Timeline of thriller movies

Time line of key thriller movies within the last 50 years:

 *Film details courtesy of Wikipedia*

 

The Rear Window 1954

Rear Window is a 1954 American suspense thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by John Michael Hayes and based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr. It was screened at the 1954 Venice Film Festival.

Vertigo 1958

Vertigo is a 1958 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock. The story was based on the 1954 novel D'entre les morts by Boileau-Narcejac. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A. Taylor.

The Birds 1963
The Birds is a 1963 suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the 1952 story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California, which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few days.

Straw Dogs 1971
Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based upon Gordon M. Williams's 1969 novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching that likens the ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog to forms without substance.

Jaws 1975
Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster, its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history.

Scarface 1983
Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama/thriller film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. A remake of the 1932 film of the same name, Scarface tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino) who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing, and rises up to become a powerful drug kingpin. The film also features Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Steven Bauer, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The Untouchables 1887
The Untouchables is a 1987 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by David Mamet. Based on the book The Untouchables, the film stars Kevin Costner as government agent Eliot Ness. It also stars Robert De Niro as gang leader Al Capone and Sean Connery as Irish-American officer Jimmy Malone (based on the real life agent and member of the "Untouchables" Irish-American Marty Lahart). The film follows Ness' autobiographical account of the efforts of him and his Untouchables to bring Capone to justice during Prohibition. The Grammy Award-winning score was composed by Ennio Morricone

The Silence Of The Lambs 1991
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American thriller film that blends elements of the crime and horror genres. Directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Scott Glenn, the film is based on Thomas Harris' 1988 novel of the same name, his second to feature Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer

Pulp Fiction 1994
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American black comedy crime thriller directed by Quentin Tarantino, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and a host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references.

The Game 1997
The Game is a 1997 mystery thriller film directed by David Fincher, starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, and produced by Propaganda Films and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. It tells the story of a wealthy investment banker who is given a mysterious gift: participation in a game that integrates in strange ways with his everyday life. As the lines between the banker's real life and the game become more uncertain, hints of a large conspiracy become apparent

Run Lola Run 1998
Run Lola Run (German: Lola rennt, literally "Lola runs" or "Lola is running") is a 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film's three scenarios are reminiscent of the 1981 Krzysztof Kieślowski film Blind Chance; following Kieślowski's death, Tykwer directed his planned film Heaven.

Momento 2000
Memento is a 2000 American neo-noir mystery-psychological thriller film directed by Christopher Nolan. The screenplay was written by Nolan based on his younger brother Jonathan Nolan's short story "Memento Mori". It stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano. Memento is presented as two different sequences of scenes: a series in black-and-white that is shown chronologically, and a series of colour sequences shown in reverse order. The two sequences "meet" at the end of the film, producing one common story

The panic Room 2002
Panic Room is a 2002 American thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by David Koepp. The film stars Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter whose new home is invaded by burglars, played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoakam.

Man On Fire 2004
Man on Fire is a 2004 American thriller film, and the second adaptation of A. J. Quinnell's 1980 novel of the same name; the first film based on the novel was released in 1987. The 2004 film adaptation was directed by Tony Scott, from a screenplay written by Brian Helgeland.

The Departed 2006
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg.

Taken 2008
Taken is a 2008 English-language French action thriller film directed by Pierre Morel, written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky, Holly Valance, Katie Cassidy, Xander Berkeley, Olivier Rabourdin, Gérard Watkins, and Famke Janssen. It is the first film in the Taken film series.

Shutter Island 2010 Shutter Island is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. The film is based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name. Production started in March 2008. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island. Positively cited by movie reviewers, the film grossed over $128 million in its initial domestic theater release, as well as an additional $166 million internationally. Shutter Island was originally slated to be released on October 2, 2009, but Paramount Pictures pushed the release date to February 19, 2010.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo 2011
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (original title in Swedish: Män som hatar kvinnor – literally, men who hate women) is a crime novel by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. It is the first book of the Millennium trilogy, which, when published posthumously in 2005, became a best-seller in Europe and the United States.

 

Continuity editing example

 The film Inglorious Bastards shows good use of Continuity Editing Through Spatial relationships. The Scene begins with an extreme long shot of  the countryside, which could suggest rural France.  It is followed by a medium shot of the dairy farmer, who will dominate the first scene.  One of the man’s daughters is also shown, first in a medium shot and then in medium close-up, hanging clothes. Then the sequence establishes the central conflict, with the arrival of the German motor cars, shown in POV shots from the perspective of the farmer and his daughter upon the hill.

First they shot this extreme long shot of the farmer and his daughter, which is edited to fade in with the added "1941"

 Then we see a low angle medium shot of the farmer chopping wood, which pans from the ground up.

 Then there is a straight cut to a medium shot of the daughter hanging clothes.

 This is then cut to a medium close up of her which pans over to when she reveals the Germans coming.

We're then shown a point of view shot from the father and daughters perspective of the Germans coming.

 

Analysis of Shutter Island Symphony 3

The beginning of the song starts with a minimalistic low pitched set of notes from a string instrument, probably a cello. This is used to build up tension through it's contrast with the silences in between which emphasises the volume of the notes. This is usually just as the scene starts where whats going on is just being established so there is little to no suspense visually for the audience so the music matches that.

After 40 seconds more strings are introduced but at a higher pitch with longer notes which are helping building up the crescendo. This is when things in the scene will start to pick up like when they are driving on the island the overgrown and deteriorated areas show the danger and the corruption on the island. Then after a minute high pitched brass instruments overlay the rest of the notes. After another 40 seconds high pitched, "screechy" strings start to play. These contrast the rest of the instruments and are starting when we start to see the facility so the audience associates these horrible sounds with the actual facility itself connoting to the audience that it is a terrible, corrupt place. These are all adding to the crescendo which slowly builds up the tension in scenes as what's happening is supposed to be synchronous with the music. again for example what's going on in the first scene is showing that the facility and the synchronous music s pace matches that and forebodes the facility itself. Also with the contrasts in pitches it emphasises the volume of the piece which builds up more suspense as the audience will be expecting something to be happening soon. In some scenes like the underground scene, this is true as the crescendo is building up to an action sequence.

After two minutes the crescendo starts to reach it's climax with even more brass being added but everything starting to play in a chaotic many, not lots of rhythm with is supposed to reflect whatever's happening in scene, adding the action and suspense built by the visual. 

Overall the piece is used in scenes to either be synchronous to the scene or forebode what could happen for example in the opening scenes when the island is being shown to us, the music conveys danger to us. The symphony is also a sound motif for key places on the island that are associated with the corrupt work there. The symphony is also a sound bridge for many of the scenes where the sound transfers across many cuts and transitions. This piece is similar to many thriller soundtracks in how it sounds but also with what it connotes and makes the audience feel.

Psycho remake analysis

Psycho Remake Analysis

At the beginning of the scene where she is starting her shower, the shots are slow paced and drawn out which is used to settle us within the scene however it also has the opposite effect of unsettling us as the shots pace tells us that the scene can’t just be us watching the woman have a shower, therefore is used to build up tension. Also most of the cuts at the beginning are straight cuts, so again are used to settle us because the cuts are so normal. There is no music at the beginning, just diegetic sounds such as the shower curtain and shower, and the ambient sound of the shower which we become accustomed to even though its loud, but we still know its drowning out sounds of the potential killer which builds up tension as we are hearing it from her perspective and don’t know exactly when the killer will strike. All these techniques work well because they are used to settle us but us becoming accustomed to what’s going on builds up tension where we know something is supposed to happen, but we don’t know when.

As the scene goes on the shots start to become faster paced and more straight cuts are used, it also cross cuts a lot between her washing herself and low angle shots of the shower head which would be her perspective. This is used to build up more tension and suspense but happens gradually over the course of the scene so that we don’t notice it happening.  Because we don’t notice it happening, the murder comes upon us unexpectedly, which tries to make us jump.

To introduce the killer the is a close up of the woman with her back to the curtain, and it slowly pans towards a shape forming behind it, then the shot is held onto the figure for a few seconds, to build suspense before he dramatically draws back the curtain in a low angle mid shot, used to show how intimidating he’s supposed to be and emphasise the knife, making us feel small like the woman feels. They used a semi-translucent curtain so that the figure of the killer is not at all clear so we are left in mystery to what it is so that the surprise of the killer is even more surprising, when the scene reaches its climax.

As soon as the killer is introduced the pace of the shots and cuts are sped up dramatically, and cross cut between the low angled shots of the killer and high angled shots of the woman, in order for us to see things from her perspective and empathise, where we feel weak and defenceless against the silhouetted murderer, therefore we become more emotionally invested in the film later on and are likely to continue watching. The iconic non-diegetic theme music of the film begins just after the first stab which is supposed to set the audience on edge with the high pitched, sychronous violins, which are out of tune and overall reflect the sounds we hate to hear. They add to the violence of the murder with the musics volume. In the murder scene there is so much cross cutting that you never see much of one shot so it's still horrifying even tho you don't see much of the stabbing, it doesn't need to be that gory to thrill the audience. Also throughout that scene there are a few cut always of a storm which is pathetic fallacy of the murder, and shows the audience just how violent it is. 

When the killer leaves, there is a tracking shot of her sliding down the wall, then pulling the curtain down, then we are given a birds eye view of her falling forwards ours of the shower, which is very graphic. These are used in a slow fashion to reflect how slowly she is dying and how painful it must be, we are meant to emphathise with her. Then there is a tracking shot of the water going down the plug hole, which is used as a graphic match with the next shot, which is a shot that dissolves in of her eye. This is meant to symbolise as her blood goes down the drain, the life drains from her, and the extreme close up of her eye is meant to shock the audience. 

The mise-en-scene is quite important in this scene. The shower and bathroom are all white which is meant to contrast with all the blood and the killer, but also the violence in the scene since white is seen as quite pure and innocent. Also with how she is naked it shows how vulnerable she is, and we feel vulnerable as well seeing everything from her perspective. Also we see her nails as they are pressed against the wall, which are red; this is supposed to connote danger within the acne and reflect the blood. 

Overall all the techniques used are meant to make us see things from the woman's perspective and empathise with her, so that we feel weak and vulnerable like she does, it's also trying to make the murder as violent and shocking as possible in order to thrill us. I think they were reasonably successful in this. 

Mise en scene shutter island

Mise-en Scene: Shutter Island is a psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese in 2010. The film is based on a novel from 2003 of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Production started in March 2008. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island after a patient goes missing. Mise-en-scene is a critical factor in the film’s success where it grossed over £128 million on its theatre release, because of the time period its set in and how key lighting is for the fear factor, mise-en-scene had to be researched correctly.

Location: Locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Nova Scotia were scouted but in the end they settled for locations in Massachusetts.  Filming of the World War II flashback scenes for DiCaprio's character, a former soldier, took place in Taunton, Massachusetts. Scorsese filmed the scenes in old industrial buildings in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex to replicate the Dachau concentration camp, which was seen in flashbacks. Some scenes for the actual island filmed at the old Medfield State Hospital in Medfield, Massachusetts. Scenes in Cawley's office were shot on the second floor of the chapel during the late evening; lights were shone on the windows to make it look like it was daytime. The surrounding brick walls in the outside hospital scenes were actually painted plywood which were used as scenery and blocked the set from view of a local road so were quite useful in the long run. Originally, scenes were going to be shot at the old Worcester State Hospital, but the filming would have gone on during the demolition of the surrounding buildings, which was impractical. Borderland State Park in Sharon, Massachusetts was used for the cabin scene. Peddocks Island was used as a setting for the story's island and East Point, in Nahant, Massachusetts for the lighthouse scenes.

I think that the use of location for the film was very effective. Instead of finding an island with the sufficient buildings and settings, which would be difficult in itself but also the cost of transporting props and providing for the cast and crew would’ve been enormous; they managed to use a variety locations, which the majority were in Massachusetts, which had similar style buildings and scenery so that they could create this fictional island. I think the cost of production was significantly reduced by using this choice of location.  Also the islands weather is used to great effect where its always overcast which matches the narrative and rain is used to also used like this in specific scenes. Also the forests  are successful in creating a deteriorating atmosphere on the island. This all helps the audience believe that the island is real and what the character is going through is real.

 

 

Costume: Costume is very important for Shutter Island as it’s a period film set in the 1950’s. Sandy Powell, a British costume designer who has created costumes for films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Young Victoria, was hired to create 1940’s-1950’s costumes for the film. In the movie there are a lot of uniforms based on 1950’s psychiatric facilities and hospitals, security firms and police departments, and also American WW2 uniforms.

I think the film’s costumes are effective as they do convey the right period because as soon as you see the protagonist in the first scene you instantly know this is a 1940’s/50’s set film which is important as the time period does not need to be explained to the audience so there is continuity as the scene flows whilst the location and time period are explained naturally. Also the contrast between the war scenes and the Shutter island scenes when it comes to costume is big enough that you can recognise that time difference and it also helps with making the flash backs and flash forwards clearer, again creating a sense of continuity.

Actor: the choice of actor was also important as they chose actors who matched physically and personality wise their characters persona. For example they used Leonardo Dicaprio for the protagonist, which was a good, effective choice as he's a good looking young man who has a star persona of a hero and protagonist, which is exactly what our character was supposed to be. 

 

Props: props were also key within the film such as for lighting, dramatic effect and showing the time period.  Guns were important in the film in and out of the war scenes so they had to use WW2 and Post-WW2 weapons in order to show time as well and for more drama, the action within scenes, as the action sequences  aren't often its almost a shock when there is a gun drawn. Also the lack of weapons in the movie is important too, where the protagonist is forced to hand over his weapon at the start connotes to the audience how vulnerable he is on the island and that he has already lost control of the situation. Also the vehicles they use are important too, where they are from the right period and when they are used to show who’s in power on the island because only the most important figures have cars and such, connoting their sense of authority and power which also emphasises the corrupt atmosphere. Matches were also used in order to show the lack of light, which created suspense because they would burn out and such, creating a tense atmosphere during some scenes.

Lighting: lighting was also used effectively as they used the lighting and lack of lighting to show important things and create a suspenseful atmosphere. For example the lack of light in scenes meant that we empathised with the character with not really being able to see what's happening and not knowing if any dangerous prisoners could be nearby, which built up dramatic tension and is useful for the build up towards action scenes. Another example is when they used bright flashing lights to show the character pain when he has a migraine and again helps us empathise with him, as the flashing bright lights connoting the flashes of pain. 

The Mise-en-scene conventions used in Shutter Island are similar to many other thriller movies because most of the conventions are directly related to the thriller genre. Also most thriller films go into particular detail with planning their miss-en-scene as it's important for creating a tense and suspenseful atmosphere.

Still analysis 2

Still Analysis.

 

This first still is a low angle long shot of the two characters driving in a car towards the asylum. It's also a two shot with the two characters in the car which helps with the development of their conversation about how the asylum is corrupt. as they are talking about how the asylum is going downhill, it is reflected in the scenery and the car, with the background filled with overgrown plants and deteriorating buildings, which connotes to the audience how what the character is investigating must be true. The car is a military make which indicates the military/police presence on the island, connoting to the audience the level of danger the character is in and his lack of control, creating suspense.. The lighting is quite bright to show how it is a low point of tension in the film but a lot of sun light is blocked by the overhanging tress which could be a continuity and foreboding what will happen in the next few scenes. another point of interest is their clothes where the protagonist is in white to show good but the security guard who is on the asylums side is in a dark navy showing how they could be perceived as bad.

This next shot is a high angle, panning aerial shot of part of the asylum facility, it is used as a opening shot to the scene where the protagonist is investigating this part of the facility. it also shows us how deteriorated the maximum security complex is compared to the main, minimum security complex which reflects upon the type of prisoners kept there, their treatment, and even what will happen in the next few scenes to the protagonist. The lighting is bright with the daylight which is used to connote a huge contrast with the darkness on the inside, which also represents how the prisoners are treated and builds up suspense in later scenes as he's searching the complex.

 

 

This next shot is a long shot of the protagonist's wife and child with an explosion behind them. This is another two shot where the composition of the characters is used to show a close relationship by how they are holding hands and are reasonably close to each other, which will make the audience empathise more than if they weren't close. Also there is a contrast between their body language which is soft and calm to the fiery explosion behind them which shows the audience how its part of the protagonists imagination, but also heightens the violence of the explosion, creating a shock for the audience. Most of the lighting is from the explosion and the yellows are reflected in the grass and their clothes which can show links between the fire and them, relating to the audience the previous flashback dreams of fire and death.

 

 

This next shot is an extreme long, tracking shot of the protagonist and his partner climbing the cliffs on the island. Its also a two shot with the protagonist in front showing his leadership in the partnership and the investigation. With the shot showing them emerging to from the dark forest to see and somewhat bright sea and the lighthouse they have been looking for, connotes how they are getting closer to the truth which is represented by light. This is also shown through how the brightest part of the sea is where the lighthouse is but this silhouettes the lighthouse which could show how the truth the protagonist is looking for at the lighthouse is not going to be what he expects/be good for him.

 

This next shot is a close up of the protagonist in the underground section of the maximum security complex where he has to use matches to light his way through. The matches in this scene are significant because they emphasise how the facility is deteriorating, reflecting how prisoners on the island are treated which is a big theme in  the movie. They also are used to build up suspense and tension for the audience as he's in a dark place where there are many dangerous offenders lurking about, and all he has to see are little matches that do not provide much light. Also the only lighting on his face is from the matches which builds up suspense as you can't really see what's behind him. The lighting of the matches sound wise also builds up suspense as the only break of the silence is the matches lighting, his breathing, and the occasional ambience of the water pipes or prisoners in far off parts of the complex. it's this silence that is supposed to scare the audience.

 

Editing terms

• Post production: think about...hope clips can be joined together,  how clips are ordered/structured, speed/pace and CGI/ special effects.
• How many cuts are used .
• how long shots are on the screen for.
• how they're ordered.
• how does the editing work with the narrative.
• how does it work with time. 
• Is it fast or slow paced. 
• Have any effects or transitions been used. 

Transitions

• Straight cut-between shots, most commonly used.
  
• Dissolve- gradual transitions between shots, can help show time passing or a different location. 
  
• Fade to/ from black to white- creates sense of time passing or can also be used for flashbacks. 
  
• Fade in/out-shows progression of time or can show a peaceful setting if used at the beginning of a scene.
• Crossing cutting-action cuts between two sequence.
  
• Wipe-line moves across bring a completely new shot, marker of change.
  
• Jump cut-would make something look dramatic. One big thing in the Scene changes but the rest of the scene doesn't. Used to disorient the audience.
  
• Visual effects- can range from B/W to CGI and can be used to make shots look like CCTV footage or old. 
  
• Sound- diegetic/ non-diegetic.
• Continuity editing- maintains spacial relationships, calls attention to specific things, gives the film rhythm, graphic match. 
  
• 180 degree rule. This is used to show a level of continuity and give the audience an awareness of what's in the scene and how its composed.
  
• Montage .