Thriller Narrative Research

HI!

This week, I started researching narratives for a thriller. I reviewed the resources my teacher provided and some examples that might help me. I have realized that the best way to research is to watch movies, take notes on them, and analyze their mise-en-scene to determine what I need for my film opening. 

Research

First, I was researching what directors to focus on. To me, the director's style matters the most in terms of analyzing the choices that they made for the genre. While researching, I found this website that gave me a preview of the thriller directors. As I scrolled I found directors like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, and Alfred Hitchcock. I was surprised to see that Stanley Kubrick was not on the list, seeing as he created one of the most famous thriller movies ever, 'The Shining'.

The Kubrick Stare -one of Stanley's signatures- is something that I definitely want to implement in my film opening. I feel like if you are an enjoyer of the thriller genre then you would appreciate the cameo.

Watching the Movies

Although I love thrillers and horror movies, I have not watched some of the classics like 'Psycho' and 'The Shining', even though I have been wanting to. I have watched all of the 'Scream' movies and I am using traits like the final girl to put in my opening. I started by re-watching the 'Scream' movies to immerse myself in the genre again. 

  I took some notes on my Apple Notes app and proceeded to watch the thriller 'Psycho'. I was a bit nervous to watch it but I focused more on the shots and the mise-en-scene to make myself more knowledgeable. I also watched 'The Shining'. After watching, I decided to read an analysis of both movies to enrich my knowledge of both of them and to polish off anything I might have missed while watching the films. 

Reflection

After watching the movies, I have realized that it did in fact help a lot. It was also a fun way to research the genre so it did help retain a lot of knowledge and information in my head. In the future, i will continue to watch more thriller movies to expand my mind with information. The next time I will focus more on shots and transitions that are typical in the genre.

Sources

https://movieweb.com/best-thriller-movie-directors-of-all-time/ 

https://storygrid.com/thriller-genre/

https://lewislitjournal.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/christians-cinematic-syntax-a-review-of-alfred-hitchcocks-psycho/

https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2020/the-shining-at-40/a-dramaturgical-analysis-of-the-shining/