Thriller Research Task

For my media research task I have watched opening scenes to two blockbuster films. (HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY & I, ROBOT), these two films have the same style of opening theme but at the same time show completely different story’s and give the viewer a different feeling.

First off ‘Hell Boy’s’ open scene opens with hell boy as a young lad.  This starts the film giving the views the feeling of a normal life.  It then proceeds to fade into the CGI effects (Computer Generated Imagery) with an overlay transition of cogs. All of these images produced in the opening scene fit into the story of the film and the theme of it. (Cogs and fire which are sown to representing hell boy) During the opening scene it is giving the viewer the feeling of going down to hell, but with the light “orchestral” soundtrack which doesn’t imply it to be a horror thriller.  In this open scene there haven’t really been any camera shots apart from a point of view shot of the ‘Hell Boy’ looking at him dad at the start.

The second opening scene does the opposite to the hell Boy Scene. It starts off with CGI effects then right at the very end they use a high angle extreme close-up shot of a character waking up with an alarm clock going off, implying to the viewer that the opening CGI effects were a nightmare for the character.  The soundtrack of the opening scene sound underwater, it is very slow and makes the viewer feel intense.  During the opening scene it is showing what look like flashbacks of a car crashing into the water (which explains the soundtrack) to the viewer to try and tell a story.

Hell Boy Opening Scene

I, Robot Opening Scene

The Aim Of a Thriller Film

The aim for thriller films is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats all the time. The storyline in these films always include a problem. For example  ‘an escape’, ‘a mission’, or ‘a mystery’. No matter what sub-genre a thriller film falls into, it will always so the danger that the Character faces. The tension with the main problem is built on throughout the film and leads to a highly stressful climax. The cover-up of important information from the viewer, and fight and chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres.

Action Thrillers

this type of thriller would appeal to a younger audience compared to the likes of other sub-genres. This is because it involves a lot more guns, car chases and explosions and doesn't require much thought in some people’s opinion. These thrillers mainly attract a male audience although in some cases they have been aimed at a female audience, due to films like “Charlie’s Angels” and “tomb raider”

  

Horror Thrillers

These types of thrillers are mainly aimed at older people; this is due to most horror films being certificate 15 or 18.  This is mostly due to the content the film is portraying.  Due to the younger generation not being old enough to actually view the film it makes them want to see the film even more.  Horror films are most of the time aimed at a male and female audience.  Examples of horror thrillers include “Jaws”, “Psycho”, “Alien” and “The Exorcist”.

Psychological and Mystery Thrillers

Psychological and mystery thrillers mainly show the audience more mental or emotional footage rather than a real life situation or action packed car cases as you have scene in the other examples I have shown.  This would attract perhaps a female audience slightly more than a male audience.  Examples of psychological thrillers include “Shutter island”, “Phone Booth”, “Blue Velvet” and “Suspicion”.

There are many other sub genres of thriller like:

• ·         Comedy Thriller
• ·         Supernatural Thriller
• ·         Conspiracy Thriller
• ·         Disaster Thriller
• ·         Political Thriller
• ·         Religious Thriller
• ·         Techno Thriller
• ·         Erotic Thriller
• ·         Legal Thrillers
• ·         Spy Thriller

Classic Thrillers could include –

• ·         Se7en
• ·         Sherlock Holmes
• ·         Psycho
• ·         Hell Boy II
• ·         Alien
• ·         Hulk
• ·         Jurassic Park
• ·         And many more...

Famous Thriller Directors Include –

• ·         Alfred Hitchcock
• ·         Steven Spielberg
• ·         James Cameron
• ·         Quentin Tarantino
• ·         Martin Scorsese
• ·         Christopher Nolan
• ·         Roman Polanski
• ·         David Fincher
• ·         John Carpenter
• ·         David Cronenberg