Hello my name is Cameron Smith and I am a student at Walton High School currently studying AS Media Studies. In this blog I will be exploring techniques and conventions that film makers use to entertain an audience (Concentrating on the thriller genre) along with creating my own practical pieces to show my understanding of these conventions.

This is our continuity piece, we experimented with various shots and angles to demonstrate our understanding of film making. Unfortunatly our editing software was poor and left a watermark on the video. Also our sound quality wasn't great, however we can learn from this and improve in our future work.

BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)

The classification for a thriller is very important when it comes to the audience of the film and who should be watching it. Therefore it is important to understand how and why films are given certain classifications as it affects the audience, and those who are involved in the film.

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

Cinema

The British Board of Film Censors was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally. Statutory powers on film remain with the local councils, which may overrule any of the BBFC’s decisions, passing films we reject, banning films we have passed, and even waiving cuts, instituting new ones, or altering categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction.

Video

In 1984 Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act. This act stated that, subject to certain exemptions, video recordings offered for sale or hire commercially in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. The President and Vice Presidents of the BBFC were so designated, and charged with applying the new test of ‘suitability for viewing in the home’. At this point the Board’s title was changed to the British Board of Film Classification to reflect the fact that classification plays a far larger part in the BBFC’s work than censorship.

Finances

The BBFC is a not for profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only to cover its costs. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC never receives subsidies from either the film industry or the government. Its income is solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification. The BBFC consults the Department of Culture, Media and Sport before making any changes to its fees.

 









Thriller Sub-genres

Conspiracy thrillers

These thrillers often play with the secrecy of governments and major organisations in history. Usually the hero/heroine find themselves trapped in these organisations and have to fight to escape. Often the organisation in the film is trying to cover up the evil truth with lies.

Crime thrillers

This particular genre offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses. 

Psychological thrillers

In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Characters, either by accident or their own curiousness, are dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. Characters are not reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies, but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. At times, the characters attempt solving, or are involved in, a mystery. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.


Supernatural thrillers

In which the film brings in an otherworldly element (such as fantasy and/or the supernatural) mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometimes the protagonist and/or villain has some psychic ability and superpowers.


Spy thriller

In which the protagonist is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. It is a significant aspect of British cinema, with leading British directors such as Alfred Hitchcock  making notable contributions and many films set in the British Secret Service. The spy film usually fuses the action and science fiction genres, however, some spy films fall safely in the action genre rather than thriller (e.g. James Bond), especially those having frequent shoot-outs, car chases and such.


Techno thrillers

A suspense film in which the use of sophisticated technology plays a prominent part. There is usually a fusion of action and science fiction.

With reference to Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960) and at least 2 other thrillers you have studied, as well as your wider research, discuss the thriller and its forms and conventions.

Thrillers are usually made for the older end of cinematic viewers, as the aspects of the genre often requires a certain level of maturity from the audience, as it is rare you see a thriller that has a censorship under the age of fifteen, I believe this is due to conventions of a good thriller such as suspense, the understanding of protagonists, plot twists and so on, which can only be understood and appreciated properly by a mature audience, where as genres such as action or comedy usually appeal more to a younger audience as they could be seen as “easier” to watch. Therefore it is important that these conventions are done properly so that the film isn’t seen as being dumbed down, or else a mature audience won’t get the same excitement. Thrillers can be defined into further sub-genres such as crime thrillers like “Seven” (David Fincher, 1995) and “Taking Lives” (D.J Caruso, 2004) or mystery thrillers such as “Memento” (Christopher Nolan, 2000) it’s these sub-genres that define the overall tone of the thriller. I will be discussing the conventions and aspects that form a “thriller”.

The suspense and tension in a thriller is crucial, as it keeps the audience on edge whilst they are guessing on what’s going to happen next, for example, the shower scene in “Psycho” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) only the audience can see the silhouette of the killer, where as the female “Marion Crane” (Janet Leigh) is completely oblivious and therefore we emphasize and fear for her, the suspense is created with the time in which it takes for the killer to walk towards the shower, if the killer had quickly walked up to the shower the same tension wouldn’t have been created, however Hitchcock timed it perfectly so that it  built up enough suspense and the audience are anticipating that it could be leading up to something terrifying, and therefore keeps them on edge and adds excitement. The same can be said about “No country for old men” (Ethan and Joel Coen, 2007) when “Anton Chigurh” (Javier Bardem) is in the gas station, the tension is built through the silence in-between the conversation of him and the owner. Towards the end of the scene the Anton says “What’s the most you’ve ever lost in a coin toss?” it is at this point that the conversation becomes quicker between the two as it is becoming more serious, and creates suspense as the audience know that this man has a 50/50 chance of dying because we know this man is a psycho, and therefore leaves the viewers guessing at the gas station owners fate, tension is immediately cut when Anton says “Well done” as the audience knows the man is safe. Finally in “Seven” the scene with the almost dead man in the bed, creates suspense with the music that is being played, when the music dies down it builds tension to suggest something is about to happen and then makes the audience jump when the man gasps, and the music builds again, its this “jump” that scares and excites an audience which is very similar to what you’d see in a horror movie. Overall it is suspense and tension that discomforts the audience in a thriller, as they have little knowledge of the outcome and therefore can only predict the worst possible scenario for the protagonist, if it is done well the viewers will be on edge and eager to find out what will happen next, and in my opinion it is the main convention that excites an audience.

Another convention of a thriller is the representation of the characters. Most often in thrillers the audience can somehow relate and emphasize towards the protagonists, and it is usually a normal character that is thrown into extraordinary situations. For example in “Seven”, Somerset the veteran (Morgan Freeman) and Mills the rookie (Brad Pitt) are just ordinary detectives that have to deal with an extreme case, the reason we can relate to these characters is that outside of their work Somerset is just an ordinary man that lives on his own and Mills lives in an apartment with his partner (Gwyneth Paltrow) therefore we can relate to them as they are living ordinary lives. Also in “Psycho” Marion is just a normal woman with no extra-ordinary skills or aspects, therefore we can relate to her and this makes her death scene so much more shocking as she is just a normal woman that we can feel and fear for. A final example is in “The Silence Of The Lambs” (Jonathan Demme, 1991) as Clarence (Jodie Foster) is a young FBI cadet who is given a difficult task of confronting an extremely dangerous serial killer, “Hannibal” (Anthony Hopkins) , therefore viewers can emphasize towards her as she is out of her comfort zone as we would be. It is important that we can relate to protagonists in thrillers as it makes the film and characters decisions so much more believable, where as in other genres such as action, protagonists usually have extraordinary skills that they use throughout and often beat evil, however in thrillers we can never be sure if the protagonists will triumph over evil.

A final convention that makes a good thriller is the use of plot twists that are usually unexpected by the audience. These plot twists often shock and completely surprise the viewers and therefore excite them and keeps them hooked. For example in “Taking Lives” when Costa (Ethan Hawke) is revealed to be the killer when it was thought to be Hart (Kiefer Sutherland) or in “Psycho” when Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is revealed to be the killer who we previously thought was his mother. Finally in “Memento” the audience are expecting there to be a killer that Leonard (Guy Pearce) is hunting down, however the twist is that Leonard has already hunted down his wife’s killer. A plot twist often makes a good thriller as it takes the story into a new direction and interests the audience further.

Overall I believe thrillers are set apart from any other genre, down to the conventions I have discussed and the reality within the situations and characters that the audience can relate to, and therefore has a bigger impact on them when something unexpected happens, because viewers can show empathy towards them, which allows the film to be more memorable and in my opinion more exciting than those in other genres. 

Conventions of a thriller list

        -    Must have suspense and tension.

 -  Usually grounded in reality (Feels realistic/plausible, even is the setting is extreme)

 -  Empathy/understanding of characters. ( It’s the presentation of characters that makes a good thriller)

 -  Usually a normal protagonist/s that is experiencing an abnormal situation.

 - There is often a mystery to be solved/crime/chase/hunt.

 - Techniques such as the structure and the order of the plot make a good thriller.

 -  Usually, it is a male that plays the protagonist, and when it is female they usually have characteristics that you’d associate to a male character.

 - High level of anticipation, surprise, uncertainty, anxiety and sometimes terror to excite the audience.

-Sometimes techniques such as cliff hangers are used.

-Often involve two characters that come into conflict with one another.

-In thrillers low key lighting is very common in scenes to create a mysterious and suspenseful atmosphere. A good example of this is in “Seven” (David Fincher) as the whole film is very dark and gloomy. 

Thriller opening poster

This is a poster made for our thriller opening.