.

• It then fades back to the sound of the shower, creating a loop in sound, however this time when the sound is played, it’s a very different situation.

Camera angles, shots and movement

We see the use of deliberate blocking, this hot, shadows the

murderer and creates suspense.

We see the use of quick action cuts in shot when the girl is being attacked, creating a sense of

mayhem.

Wide angle shot to show her all alone, safe, but alone. Making a

point to the audience.

Pan shot, tracking her calm movement toward the shower.

Showing she feels safe and there is nothing to worry about.

Editing

• We see editing used throughout to create atmosphere and build tension for the fore coming scene.

• One of the main tools used in editing/filming, is the decision to film in black and white. Hitchcock chose to make the film a black and white, to create atmosphere and make it seem as unnatural as possible, displacing the audience.

• The use of continuity editing when she walks from the desk to the shower is perfect, flowing, this makes the scene seem natural and innocent.

• We then are interrupted by the perfectly time continuity editing with quick sharp cutting shots of the attack scene. This change, again, displaces the audience and shocks them into felling scared and on edge.

The Sixth Sense (Shyamalan, 1999)

A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a

disheartened child psychologist.

Bio

Mise en Scene

The broken window in the bedroom shocks the audience as they are

not expecting this.

The man in the bathroom socks the audience as he is half naked in his

pants with bruises and pale tone. He scares the audience

The opening sequence is set in a house, in one part the wife goes down

to the cellar to pick up wine and shivers, displacing the audience.

The husband and wife are both dressed very well, either panning to go out soon or have just come back

from a major event.

Sound

• We see sound used throughout to create atmosphere and scare the audience.

• During the opening credits we hear an eerie drone that develops into a tension building melody.

• The scene then cuts to totally to digetic sound, with the wife going down into the cellar to get wine. This scene creates an eerie atmosphere, the natural sounds and odd silence evokes emotion from the audience.

• When the wife returns to the living room she engages in light hearted normal dialogue with her husband, lightening and normalising the mood.

• However, when they go to the bedroom it falls silent again and we hear eerie sounds creep in when we see the broken glass.

• The eerie sounds peak when we see the weird man and when he further goes on to shoot the husband we hear the cutting loud bang of the gun. Displacing the audience.

Camera angles, shots and movement

Panning shot to the man in the bathroom. It reveals him to the

audience slowly, so it doesn’t scare the audience but makes them feel out of

place.

Tracking shot in the opposite direction the weird man, going away from the camera to show

closure of the scene.

We see a shot at the start in the cellar through wine bottles. This

creates the effect someone is there watching her, with her.

We also see the couple through the man’s mirrored award. The couple are seen

romantically clutching another, providing safety.

The Taken Series (Morel/Megaton, 2008- Present)

A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged

daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.

Bio

Mise en Scene

The broken window in the bedroom shocks the audience as they are

not expecting this.

The man in the bathroom socks the audience as he is half naked in his

pants with bruises and pale tone. He scares the audience

The opening sequence is set in a house, in one part the wife goes down

to the cellar to pick up wine and shivers, displacing the audience.

The husband and wife are both dressed very well, either panning to go out soon or have just come back

from a major event.

Sound

• We see sound used throughout to create atmosphere and scare the audience.

• During the opening credits we hear an eerie drone that develops into a tension building melody.

• The scene then cuts to totally to digetic sound, with the wife going down into the cellar to get wine. This scene creates an eerie atmosphere, the natural sounds and odd silence evokes emotion from the audience.

• When the wife returns to the living room she engages in light hearted normal dialogue with her husband, lightening and normalising the mood.

• However, when they go to the bedroom it falls silent again and we hear eerie sounds creep in when we see the broken glass.

• The eerie sounds peak when we see the weird man and when he further goes on to shoot the husband we hear the cutting loud bang of the gun. Displacing the audience.

Camera angles, shots and movement

Panning shot to the man in the bathroom. It reveals him to the

audience slowly, so it doesn’t scare the audience but makes them feel out of

place.

Tracking shot in the opposite direction the weird man, going away from the camera to show

closure of the scene.

We see a shot at the start in the cellar through wine bottles. This

creates the effect someone is there watching her, with her.

We also see the couple through the man’s mirrored award. The couple are seen

romantically clutching another, providing safety.