Thriller Signifiers, Themes, Styles, Subgenre and Influences for Thriller

Thriller Signifiers

Plot and Narrative:
-Mystery and intrigue
-Twisting and turning narrative
-Spiralling narrative
-Narrated by male protagonist (1st person)
-Chasing pursuit
These all help to grab the audiences attention, to focus their attention on what happens in the story. Thrillers often begin with a very attention-seeking action, for instance, Layer Cake opens up with the back of a van blowing up and in Vertigo, there is an example of a chase. These all increase the chance of the audience being intrigued and interested in what is happening and what is going to happen, in the rest of the film. The narratives in thrillers seem to always have a complicated structure, as there are numerous disruptive events and climaxes.

Tone and Atmosphere:
-A sinister of threatening atmosphere
-Sexual
-Sleaze
-Claustrophobia
The tone and atmosphere of a thriller is usually a combination of the list above as it helps the thriller seem more menacing and make it fit into the thriller genre. Thrillers are likely to have some form of violence and corruption occur so it helps to make the plot more exciting and interesting.

Mise-en-scene:
-Bleak settings
-Urban
-Rain lashed streets
-Shadows
-Night
-Slatted blinds
-Slanting light
-Staircases
-Enclosed spaces
-Chiaroscuro lighting
The mise-en-scene in a thriller is one of the major things that has to be done to achieve a good thriller. The setting and what it is made up of helps to increase certain tones and atmospheres. If the location is dark and it is conveniently raining then it will create a sinister mood, and the audience will suspect something to happen then or at least soon. The mise-en-scene makes characters either fit into that certain environment or the opposite, by making them uncomfortable.

Characters:
-Femme fatale
-Hard boiled detectives
-Flawed heroes
-Male protagonist
-Women appearing as sex objects
-Police
The characters in thrillers are commonly made up of main characters having some kind of flaw, whether it be an addiction to smoking or drink, or a fear of something. The character in China Town has all three of those flaws.
In Layer Cake there is a male protagonist who happens to narrate the story, therefore giving an insight to his world and what he does (this falls into the plot and narrative thriller signifiers).
Women in thrillers are commonly either a sexual object and a femme fatale, or a more innocent figure that would be classed as an angel in the whore v.s angel idea.
The police are also used as characters in thrillers, some can be involved with the main characters such as the plot in Millers Crossing and Layer Cake. On the other hand, they can be doing their proper duties and are not 'bent coppers' (Kidulthood).

Themes:
-Corruption
-Mystery
-Deceit
-Sexuality
-Women's sexuality as dangerous and destructive
-Moral ambiguity
Themes in thrillers are essential as they are what create the thriller and represent what a thriller is and should be. The theme of corruption is one that improves the chance of the thriller having a twisting narrative. Deceit is a common theme as it is easy for people to deceive another, to gain something they want or need.

Cinematography:
-Tilted camera angles
-Use of vanishing points
-High angle and low shots
A variation of the above increases the audiences attention and interest, making them watch the thriller with intrigue. The use of tilted camera angles helps to suggest the idea of something being not-quite-right, as though something isn't the way it should be. The Third Man uses a shot of a cobbled road, which implies the idea of something is going to appear in the shot, one way or another, as it stays like that for some time.

Last lesson with one of my teachers, we looked more closely at our own thriller introductions- or the plans and ideas we had. One of the these certain things was: the themes of our thriller.
The themes that are going to be obvious in our thriller is:

• Betrayal: as the young boy, Simon will be left on his own as the gang/crew run away after realizing that the mystery man is going into the house Simon is in.
• Corruption: stealing
• Mystery: as the mystery man is mysterious... the audience is not let in to who the man is, all possible questions arise once he enters the room. For instance, the audience will wonder what he'll do if he finds Simon, and IF he actually does, how he will react.
• Moral Ambiguity: Who is right and who is wrong... Simon will obviously be in the wrong but then it is not entirely his fault seeing as it was the gang leader who told him to do it.

Next, we looked at the styles of our thrillers, as a group mine decided that the style was gangsta and modern. It will appear modern as the style of clothing, speech/dialogue, possibly setting will be more up-to-date, rather than old-fashioned. The possibility of having the film in black and white is yet to be decided, but if it was, I think it would be a good contrast showing how there are different time periods combined. However, the film being in modern 'gangsta' genre, this may be confusing for the audience. I think the film would look a bit more sleeker in black and white, but then as we are planning to film at night, it may make it too dark in places. The mise-en-scene will also not be seen as clearly. For instance, we want to show the red walls in the bedroom as this could be associated with some meanings of the colour red being: passion, death, blood. I think if the film is shot in normal colour then it will be easier to identify the film as being modern and more up-to-date.

The sub genre is gangsta as the gang are gangstas and are dressed in that particular style of wear and speak in that certain way.

The influences for our thriller intro is:

*Kidulthood and Adulthood are a great influence as the main characters are young teenagers going into their adult years. The characters are acting as though they live in gangster lifestyle but the truth behind them is that not all gangstas live in the same environment, some will have different life's' at home due to the fact that their families are different. This therefore makes it relevant to Simon's side of the story as he was at a private boarding school before wanting a different type of lifestyle.

*Football Factory is another influence because one of the characters is in someones' house and he is about to get caught without knowing.

*Layer Cake is another influence as the shots used are quite similar to the ones' we are planning to use. The locations we are planning to use will be relatively urban seeing as a common and easy thriller signifier is urban settings.

*Miller's Crossing, because the themes of deceit and loyalty, and we intend to use a shot- when the men are walking up the stairs to the older guy's bedroom, we want to use a shot similar.

*Sin City is our final influence seeing as the sounds in the background are very urban, and we may use similar sound effects. Another thing is the number of phone calls occurring and how you can hear the person on the receiver on the other end.