Andres' Blog: The Thriller Genre

Why Are Thrillers Hard to Spot?

The thriller is one of the most common or frequently seen genres in film, this includes acting as a subgenre and coexisting with multiple other genres. There are many directors out today that are gravitating towards this genre, while it is extremely common for the genre to exist within other genre settings it has now come to the point where the thriller is almost completely standing on its own. This is seen with directors like the Safdie Brothers, Denis Villeneuve, and Quentin Tarantino.

Content:

Content wise the genre is extremely difficult to describe because of how often it is combined with other genres.

One of the most common genres that thrillers are put with is that of horror. This is because the many similarities the two genres have. This is seen with suspense and how its handled. The subject matter and tone in general. Thriller often have darker tones and horror movies often deal with beings and antagonists doing horrific things. These beings can be cosmic, originate from hell, or simply be of the character's own negative feelings and thoughts. This is why horror and thrillers are commonly associated with each other.

The Birds is a great example of one of these types of films.

The Birds (1963)

Thrillers are also associated with action, which in of itself is associated with many genres like sci-fi. These thriller action movies often take on, again, darker subject matter than normal action films. A normal action movie usually has a lot of comedy but if it is combined with the thriller genre than it often times becomes a lot more suspenseful. Extraction is one of the films that falls into these two genres. Instead of more closely resembling the Marvel movies it more closely resembles a drama in terms of its characters.

Extraction (2020)

The Thriller is a genre that deals with hard subject matter and has a suspenseful tone. They often focus on the feelings of the characters through the current events on screen. The characters often experience events that challenge their mind and perception of certain things. The story often revolves around crimes and life-threatening situations.

Production Techniques:

Thrillers heavily relies on suspense, whether that be constant throughout the film like Uncut Gems or in spikes like The Hateful Eight. Suspense is built in a film in many ways, but one of the most important parts used is that of sounds, whether it be the score or the sounds from the world of the film.

Uncut Gems uses lots of diegetic sounds with things like background dialogue which is heightened to an extreme extent. These sounds are both are both on and off screen which gives off a feel for the surrounding area and what threats there could possibly be. On top of that the film uses a very stressful score at times which relies on played out notes.

Uncut Gems (2019)

The Hateful Eight brings in another way suspense or dread is created, on top of its unsettling and frantic score. The Hateful Eight revels in its visuals, not only what is shown from the world but how the camera is used. Scenes like the poisoned coffee scene show an extreme amount of blood in unusual places which is only amplified by how the camera captures all of it and how close the camera is to the horrific events.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Marketing:

The success of thrillers in confusing to say the least. The success of thriller largely is reliant on what genre the film is sharing itself with. Blade Runner 2049 was considered a flop even though it gained $260.5 million worldwide. Arrival is another film which shares the sci-fi genre along with its thriller genre and it earned $203.4 million. Then there are films like Drive, which has the genres of action and romance in it. It only earned $81.4 million at the box office. This isn't even looking at Good Time which has crime within it, earning only $4.1 million.

The genres shared with thrillers clearly largely effect its revenue, when put together with horror they are able to aim at younger audiences which generally attracts more people, which is in between the ages of 15 to 30. These films can lean more on the suspenseful part of the film through its posters because of the antagonist in the film, often times showing a simple object or person from the movie to show where the horror would come from. On top of that they use color to their advantage in order to emphasize these ideas.

Action thrillers obviously lean on the action side of the film in trailers and posters and the same can be said for other genres and directly relates to their popularity.

Samples:

Good Time is a thriller which revels in how much anxiety it can hold on to for the duration of the film. It follows and man named Connie as he goes around New York over one night as he tries to find a way to get money to bail his brother out of a failed robbery. The film is directed by the Safdie Brothers who use their particular style to their full advantage here. The film uses a very unique style of cinematography that elevates scenes to whole new levels. They shoot many scenes with close ups or simply having the camera zoomed in when other directors would choose basic shots. This gives the film a feeling of claustrophobia, making the viewers feel cramped and as if they are unable to escape the situation at hand. The music also helps here, the film uses electronic instruments that can be both very chaotic or extremely stressed due to how long they leave some notes to play. The tone of the film becomes very dark because of this and that isn't even talking about the events that take place. Due to the tone the events that many people have already seen in other films feel much more horrific and terrifying.

Parasite is another thriller which succeeds in its execution of what thrillers are but in very different ways. The film uses extremely different approaches yet very similar techniques. The film has many wide shots and show the layout of the settings and where the characters are in relation to each other. The music is also widely different. The thriller aspect of the film mainly comes from the events and mindsets of the characters. The film follows a family as they all get hired for certain jobs by a rich family in an attempt to live off of them. The mindset of all the main characters is that of extreme panic and extreme joy as the film moves along. They are challenged in many ways not only through their class but mentally through the rich family's opinion of them. The events here are also shocking but not to the same extent as Good Time because it also wants to focus on social themes and other genres. This isn't a bad thing, in fact, the fact it is still labeled a thriller just shows how great the move is in its tone and how the events effect the characters. The music can range from classical to a soundtrack which more closely resembles what soundtracks today are.

Some Thrillers to Consider: