What
makes a thriller thrilling?
KNOCK KNOCK
The trailer opens with non-diegetic sound of tense music
which adds suspense and eeriness straight away to the trailer making the
audience aware that it is a thriller. As adding suspense with sound is a
generic signifier. The trailer denotes that the main characters family have
left him alone for the weekend in their large house. The trailer builds tension
as it shows him looking through the house as he has heard noises and suspects
something wrong. It begins to get eerie and more generic signifiers prove that
it is a thriller. Shadows and changes in camera angles makes the trailer
thrilling and mysterious. A final montage of the tensest extracts of the film
are shown and this generic signifier ensures that throughout the film there are
thrilling and tense moments. The iconography of the trailer shows that there is
a lot of violence and the hero is the only one who can solve the enigma.
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
The trailer opens with a close up of a man’s face with
direct gaze at the camera and an eerie smile, his makeup makes him look old and
creepy. This connotes that he might be the antagonist of the film. The camera
technique quickly flashes him on screen twice with dramatic music and cuts to a
different scene. The next scene shows a man who looks professional, his
appearance and the questions he asks the young woman could suggest that he is a
doctor or therapist, this shows the audience that she maybe under stress or
something bad is going to happen. The trailer then shows a montage of dramatic
and eerie scenes from the film which is conventional for a thriller genre
because its represents to the audience that there will be a sense of excitement
and fear to the film. The trailer also denotes that the film is set in a prison
or institution and the setting is almost always dark this is a generic
signifier that the film is a thriller because it creates mystery. The
non-diegetic sound of the music represents chaos which makes it thrilling, as
the trailer draws to an end the music gets louder and faster which adds tension
and makes the audience uncomfortable. Violence is also represented in the
trailer this being a
SHUTTER ISLAND
The trailer opens with a shot of a boat surrounded by fog
this signifies that the film is a thriller as the generic signifier of dark and
miserable lighting. The trailer then goes on to show a mental institution on a
deserted island which adheres to the convention that thrillers are typically
set in suburban areas. The trailer also represents the generic signifier of a
thriller as it reveals the workings of an institution as in the advert it
denotes serious looking men in a uniform with large guns. Throughout the
trailer we can see that the film is set in the mental hospital with creates
fear and makes the audience uncomfortable with the setting. Shadows are seen a
lot during the trailer and proves that it is a thriller. Similarly to the
silence of the lamb’s trailer the music is screechy and high pitched and
towards the end of the trailer it becomes faster and louder it creates the same
daunting effect and creates suspense. The iconography of the trailer is that
the film is revolved around the investigation of the enigma, the sense of
mystery, and the hero is the only one able to solve it.
