CRIME THRILLERS.By Gavin McKay.

History of Crime Thrillers.

• Crime thrillers are a Sub genre of Thrillers. • One of the inspirations of this genre is the

early Detective fiction novels, most popular being Sherlock Holmes.

• A big inspiration is the early American Gangsters, E.g. AL Capone.

• Directors like Alfred Hitchcock pioneered the Genre of thriller and the Crime thriller sub genre.

Crime thriller timeline• 1903 - Great Train Robbery

• 1931 - The Lodger

• 1944 - Gaslight

• 1946 - The Spiral Staircase

• 1951 - Strangers on a Train

• 1958 - Touch of Evil

• 1960 - Psycho

• 1972 - Frenzy

• 1972 - The Godfather

• 1989 - Dead Calm

• 1991 - Silence of the Lambs

• 1994 - Pulp Fiction

• 1995 - Seven

• 2000 - Memento

• 2003 - Oldboy

• 2006 - The Departed

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

• 2008 - The Dark Knight

Narrative

• Developed around the actions of the criminal or gangster

• Glorify the rise and fall of the criminal• Fast moving plot, it can be psychological,

mysterious, threatening.• It can involve larger scale villainy such as

espionage, terrorism and conspiracy.• The authorities trying to apprehend them

Todov’s 5 Stages to a narrative

1. Equilibrium - It starts happy

2. A disruption of this equilibrium - Something bad happens

3. A realisation that a disruption has happened

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption - the problem is solved

5. The restoration of the equilibrium - Happy ending

Settings/Location

• Normally set in larger crowded cities• Nightclubs or dive bars• Fancy cars• Drugs• Fancy houses

Audience reception

• People watch crime films because they mirror society and satisfy our desire for mayhem and cheering for the underdog.

• The reflect our ideas of moral order and justice and good vs bad.

• They like to see the underdog work his up and build an empire and then meet his demise.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

British crime movies• Tend to be a lot more

gritty

• Normally focused on a male character who has had a hard upbringing

• They are normally more relatable as they focus on the harsh upbringing of the character

American crime movies

• Hollywood loves gangster movies

• Normally gangsters are very well dressed

• The glorify the rise and fall of the gangster

• Based on morality

• Being pursued by the law

Key Directors

Sir Alfred HitchcockReferred to as the master of suspense, Hitchcock is the pioneer of the thriller movie genre. Hitchcock produced 50 movies in 60 years, some of his most famous being:

• Psycho• Rear window• Vertigo• North by northwest

Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese is someone who is a man for all genres, producing movies that range from Gangster/Crime to musicals and romance. He has produced a lot of gritty psychological thrillers and crime/gangster movies.Some of his most popular movies are:•Taxi driver

•Goodfellas•Shutter Island•Gangs of New York

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Tarantino is one of my favourite directors.Tarantino films are always known for their storylines and great soundtracks. Some of his most popular films are:

•Pulp Fiction•Reservoir Dogs•Django: Unchained•Kill Bill

To Catch a Thief• Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, regarded as

the pioneer of thriller• Stars Cary Grant and Grace Kelly• A reformed jewel Thief is wrongly accused of

stealing jewels and must find the real thief to prove his innocence

• It was very well received with Tomatoes giving it 95%

Click here to see trailer.

The Untouchables• Told from the perspective of the police• They are trying to find criminal charges to

arrest notorious gangster Al Capone• It Stars Kevin Costner (Elliot Ness) Sean

Connery ( Jim Malone) and Robert De Niro (Al Capone)

• It was very well received (80% Rotten Tomatoes) although Ebert said “But the big disappointment is Robert De Niro's Al Capone.”

• Sean Connery won an Academy Award for his role

Click Here For the Trailer.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

• It’s a Swedish version of Steig Larsson’s popular Dragon Tattoo trilogy

• Follows Disgraced Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Lisabeth Salander

• They are hired to investigate the disappearance of a girl.

• It’s very graphic and gritty, it includes scenes of torture and rape

• It is a detective/crime thriller

Click here for the trailer.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Typical Characters

The villan

The false hero

The princessThe hero

The helper The donor

CODES AND CONVENTIO

NSStoryline

Characters

Music

Shadows Flashbacks

Lighting

The protagonist will always face a challenge - a mission,an escape or a mystery. the antagonist will have a hidden past that will be unveiledduring the movie. Normally theyare out for revenge.

Used add a sense of time and space disorientation to try and confuse the audience. Used to show the audience the characters past. Memento.

The storyline willbe designed so the audience think it will be possible to happen to them to help them feel morescared. it will mostly be complex and willunravel during the movie.

Can be used to add tensionand eeriness also can be used to represent inner darkness of the characters.

Music add suspenseand tension, it will often start slow andthen build up to makethe scene more dramatic

Can be used to make the scenemore eerie and can be used to show good and evil, e.g. light

vs dark.

CODES AND CONVENTIO

NS

Mirrors

Black and WhiteEditing

Camera AnglesCan be used increase the feelingsof suspense and tension.E.g. Quick Camera changes, jump clips.

To show the reflection of one’ssoul and inner self, Or to representdarkness within some characters (black swan, mirrors)

Increased use of shadows, appearsmore creepy and dark. Psycho.

Camera angles can give different perspectivesto the characters. A came above the characterand looking down can make him seem weak and powerless.

Camera angles

High Angle/Birds eye

This camera angle will look down on a character, it’s purpose is to make them look small and vulnerable.Here is a good example of high angle used well

Low Angle ShotA camera angle that looks up at a

character, this is the opposite to a high angle shot and makes a character look even more powerful and the audience will feel small and vulnerable. Example Here

Close upsThis shot focuses on the actor’s emotional response to what has happened in the scene. It helps the viewers understand the actors emotions and helps them emphasise with them.

The Shinning reaction shot – Skip to 2.01

Establishing shotThis will contain a lot of landscapeand is normally used at the beginning of a scene to establish the setting.Click here for example

LightingThe most common lighting technique for thrillers is low key lighting because of the heavy darks shadows it creates. It involves using one light which makes heavy dark shadows. Example here – Skip to 1:22

Shadows are used to set the scene, they add a lot of mystery and eeriness to a scene. Nighttime shots with a high light create particularly eerie scenes.

Synergies

Crime is a very popular genre in video games, the most popular being:

• Grand theft auto• Heavy Rain• Metal Gear Solid• Hitman• Batman: Arkham City