Section 1: Background to the Thriller genre

Examples of thrillers-

• Silence Of The Lambs
• Seven
• Bank Job
• Bourne ultimatum
• Coen Brothers
• Hitchcock

Hybrids-

• Action-Thriller
• Supernatural-Thriller

GK Chesterton -

• The transformed city

'Poetry of modern life' - The world is drab and mundane - Thriller is an attempt to find excitement and adventure.

Northrop Frye -

• The heroic performance

The hero is often 'one of us' - Forced into behaving in an extraordinary way. The 'enchanted forest' is replaced by the modern city.

John Cowelti

• The Exotic

Foreign or unfamiliar artefact's or settings can turn a normal environment into one of enchantment and mystery.

W.H Matthews

• Mazes and Labyrinths

Developed from Theseus quest to kill the Minotaur - Hero goes on a journey involving many twists and dead ends e.g Davinchi Code, Angels & Demons, National treasure.

Pascal Bonitzer

• Partial Vision

Only see so much and what we don't see is very important. A need to catch the killer to a deadline - can make a maze out of any environment.

Lars Ole Saurberg

• Concealment and Protraction

Concealment - deliberately hiding of something from the audience (a vital clue)

Protraction - deliberate delaying of a suspected outcome. Devices such as a bomb countdown are often used to increased suspense and pleasure for audience.

Noel Carroll

• The question - Answer model

The construction of key questions contained within the narrative to which the audience waits for answers. There must be a limited number of outcomes - such as will the hero live or die.

Probability factor - Battles against the odds are more suspenseful.

Moral factor - 'Right' outcomes (according to our position with the central characters) are the most desirable.