Which thriller films have influenced or inspired you in planning your own thriller?

Which thriller films have influenced or inspired you in planning your own thriller?

Editing

After researching more into thrillers I gained a lot of inspiration from watching thrillers I had previously enjoyed. They gave me different camera techniques and plot ideas which could be integrated into my thriller. For example, in ' 6 Underground ' there is a chase scene happening on the streets of Florence, Italy in which there is a sequence of shaky shots and irregular cuts. This creates an atmosphere that the team are in serious danger. Using something similar to this in my thriller would help reflect that chaotic emotion of a situation. Furthermore I found the use of numbers instead of names in ' 6 Underground ' as an interesting representation of the ideology that "it doesn't matter when you're dead" . This is something I can understand as I agree that once you are dead unless you made a major impact on many lives small details will be forgotten about you. This is something I feel could be integrated into my psychological thriller to mimic the same effect. The movie is directed by Michael Bay who is known for his use of the concept 'Bayhem'. The qualities of a Bayhem movie consist of fast paced with unbelievable plots, making them popular with audiences but not with critics. 6 Underground is Bay's most outrageous film yet as he decided to use an excessive amount of action and crammed in as much chaos as he could. The trailer linked below shows a glimpse of some of the different camera techniques used in the film. For example within the first 20 seconds of the clip below, its clear to see that the film contains so much action it's almost an overload. This same effect could be useful in creating my own thriller as it leaves the audience speechless with too much information to process about what they've just seen.

On the other hand, editing within a more psychological based thriller would be slower paced in order to create a more eerie effect and not just pure action. For example, in the 'Joker' editor Jeff Groth wanted to keep the protagonist on screen for longer so he would remove cuts in order to elongate the time Joaquin was on screen to let his acting do most of the work.  This style was very popular in the Joker as it lets the audience learn more about the character and be able to empathise with him. I found this very interesting as it is a more effortless form of editing however if it's done correctly like in 'Joker' can have an intriguing effect. I think implementing something similar to this in my thriller would enable the audience to have a more intrusive view of the characters and help create that eerie effect needed in a psychological thriller.

Camera

Within a thriller, the use of camera angles reflects the directors ideas about what they want to happen in a scene. Certain cinematographers have certain camera angles they use in all of their projects. Now you see me explored the use of camera in different ways in order to create suspense within the movie. For example in the clip below, when the four horsemen are revealed, each one of them has different establishing shots which reveal what type of magician they are. Woody Harleson's character is a mentalist so his establishing shots are with long lenses as a mentalist observes their subjects from a distance before interacting with them. This would be a good idea which we could use in our thriller to introduce the protagonist. Whereas, on the other hand, Mark Ruffalo's character has a different introduction as an antagonist. As an FBI agent his introduction is his daily routine and once he is assigned into the case he becomes an antagonist. I found this interesting as he is presented this way but at the end it is revealed that he was the was the man behind the four horsemen. This initial presentation of him and his intentions become the binary opposite of who he turns out to be. As the binary opposition between good and evil becomes the same thing at the end of the film it enforces the ideology that good and bad are the same thing, just from 2 different perspectives. This idea is fascinating as it could be implemented into a psychological thriller to create the same effect as what they are doing is what they believe is right however it is seen as wrong from the movies perspective. 

Another example of a camera technique is the shot reverse shot which is used in the interrogation in 'The Dark Knight' embedded below. This technique is used for a conversation as it gives the scene a sense of continuity and the viewer feels as if they are watching the conversation in real time. It is used very effectively in Christopher Nolans 'Batman' as this scene reflects an interrogation with heightened suspense and emotions. The shot reverse shot could be used in my thriller. As the scene continues, Batman attacks the Joker but even throughout the attack the use of this technique is continued to keep that effect as it helps contribute to the host atmosphere within the scene.

Sound

In Jaws, sound is used to alarm the audience and to build tension. Initially in the pre-production of the movie Spielberg was sceptical about using the theme when it was presented to him as it didn't sound right for the type of movie it was. However they decided to use it and now the theme is inseparable from the movie. Whenever you hear the base notes of the tuba you know an attack is imminent like in the scene embedded below. This sound is non diegetic but it accelerates the time of anticipation between the start of the theme and the attack. Furthermore, it is a parallel sound as it reflects the tone of what is happening onscreen. On the other hand, there is also an excess of diegetic sound within the movie during the attack scenes, there is screaming which is used to reflect the level of fear which was present on the beaches during the film. Jaws uses sound very effectively in order to contribute to the suspense. For my thriller I would like to use contrapuntal sound in order to create a contradictory atmosphere within the protagonists mind. This would further the idea of mental instability within a psychological thriller.

However, in 'Birdbox', there is a strong lack of sound which opposes with that of a normal thriller. Within the movie, an eerie silence is used in order to create the effect of the unseen monster. A lot of work went into making the soundscape for Birdbox as the sounds needed to be quiet and effective but also not repetitive throughout the film. This is unusual as the lack of sound still manages to create a thriller which was popular but just lacked the execution in order to be one of the greatest of all time. Thinking about my thriller, using a mix of quiet sounds with loud sounds could be an interesting idea as it would create a thriller that doesn't follow conventions.

Mise-en Scene

The 'Joker' is a movie which uses Mise-en scene effectively in order to create the character of the Joker. As a mentally unstable protagonist, the directors had to be careful when deciding on how the character would look and dress. This was because the audience had to be able to love and relate to the character however he still needed to be mentally ill. In the movie, Joaquin's costume was not that of the typical purple costume seen in the comics, instead he wore a red two piece which complemented his backstory and financial situation. Furthermore, his hair was slighted darkened wirh green highlights and had grease and texture added in order to make him look worn down and unhygienic. Makeup was important in creating this character and had to be different to that of the comics like his costume. This was because his makeup had to follow the idea of nothing being shiny in the movie therefore his face was painted in matt white. Colour within the 'Joker' is very important as it is used to reflect whether society is with or against the protagonist in a certain situation. For example, anything negative in his life was highlighted by blue: his therapists office, the hospital room and what the gang wore who beat him up. Whereas red is used when the Joker is happy or in love, his neighbour who he fantasises a relationship with only wears red and a boy he messes around with on the bus also wears red. Even though these happy moments are rare in the Jokers life, when they happen they are emphasised by the use of red. Using a colour scheme similar to this would help communicate meaning and the protagonists emotions within my thriller and it is definitely an idea worth looking into and seeing if there's a way to make it work.

In Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' a similar colour scheme is used but in a slightly different way in order to create a different effect. He chose to use the complementary colours of red and green as they can symbolise many different moods with only a slight change in tint. As the film progresses there is a clear transition from a red to green theme reflecting the relationship between the protagonists at the time. This is also an idea worth looking into more as it can help change the mood within a scene without using sound or editing.

This analysis of films which I have enjoyed helped me compile a strong idea of what type of thriller I wanted to do and gave me some inspiration for the uses of different techniques.