History Of Thriller - Miss Georgiou

Why are thriller films still popular today?
Thriller films are still popular to the modern day society as there's now a different range of thrillers being introduced, when thriller films were first introduced they didn't have the computer edits or certain cinematography as todays society. They have adapted greatly into even more interesting and tense films, which people like as they have seen them develop since thriller films were first introduced. Also the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are now more realistic. Not only this but people enjoy the tension these thriller films would create

The Bat:

I'm choosing to analyse the film The bat in the 20's as it was known to be a successful film back in the 20's.Within the clip of this film there is only a background noise of an orchestra, the miss-en-scene is really limited as it doesn't have any talking in it and also doesn't have any different camera-angles and the iconography is very limited. The camera quality is very sketchy. In this film clip there's low key lighting throughout as that's what they was limited to in the 20's. You could only tell what's going on by the body language and facial expressions it was very much like miming every expression and exaggerating it in a way.

The bat is a silent film created in the 1920's. Created by Ronald West. The narrative of this film was about one person murdering people one by one, by the caped killer named 'The bat'. The film was originally set on Broadway. This film didn't have the best mise-en-scene as it has in todays Thriller films. The sound and Lighting was very basic; As this film is a silent film. The lighting was very bland most of it as low key lighting as the director of this film Ronald West wanted to create that ideal thriller film back in the late 20's. The thriller films weren't as realistic as it could be due to the characters.

For example this is one of the characters which is The Bat. In the film you normally just see a silhouette of 'The Bat' which hides his identity until he is revealed in the end. Eventually you see the Bats costume and it is really effective to the audience as in the way he is being presented, nowadays that costume in thriller films would be seen as a joke, because it isn't really effective. Therefore from the 1920's thriller films to todays thriller films it has become a lot more intense with the mise-en-scene especially.



Frankenstein:

For my 1930s thriller film I'm going to analyse Frankenstein as it was one of the first films to have been developed miss-en-scene such as the quality of the camera also Sound was introduced so it wasn't just an expression of facial expressions and body language and there was miming all the way through, the characters could express themselves through speech in the films now.

Frankenstein was released in 1931, the narrative was about a mad scientist that had a thought that re-building scientists from the dead was a good idea, in his making he infact brought a creature alive called Frankenstein. This 1931 film had better quality than the 1920s film as it had more mise-en-scene for example they used makeup on Frankenstein to make him look much more scarier and realistic to the audience which is what the director James Whale. This was a new film that no one has seen before and a very odd and scary storyline which made the audience yet again begin to be more engaged as they are introduced to an even more scarier storyline/narrative. Comparing both of The Bat and Frankenstein you can clearly see that the storyline/narrative's are becoming more unrealistic but scary as in the bat their wasn't realistic costumes that made the character look real.

This is the character Frankenstein in the late 30s, from  this you can see how makeup and props have been used to make this particular thriller film become much scarier to the audience viewing. The whole mise-en-scene in general is beginning to develop as makeup is now being used more frequently in thriller films to express each character. In the 30's black and white was still a thing therefore there was no colours that could express someone's individual role. Frankenstein uses a mild use of extensive sounds to create moods and tension in the film, Frankenstein was one of the first films to have any sound in the film as sound was only introduced to Films in 1927 any other film would of been silent or would've had a silent orchestra playing in the background.

Shadow Of Doubt

For my 1940s film analysis, I'm analysing Shadow of doubt it has a different storyline compared to The Bat and Frankenstein as it's based on a family who have misunderstood and doesn't fully know the uncle and what his intentions are. He's conniving and manipulative and very dominant as he controls the younger girl in a way, which creates tension as to what he's going to do. In this particular clip you can see that in some parts there's low key lighting which expressing the mood of that particular moment. Now the years are going on more miss-en-scene and the way each directors are writing films more interesting story lines are being made. Shadow of Doubt this was about a young woman who was visiting her uncle but he's not the man who he claims he is. Again this film is in black and white so doesn't have any colour to portray a person or an object. However they did have props to express the character for example in Shadow Of Doubt. At the beginning of the film Uncle Charlie began giving out presents to his family. Which could show generosity, however there could be a background story as to why he's randomly giving out presents, could be to win over all of his family by showing him a different side to him than rather showing them who he really is. Mise-en-scene in thriller films are becoming more developed which is why us as an audience are becoming more engaged as to what could be added next to make the thrillers have more suspense included.

From this image you can tell who's the more dominant one, Camera angles are being used such a mid shot which shows the background which is pure white which could portray innocence or purity in the scene, also the shot shows both characters expressions. The lady looks scared for her life and looking like she just does and she said. Whereas the man on the other hand is looking intimidating and aggressive which again shows us a lot about his character as an individual. Moreover the reason why Camera shots/angles are key and are being used more in Thriller films make it easier to understand particular scenes and characters roles.

Dial M for murder:

In 1954 Dial M for murder was made by Alfred Hitchhock; In this particular film/clip I've chosen it now has colour in which would help create particular moods and atmospheres in the scenes. As the Thrillers films have already started to develop since the 20's you can tell from each development that each thriller is becoming more serious and intense. Now that different sounds are being introduced and different miss-en-scene more people would feel more interested in the film as it has an interesting narrative to go along with the miss-en-scene also. Now that colour; sound and costume has become clearer it helps the audience understand each characters personality and role in the film. Such as the woman in this particular clip she's wearing a pink/white pyjama gown which could show her innocence which shows us that her character is the victim whereas the man behind her is intact the predator as you could call it. The man behind the lady in this particular clip where she's repeatedly saying "Hello, Hello" is the bad guy as he's holding a rope ready to strangle the lady with a terrifying expression. This also shows us that she's hopeless and has no way of getting out. This fits into the particular thriller genre as in this particular clip it builds up the tension which is one key element in a thriller film. In the 1950's iconography has been developed as you can see in this particular clip as the props and setting etc is becoming more clearer to express the theme of the clip . This particular film was also in black and white but with colour it expresses the films mood more.

Psycho:

Psycho is one of the most famous thriller film which was released in 1960. Its an American Psychological thriller film which was directed by one of the most famous directors back in the day Alfred Hitchhock. The storyline was about a young lady who steals money but is intact on the run, she stays in a hotel which is under the supervision of a young man who is in fact a complete psycho. This film is black and white however it has amazing mise-en-scene that is used such as the iconography; makeup and Soundtracks. In the particular clip I'm analysing its taken from the famous shower scene of when the lady gets stabbed to death by 'Psycho'. This particular scene doesn't have costume that much which could show us the characters personality however it does have a terrifying soundtrack in the background, this soundtrack is in fact the scariest thriller music in history. The soundtrack is a screeching violin, which is loud and eerie in a way; This soundtrack also builds up tension as the soundtrack sounds like its everlasting it continues to play until the lady is dead in the shower.


Jaws:

The film I'm analysing for my 1970 thriller film is Jaws. This film is about a dangerous shark that is menacing about on a small island and is targeting a small beach and killing innocent people. A police chief and a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop the shark. This thriller film has effects that created the Jaws shark itself. Jaws also had a famous soundtrack, which is a shark theme effect. Whenever the shark is nearby it begins playing. This film is one of a well-known thriller that still goes down in history, the cinematography and soundtrack make the film successful as it has camera movements and angles that make the storyline make more sense.


The Attic:

The film I'm analysing for a 1980 thriller is The attic is about a librarian looking after her wheelchair bound father who was also abusive towards her. Ever since he's accident he's been relying on his daughter to take care of him. She fantasies about killing men that have ever wronged her.  Directors of this film are George Edwards and Gary Graver. This clip is showing the audience her struggles and how she feels. Within this clip it also shows the audience a lot about her character. This shot in this clip of her is a mid-shot, it shows the setting and her face. Thrillers in the 1980's have got a more interesting storyline and the non-digetic and diegetic sounds are developing. When the lady is speaking in this particular scene there's birds chirping in the background which shows peacefulness in this clip.

Misery:

In 1990 a film called misery was released this film was very successful as both of the characters one an Oscar for the best acting. This film was about a lady named Annie Wilkes(Kathy Bates) who's obsessed with a famous writer called Paul Sheldon(James Caan); The writer gets into a fatal accident in the snow and ends up seriously injured Annie finds him and begins taking care of him and is only looking after him until he's better but in this case she changes her mind and wants him to stay for good. We find out a lot about Annie's Character and that she's infact a complete psycho and won't let Paul go. This 1990 film is different from the rest of the thrillers in the past century's as this one just contains two characters that know how to play their character and make it become realistic to the point where it makes the audience scared. In one scene Annie breaks Paul's legs with a hammer so he can't leave her this would make the audience cringe and would have them at the edge of their seat. Whilst this scene is going on there's also music in the background which creates and sets the mood. Within a 1990 thriller the key elements are becoming more about having a soundtrack that relates in with a thriller and also cinematography. In thriller films it's key to have the right angles and movements as you need to know what's pacifically going on for the audience to feel tension or scared. In this particular clip theres a close up of Annie after she breaks his ankles and you can see fully when it breaks. When theres a close up of her she looks relieved and pleased with herself after she does it which shows the audience that she's a bit of a psycho.

In 2013 Mama was released this film was about two young children abandoned by their father in a little cabin in the forest, they had no one to look after them but a demon called Mama. Both little girls were raised to grow into demon like children, their characteristics weren't the same for a little girls who were raised properly. They were soon found by workers in the woods who sent them to a home where they were both analysed. Even though they have left Mama now; Mama doesn't want to let go and is latched onto the youngest one especially. The cinematography in this century has definitely improved along with editing.