History of a thriller - Miss Georgiou

History of Thriller

Thrillers are often based around a genre of crime but it could be based on anything, there are hybrids within thrillers which there are two types of genres or a sub genre.The genre thriller has changed dramatically over the years. One huge difference being how it began with no sound, and now the sound is a huge part of making a film into a thriller. In 1929 Hitchcock made he's first sound thriller, which changed the way thrillers would try and scare the audience.

Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 popularised the use of a 'macguffin' a macguffin is used to make the audience think something is important, but is really just used to lead the audience astray. It is basically a false clue.

During the 1940s the main ten gripping films were: Gaslight, Night train to munich, the case of the frightened lady, Pimpernel smith, The echo murders, I see a dark stranger, Odd man out, The upturned glass, Brighton rock and The third man. What do all these films have in common? these films are all in black and white. Also these films would have been edited by actually cutting and sellotapeing the filming tape physically, top cut between shots such as medium shots to close ups. Compared to todays thrillers, the technology has dramatically changed making life easier for the people making thriller films.

The narrative is defined as a chain of events in a cause-effects relationship occurring in time. an unrestrictive narrative is when there are no limits for the information that is being used. for example in a thriller film we know more than the victim at a certain time. The idea of a narrative is to keep the audience guessing on what will happen next.

A a-list actresses Lana Turner was known for 'The postman always rings twice' (1946) 'The bad and the beautiful' (1952) 'imitation of life' (1959) 'Peyton place' (1957). Lana was a typical victim to a thriller because she was an attractive female, also seen as a easy target for an antagonist.