CHASE THE SUSPENSE, EMBRACE THE THRILL:

CHASE THE SUSPENSE, EMBRACE THE THRILL

Thriller Research:

Since hearing about my Cambridge Portfolio Project needing to be a film opening, I immediately started diving into different concepts that I could approach. While brainstorming, I came upon the realization that all my ideas are dark, suspenseful, and heart-pounding. I’ve decided to research the thriller genre to gain more inspiration. I’ve watched films from iconic directors that have a mastery over the thriller genre, like David Fincher, Alfred Hitchcock, Brian De Palma, and Bong Joon-ho.

The thriller genre is designed to evoke intense feelings, especially tension, suspense, and anxiety. Thrillers have a way of keeping the audience on their toes throughout the entirety of the film. The genre loves to put characters in high-stakes situations involving life-or-death dilemmas. Usually, themes that thrillers like to guide towards are good vs. evil, justice and revenge, survival, identity and memory, and fear of the unknown. Themes like these help provide the intense emotional feeling that thrillers bring.

The thriller genre target audience is around 15–30-year-olds, so mostly young adults.

There are many sub-genres as well, including psychological thrillers, action thrillers, and crime thrillers. Let’s dive more in depth into psychological and crime thrillers.

Examples:

Psychological Thrillers:

A sub-genre of the thriller genre that relies on mental and emotional conflict. This leads to the characters dealing with external and internal conflicts. Rather than relying on massive explosions, psychological thrillers provide that unsettling feeling by exploring the human mind, trauma, and paranoia.

A perfect example is David Fincher's film "Se7en". The film’s focus isn't to provide the most gory or violent moments, but to manipulate the audience and the characters.

"Se7en" provides an unsettling atmosphere by using low-key lighting techniques, tight close-ups, dark, desaturated visuals, slow pacing early on, accelerating toward the climax, and the use of silence to increase tension.

Crime Thrillers:

Another sub-genre of the thriller genre that mainly focuses on criminal activities. This usually leads to pursuits, investigations, and moral conflict. Narratives follow detectives, criminals, or ordinary people that end up confronting crime.

An example of a crime thriller would be Brian De Palma’s "The Untouchables". The film focuses on law enforcement vs. criminal organizations. This creates tension through danger and corruption.

"The Untouchables" establishes its criminal tone by using strong contrasts between clean government spaces and dark criminal spaces, editing techniques like cross-cutting during action sequences, and period costumes and sets to establish time and power.