MY FAVOURITE THRILLERS OF ALL TIME

Pulp fiction 

Pulp fiction is one of my favourite thrillers of all time due to its lurid tone,great soundtrack and over the top violence.

Wolf of Wall Street 

This is one of my favourite thrillers as it has a lurid tone like pulp fiction. However its approach is very different.It achieves this through comedy and over the top explicit content via drug abuse and sex.

The Godfather 

the godfather is one of my personal favourite due to the authentic gangster atmosphere  it creates with MISE-EN-SE . The only other piece of media that made feel this same atmosphere was in the Boardwalk empire series.

Alien

This Sci fi thriller instantly creates suspense with the use of music,special effects and showing aspects of the alien while grows and feeds.This film tingles my adrenaline gland and that excitement is what I love about it.

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THE BEST THRILLERS OF ALL TIME

Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs is considered to be one of the best action stylised thrillers of all time.The Independent film that sparked Quentin Tarantino's Directing career. The film incorporates over the top brutal stylised violence,relatable characters,  aspects of classic films and great soundtrack(1960's to 80's music) all incorporated into the thriller genre.These aspects are all part of Quentin Tarantino trademark and what makes his films so unique.The film starts of with characters eating lunch before performing a heist this makes them more relatable and the audience instantly creates a bond with characters.The characters in the film have colours instead of names (e.g Mr pink) as they do not want  the police to track them down. This is refreshing as they audience do not have to focus their time on trying to remember the name of characters instead of judging the quality of the film.The rest of the film is after the heist with flashbacks showing how they got to their current situation. The characters are very interesting after the opening scene the audience feels they can predict what type of person they are.However the audience are in for a surprise the characters perform various unexpected stunts throughout the film keeping the audience vibrant and alive and wondering what happening next. In certain scenes violence is used through objects such as guns,knives and over the top stylised blood this bring colour to the film. He  really uses the high key lighting to it's fullest this makes the film ironically delightful in comparison to  most thrillers which are extremely realistic and dull. So I conclude Reservoir dogs is considered to be one of the best thrillers of all time as it introduces over the top violence and relatable characters which previously was rarely seen in a thriller genre.

Pulp fiction

Pulp fiction is Quentin Tarantino's second entry in the thriller genre.Like Reservoir dogs this film has over the top action,relatable characters,great soundtrack,elements of old films however the difference between Reservoir Dogs and other thrillers lie in its name 'Pulp Fiction'( Pulp-A soft moist shapeless mass of matter. Fiction- A magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and being charasticly printed on rough unfinished paper) this implies that the thriller a unpleasant brightly in colorised  story with no real plot or order. This is very much true pulp fiction it has random scenes with no real meaning but come together to make a bigger picture. It depicts themes of religion,rape,murder,greed,drug abuse,sex and scandals which are all very lurid in the setting of LA.This is enhanced with high key lighting.This makes the story incredibly interesting as the audience has to use their brains to discover the links between the various scenes.The enjoyment of the film comes from the concentration of the audience unlike most thrillers just have a simple story line beginning middle and end.The film also uses green scene when in car to enhance the characters inside the car.This is because allot of the important scenes happen in cars wether it's murder or a revealing of the plot through conversation.I felt that this was a nice touch and helped the audience focus whats inside the car.Like Reservoir dogs the characters are interesting and bursting with personality. They still are relatable such as talking about burgers and getting high  while surprising us with unexpected stunts. I don't want give away any spoilers but their are two easter eggs one to kill bill and another to death proof in this film. The sound track is rock and roll surf music.This reinforces the lurid effect.So i conclude pulp fiction is considered to be one of the best thrillers of all time as it introduces multiple story's that  come together make a bigger picture.Each plot is Lurid but has a dark undertone while consisting of Quentin Tarantino's trademarks.

The Godfather

The Godfather is an incredible story about the Corlone family in 1940's New york. The film is based very much on crime.The godfather is the head of the family and the mob.The film feels very authentic from the music,setting,low key lighting,props and the great acting. This creates a dark atmosphere.This creates the effect that New york is a dangerous place and at any time a member of a family could be attacked by a gangster.This instantly creates suspense. Marlon Brando make an exceptional performance as the godfather and really holds the beginning and end of the film together. The middle of film is focused on his son Al pacino who does an excellent performance. The story is pretty basic a assassination attempt is placed on the godfather this sparks tension between the to major gangs in new york. His son played by Al Pacino has to replace his father as head of the mob however originally he was a soldier and did not want to be involved in his fathers business.The transformation is performed excellently through scenes of revenge,love and violence. The music is very slow and creating the effect of the mob lurking within the city and that people really have to watch each other's back.The film one highest grossing picture,box office leader of 1972 and one 3 oscars.

Alien

Alien is an incredible sci fi thriller. The film was directed by James Cameron.the film is a 1970's perspective of the future.In this future humans explore galaxy.Upon their travels they discover a new planet.on this planet of their members are attacked they take him back to the ship but little do they know he carries an alien inside.We only see aspects of the alien as it grows,kills and feeds.This is not new and was done in Steven Spielberg's Jaws however what is really innovative about this film is the effects.The alien is enhanced by clouding him in smoke,flickering lights and small explosions this really makes it interesting every time we se a bit of the alien.The viewer feel satisfied when they see the entire alien in the final scene.The film  creates a sense of suspense not only with the alien but the music as well the london symphony orchestra did a great performance of creating a feeling that the characters were lost in space and that something is lurking in the ship.Like the godfather it is slow but when the alien appears it speeds up dramatically.

Jaws

Jaws is unique to the thriller genre.The film is about a great white shark lurking within the waters of a peaceful town.The island is a summer town it makes it money from tourist visiting during the summer.They create this atmosphere as the local's constantly ask the police force to deal with basic problems such as telling kids to stop practising Karate one their fence this implies nothing bad really happens in this town.The Person that owns the beach persistently refuses to shut it down on the f4th of july creating the effect the town is dependent on the money beach makes in the summer.Unlike a psycho thriller the film cannot focus on the killer thoughts and emotions as it is a shark killing on evolutionary instinct so instead it focuses on the reaction of people such as the police force,locals and business men.When the shark appears in order to create suspense James Cameron only shows elements of the shark or a POV shot.This is reinforced with  the unforgettable soundtrack that starts of slows and progressively faster as the shark gets closer to its prey.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The arrangement of everything that happens in the framing-actors,lighting,decor,props,costume-is me-se-scene,a french word that means ‘placing on stage(film)

Costume

Lighting and colour

Actors-facial expression and body language

Make up and Hair

Positioning of characters/object in the frame

Setting and props

Settings And Props

• settings and location play an important part in film making and are just backgrounds
• Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then taking a different turn

Costume,Hair and Make up

• Costume,hair and make up act an instant indicator to us of a character personality,status and Job
• It tells us immediately whether the film is set in present and what society or culture it will centre around
• Certain costume can signify certain individuals

Actor-Facial Expressions and Body Language

• Facial expression provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling

• If someone is smiling,broadly,we assume they are happy(but it can be different with scary music)

• Body language also indicates how a character or may reflect the state of their relationship

Positioning of Characters and Objects within a frame

• Positioning within a frame can draw out attention to an important character/object
• A film-maker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people

Lighting and colour

• colour carries certain connotations which may add meaning to a scene
• can give a scene particular look,feel or mood
• can be used for dramatic effect
• Low key lighting-produces sharp contrast of light and dark areas,deep distinct shadows/silhouettes are formed
• High key lighting-more filter are used lighting is natural to our eyes,produces brightly lit set or sunny day
• Key lighting-lights used to light any areas of darkness in a scene
• Filler Lighting-lights used to light any areas of darkness in a scene
• Back Lighting-Lights which are used to light the scenery around the main character allows audienece to see full scene

OTHER SOURCES OF MEDIA THAT INSPIRED ME TO PLAN MY THRILLER

So far I have decided to plan psycho thriller.It is about a insane serial killer that is explaining to his current victim how he got into the filthy businesses of murder.

The Joker

The joker from comic books,films and games is a very interesting character he does not see murder as bad but as a game or a joke he willing to but both his and other people's life on the line to ensure that he finds something funny.I hope my character is very much like this that he enjoys killing and get much pleasure out of it.

Wolf

An album by tyler the creator .In this  album it is clear that his bad  child hood(such as when he was bullied at school and his father left him and his mother) has had an influence on his music.I want this also to be apparent in the story. Something needs to have happened to my character in the past to explain why he now feels insane.

Bioshock Burial at sea

Bioshock Burial at is a DLC to the game Bioshock infinite in which the story returns to the setting of Bioshock 1 Rapture.This is  a underwater city made in the 1940's to escape the socialist,religious and the fairness of capitalist democracy.' restrictions of society'. At the beginning of the game it is very much a utopia however half way through story once you enter the abandoned district it quickly becomes a dystopia. There are splicers people addicted to plasmids that want to kill you and harvest your eve(plasmid made in rapture to genetically modify humans to give them power) little sisters (little girls that have been captured turned into monsters and harvest eve from dead bodies) and big daddy's designed to work on maintenance in city however some protect the little sisters from splicers).It executes this dark theme with low key lighting creepy music,jump scares and effects such as smoke and flickering lights.I hope to create this same scary atmosphere in my own thriller.

Dexter

Dexter is a TV Drama about a serial killer who has to hide his secret while he works within the police department.I want to incorporate this theme into my thriller my character should be wanting to hide his secret from everyone else until the right moment

THE FILMS THAT INSPIRED ME TO PLAN MY THRILLER

So Far I have developed the Idea of a psycho thriller about a insane serial killer explaining to his victim how he girt into the filthy business of murder.In  this post i will describe which films have inspired me to develop this idea and what aspects of them i will use

LUCY

Lucy is a Sci Fi action thriller.The film inspired me to plan my thriller as it informed the audience what was happening through cut away clips of other videos for example when Lucy is about to be kidnapped it cuts away to a cheetah about to pounce on its prey of suspense this ads a element of suspense as the audience wonder if Lucy will be captured  like the cheetahs prey. I felt this was a nice touch and had not really been used before i plan on using this in my own thriller

Akira

Akira is another film that play's an important role in planning my thriller.made in 1988 this is the anime film that really made anime popular abroad especially  in US and UK. The film uses revolutionary techniques such as the first anime to show characters moving all parts on their face showing their full facial expression before characters just moved their mouth. The film really uses this to its fullest when the main character. Tetsuo Shima starts to go insane due to the psychological effect of his new powers.They show this through extreme close ups of areas of his face and close up's of his face i hope to incorporate this into my own thriller.

Pulp fiction

Pulp fiction is another has a 

lurid tone. As the violence is over the top and brutal and everything is shot in high key lighting. I feel that when filming form the killers point of view i should high key lighting and make the violence seem over the top create the effect he is enjoying it

The Godfather

This film has an authentic setting it feels like this is a 1940's mob family .This is due to low key lighting, the music,the props and other things in the setting such as cars. I hope that i can also create the correct atmosphere in my thriller and really make it feel authentic

WELL KNOWN ACTORS WITHIN THE THRILLER GENRE

Scarlett Johanson

Born in New york city with both jewish and danish origin. She showed an outstanding work in her newest film 'Lucy'(sci fi thriller) .In this film she shows  the polarisation of her character turning from an insecure young lady in her 20's to a confident lady with super abilities after accessing a hundreds percent of her cerebral capacity.

Morgan freeman

Born in 1937 memphis Tennessee he is known for his calm Authoritative voice as a result he plays older wiser characters such as that in Shawshank Redemption

Samuel L Jackson 

Born in 1948 DC Washington he is known particularly well for his work in Pulp Fiction where he played a Religious Gangster especially when he was supposed to quote the bible but decided to improvise 

John Travolta

 Born in New jersey 1954 known  well for playing a cool laid back character such as in Grease ,Pulp fiction and Saturday night fever

Tim Roth

Born in london 1961 he is unique he has an incredible talent in imitating accents he is known for his work in pulp fiction and Reservoir dogs in both of which he played a young character

Bruce willis

Born in rhineland west Germany 1955 his characters tend to be tough hard working characters that end up in unfortunate situations such as in die hard,pulp fiction and the sixth sense. He often ends up battling his way out of these tough situation and ends up becoming a hero.

George Clooney 

George Clooney has been in multiple films the characters he plays tends to be smart hansom and able to handle them self in tough situations such as in Gravity

Tom Hanks

Born in concord California 1956 his characters tend to be nice honest, good hatred people that end in difficult situations. He is known for his work in Saving Mr's banks,Forest Gump and captain philips

Uma thurman

Born in Boston Massachusetts 1970 the character she plays tend to be a strong sexy feminine role  she can often hold her own in a fight such as in kill bill or is very attractive to the other sex such as in pulp fiction 

Michael Madsen 

Born in Chicago Illinois 1958 he smooth talking character laid back character  or the polar opposite a firm businessman who gets things don he known for his work in Reservoir dogs and kill bill however he made an exceptional performance in the crime thriller game Grand theft auto 5 which made US 1$ billion in the first 3 days

Christopher waltz

Born in Vienna Austria he often  a reasonable German that gets things done however his characters often have a dark undertone

Leonardo DiCaprio

Probably the most divers actor on this list he is able to play pretty much any character. He was born in 1974 LA. He is known for his work in Wolf of wall street,The Great Gatsby and Titanic.

Al Pacino

Born in 1940 New york manhattan. He is known for his work in the godfather films and in scarface.He is exceptionally well at playing a mobster in crime thrillers.

Marlon Brando

Born in 1924 Omaha Nebraska. He is known for his work in The godfather,wild one and apocalypse know and like Leonardo DiCaprio he is a diverse actor

THE MOST IMPORTANT DIRECTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GENRE

THE MOST IMPORTANT DIRECTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GENRE

  (born in 1963 Tennessee) Quentin Tarantino one of the most influential crime thriller directors. He is Responsible for 'Pulp fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs' .His films are known for allot of violence,gore and action, he also make his characters more relatable by having them talk about every day things such as eating burgers before committing a crime

• Techniques
• Building a story around a violent object e.g kill bill samaurai sword
• sampling techniques from classic films e.g kill bill fighting scenes mimics old kung fu movies 
• comic fight scenes which are over the top and brutal and can often make audience laugh, they are unrealistic and cheesy

(Born in1939 Detroit )Francis Ford Coppola is famous for his work with the Godfather and apocalypse now.When it comes to the thriller genre he is known for the atmosphere he creates with music,setting ,time and lighting 

(born in 1965 New york city)Bryan stinger directed the films Valkyrie and The Usual suspects considered by some to be the best thriller of all time.He almost always has a great cast of actors and good plot twist in his films 

(born in 1957 Olney Maryland) Frank miller - responsible for the film sin city a dame to kill for and co directed sin city.He uses  his skills he gained from writing graphic novels and incorporates them into film making. This makes his films  artistic with a certain atmospheric tone 

(Born in 1899 London essex)Alfred Hitchcock -successful in hollywood,british cinema and early talkies he has be nicknamed the master of suspense due to his incredible work within the psychological thriller genre

(Born in 1962 Colorado)David finches- Known for his work with seven and the girl, dragon tatoo and fight club.Some of his work has become cult cult classics such as aliens 3 and fight club due to some unforgettable scenes.

(Born in 1946 Ohio)Steven Spielberg is arguably the most influential director in modern film.responsible for films such as Jaws and Schindler's list  list he has had allot of success in the box office, His films hae incredible music,unforgettable scenes and are extremely creative