Directors of Thriller Films

Martin Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 and is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America for his work. In August 2007, a poll by Total Film magazine named Scorsese the 2nd greatest director of all time, beating the legendary director Steven Spielberg and just behind the "Master of Suspense" himself, Alfred Hitchcock. He was one of the most influential American film directors of his era and directed a number of well acclaimed thriller films including Taxi Driver, After Hours, Cape Fear and Bringing Out The Dead.

Scorsese often collaborated with famous actor Robert De Niro in his films, making nine films with the actor. Other actors he frequently collaborates with are Harvey Keitel, Leonardo DiCaprio, Victor Argo, and Joe Pesci. Scorsese often begins his films with clips from the middle of end of the plot and also uses slow motion techniques in a number of his films. He uses a lot of white lighting in the scenes of his films and the characters in his films are usually sociopathic or outsiders who want to be accepted into society.

Alfred Hitchcock was born on 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone, London. He was an English film writer and producer, who after pioneering many new techniques in the suspense and physcological thriller genres was given the name "The Master of Suspense". He began a successful career in the UK, producing silent films and talkies, however his career took off when he moved to Hollywood. His first completed film as director was The Pleasure Garden (1925), an Anglo-German production filmed in Munich.

Hitchcock was the director of works such as Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds and The 39 steps. He told his stories through intelligent plots, witty dialogue and parts of mystery and murder. In doing so, he inspired a new generation of filmmakers and revolutionized the thriller genre. Hitchcock had a habit of appearing in his own movies which began by accident; in one of his first films he was short of an actor, therefore Hitchcock took it upon himself to play this small part. After this, Hitchcock made a cameo appearance in the majority of other films he went on to direct (39 out of 52). Hitchcock's cameo appearance inspired one of our group to make an appearance in the opening scene of our film as well as being involved in the planning and production.