The Start Of Thriller Research

In our first lesson after half-term, we began Thriller research. In this lesson we began to look into what the difference was between a Horror film, an action film and a Thriller film. This will be useful to us as when it comes to filming/ planning our Thriller we will know what to include/ avoid to ensure we are sticking to the genre as close as possible. 

Action

Nearly all action films will feature a main character who is a hero/ heroine. This is the character that is most important to the plot. For example, in the Bourne Identity, the hero is Jason Bourne. These characters are often credited with being able to "defy gravity". What we mean here is that the are an incredibly strong and tough character. For example, in the movie "Die Hard" John McClane (Bruce Willis) survives a lot of painful experiences e.g fight scenes and explosions. Explosions are a common "ingredient" in action films.

Example Clip: Casino Royal Parkour Chase/ Fight Scene

This is a clip from the very famous Casino Royale. During this extract we can observe many aspects of a typical action film sequence.

• The clear hero/ heroine in this sequence is James Bond (Daniel Craig). This clip is towards the start of the film and we can already see who the main action star is for this movie. 
• There are many examples during this scene where Bond is seen to be "defying gravity" which are all used to assert Bonds power and/or his hero like properties.

•  In addition to this, another feature of the action genre we can see in this clip are explosions. Explosions and other collisions  are used to grip the viewer and keep them engaged with the sequence. 

The combination of the heroic, death defying acts and the explosions during this clip are used to keep the audience on edge. It is a very fast yet tense scene that keeps the viewer fixed to the screen. These features are defining factors of a great action film and are typical to the action genre and the James Bond franchise.

Horror

Horror films are defined by having a supernatural feature. This could be in the form of the villain e.g a Zombie or a Ghost. Other characteristic features of the Horror genre include graveyards, coffins, blood, dark places (where people are most vulnerable) and good vs evil. However, these feature arent restricted to Horror and many of them can be seen in other genres. The deciding factor for what becomes a Horror film is the use of Supernatural beings.The Horror genre is credited to have first been seen between the 1910's and the  1920's. Since then the amount of Horror films produced per year has dramatically increased from around 10 a year  to over 6,300. (2015) Figures: http://www.imdb.com/search/title?genres=horror&explore=year


One of the most iconic Horror films was Dracula (1957) staring Christopher Lee. During the final scene of this film, as Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is killing Dracula we can see many aspects of the Horror genre. For example, in the start of the extract, we can see Dracula place a women's body into a grave. This gives the audience a "chill" and retains the horror feel of the film. This scene is set at a rather dark time of day. This creates a tense atmosphere as the audience has a fear of the unknown.Darkness or dim light is an extremely common feature of a Horror film.
Thriller

Thrillers can be very similar to a Horror film. They often contain very similar features including dark lighting and violence. Thrillers however are more realistic and resemble real life which gives them their "Thrilling" nature. Iconic Thrillers include: Inception, Casino Royale, Jackie Brown and the Bourne franchise. One of the most highly decorated directors within the Thriller Genre is Quentin Tarantino. Famous for his Thrillers: Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol.2 and his work on Sin City. The extract i have chosen is from Jackie Brown. This scene features many stereotypical Thriller features. For example, a common feature of a Thriller, or at least Tarantino films, is a low angle, car boot shot. This puts the audience in a position of vulnerability. What's more, Thrillers also feature a lot of Guns as even if they aren't fired the viewer is reminded of the killing potential o
f these characters. This gives the film an edge to it as violence could break out at any moment. In this extract, Tarantino uses few cuts and shots. During the 7 minute scene there are 8 different shots. T hat's just under a minute per shot. This reinstates the realist aspect of a Thriller and give the characters and action a more believable feel. All of these are great features of a Thriller but arguably the most iconic is the use of Noir lighting, noir obviously being French for Black. This kind of lighting is extremely common in Thriller films and can be seen during this extract.