Section 1: Background to the Thriller Genre

Thriller Definition: from Film Studies dictionary

"Thriller is a loose genre term referring to any film that generates suspense and excitement as a major aspect of its Naratve"

Theory About Thrillers

G.K. Chesterton - The Transformed City

. Chesterton - Early 20th century writer of thriller stories

. Argued that thrillers took 'Urban Settings' and transformed them into exciting locations for dramatic stories

. E.G? - Seven, The Dark knight, The Bourne Identity, Miami Vice, Sin City

Northrop Frye - Heroic Romance

. Frye argued that thrillers were stories that took ordinary people and threw them into extraordinary situations

. E.G? - Spiderman, The Negotiator, War of the Worlds

John Cawelti - The Exotic

. Cawelti argued that thrillers took the elements of ordinary life and added an exotic element

. So Basically it adding 'Exotic' to Everyday Life (Mystery)

. E.G? - James bond, Wanted, Mr & Mrs Smith

W.H. Matthews - Mazes and Labyrinths

. Matthews writes about how human beings have a fascination for physical puzzles - often seen in mazes and labyrinths

. Thrillers often use the idea of a mysterious quest ina coonfined location that feels like a Labyrinths

. Labyrinths - greek mythology where the 'Minotaur' was confined

. E.G? - National Treasure, Davinci Code, Saw, Resident Evil, Indiana jones, The Mummy, The Lord of the Ring

Pascal Bonitzer - Partial vision

. Bonitzer discusses how in thriller the audience is given a partial view of things - with important details being obscured

. So the audience should only know so much

. E.G? - Cloverfield, Pandorum

Noel Carroll - Question and Answer

. Argues that thrillers are structured around a series of questions for which the audience is led to want the answers

. E.G? - The Strangers, X-Men The Last Stand

Roland Barthes - Enigma Codes

. Barthes analysed all narratives in the terms of codes that operate moment by moment

. Enigma Code - moment in narrative that leads the audience to ask questions

. Thrillers, enigma code are very important intelling the story in a suspenseful way

. This definition incorprates both W.H. Matthews and Noel Carroll

. E.G? - The Strangers, X-men The Last Stand, National Treasure, Davinci Code, Saw