Thriller Presentation - Dylan Evans

'Psycho' (Hitchcock, 1960)

Sound is a vitally important factor in any thriller. One of the most famous examples of sound in a thriller movie is the 'eeking' violin sound used in 'Psycho' (Hitchcock,1960) during the shower scene. Since the film was released it has become an iconic sound and can be attached to any shocking moment in any video and immediately add a thrilling touch.  One of the key conventions in any thriller is to build suspense and from this example it is clear that sound can be used to do this.   

'The Sixth Sense' (Shyamalan, 1999)

Another example of a famous thriller movie is 'The Sixth Sense' (Shyamalan,1999) The main reasons this film became so successful was that firstly it had a cast list including Bruce Willis but also it featured a mind-blowing twist in that Bruce Willis was in fact dead the whole time and the only reason the little boy could communicate with him was because he could see dead people. Two key conventions in this thriller are camera work and special effects (depicting the ghosts). An example of this is when the young boy is on the toilet and a ghost hovers past the door. This is a shocking moment of the film and the different camera angles leading up to it help build tension (typical of a thriller).


'Taken' (Morel, 2008)

Taken (Morel,2008) is an example of a contemporary thriller. The story consists of a good character, Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) taking on evil sex traffickers who have taken his daughter. The main event in the film in which unbearable tension is built is when his daughter is actually taken. In the moments before she's taken she has a phone call with her dad in which the conversation is fast paced. The most chilling image is when the daughter sees her friend in the window opposite to her being taken. This then foreshadows that she will have to go through the same thing (building tension.)