The thriller genre

Conventions of thrillers


Thrillers are fast paced with frequent action and a mind jogging plot .They are essentially about the battle between right and wrong , justice and injustice in which at the end a price has to be paid. A thriller film constantly creates suspense and reinforces the elements of gambling and chase. Common devices used in thrillers aswell as suspense are cliffhangers and red herrings.


The plot is shown from two points one of the main character either the villain or the victim which will have more viewing off and can create empathy to choose a 'favourite'. However sometimes the story can be told from an onlooker showing both points of view choosing you decide. The events in the plot build up allowing the audience to guess at what happens next but this is often wrong and creates suspense for further on in the film.


The characters will often wear dark colors or smart etire often a suit or a smart casual clothing there lines will involve short sentences and there scenes conveyed may just be of actions so as not to give much away.





How thriller films have progressed.


The inital setting of a thriller is said to have been set in the classic novel homer's oddysey. Thrillers have came a along way since then. The thriller genre started out on tv with drama series such as 24 more recent ones are well known dramas such as lost and prison break . One of the earliest thrillers was Safety Last in 1923 . Thrillers used to have to be mainly about the characters and their characteristics with basic film techniques . CGI films first came about in the 1980s , it was a big development to the film industry and changed the plot and conventions of thrillers dramatically. One of the first films to see dramatic developments of cgi was durassic park in 1993 this was one of the first films to create a film with moving computer images consistently throughout the films this revolutionized the movie industry. It marked Hollywood’s transition from stop-motion animation and conventional optical effects to digital techniques. It allowed for things we could imagine and draw to be seen as something actual on screen .
In thriller films this allowed for new sub genres to be created from sci fi to disaster .The development of cgi soon allowed for better quality viewing , the new sci fi thriller Avatar has took over 10 years to make created on 3d and one of the most expensive special effects movies of all time we look to see many more movies of higher quality spending as much money on the effects as the actors and production.

Sub Genres within the genre

Action thriller :These films often contain alot of violence and guns in a race against the clock. They often have elements of mystery and crime. Example of this genre are the James bond and Jason bourne films.


Crime thriller: This is a type fo both crime and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crimes. These films often focus on the criminal rather than the policing. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases and shoot-outs. Films of this genre include seven,inside man and reservoir dogs.



Drama thriller: These films contain elements of both films , it will have a rather slow plot and focus more on the characteristics of people . Examples of this genre are the illusionist and the Prestige.


Physchological thriller: These films are typical of Alfred Hitchcock in which the conflict between characters and institutions becomes a conflict of mind ,mental and emotional rather than physical.


Spy thriller: A thriller about an agent or terrorist in which they have to fight against other countries in order to solve the conspiracy.

These are just a few of the main ones there are many other smaller ones such as conspiracy,mediacl,drama,eco,disaster and political.

Target Audience

Our film is of the thriller genre. Therefore audiences who like thriller movies will be suited towards our film however we have tried to suit it to other audiences with elements of sub genre such as action and horror. Our film is rated as a 15 as there is explicit content such as language and violence unsuitable for audiences under 15. Therefore our film is targeted at young adults around the age of 15-25 and mainly male . We have targeted at 15 as this is roughly the same age as the actors in our film although we have one or two older actors to try and attract and older audience. Our film will mainly attract a male audience who may have an interest business but will appeal to some women aswell. Our film has a fast pace , so the audience will have to work out things quickly in order to keep up and understand. A film similar to ours is layer cake so and example of our target audience would be a similar audience to those whose enjoyed layer cake which as researched is similar to what has just been described.

Thriller film directors

Alfred hitchcock directed more than 50 fifty films of his time. He is one of the most popular directors in the film industry and is well know for his interesting thrillers such as Physco,Frenzy,Vertigo,Notorious and North by Northwest. He often used the 'wrong man' or 'mistaken identity' theme in his films and often had a quick cameo. In order to create suspense in his films , he would alternate between different shots to extend cinematic and often used a bathroom of a plot device as either somewhere to hide of a place for lovemaking.

Martin Scorsese is a more recent thriller director than alfred hitchcock and is still in directing to date. He has directed many films such as Goodfellars, Taxi driver,The Aviator,Gangs of New York and The Departed. He often begins his films with segments from either the middle or the end of the film and like Hitchcock he features quick cameo's. His lead characters are often socipathic and want to be accepted in to society and uses people who are disturbed by changes in stereotype. For filming he uses long tracking shocks and many freeze frames to get good impressions of the scene and the character and backs this up with diagetic sound and or music of the rolling stones.

Thriller films

Angels and Demons - Angels and demons is a very interesting thriller film , it makes the audience constantly think and doesn't have a defininite lead all the way through. Although the idea was represented from the book it worked very well as a feature film. Has a sense of mystery all the way through and many trips and tricks and a red herring till the very end to keep the audience on their toes , with death ,discovery and influence it provides the audience with many emotions throughout the film. It uses many quick shots to make the cinematic feature longer in the same way as alfred hitchcock does.

Twilight saga : New moon - Although not a successful thriller plot, a very successful film,partly due to its actors and its combination with romance. Although it does contain elements of thrillers with the idea of not knowing who the people are werewolfs, vampires and as the book is a series so is the film so all answers are not revealed to the last films and just bits along the way giving clues to the end. Has a mysterious setting throughout and i like the scenes used in the forests as the way they film it contains many different features and aspects towards a character. Uses a very effective panning shot when Jacob turns into a werewolf and and interesting angle as she runs towards him and then you see him rather than her in the same shot.

Knowing - It is an interesting film of where there is trouble as they try to cover the end. The main character is along the road to discovery and discovers as the audience discovers. With a lead of numbers to be worked out, the audience is tricked into maths and solutions with the numbers being versus of latitude and longitude following other already forseen events such as september 11th leading onto paths of events yet to unfold.

Se7en- A clever film in which 7 sins are depiciated .It uses the theme of the unnacepted man by society and weaving interoles. Uses many short scenes and shots to keep the audience on their toes and althought the theme is set rather dramatically at the beginning by the opening sequence it isn't untill the end that you really manage to figure it out .

Phone booth - Interesting setting and very clever how they manage to feature the film around one setting and then play with so many ideas around it . Makes the audience constantly try to think who the man on the other end is rather than putting it off with gambles of family and lovers it creates suspense.

Conventions of a thriller

In a thriller there are certain conventions built up that make it that thriller genre such as :
a build up of action
creation of fear/apprehension/anticipation/unsettling felling/confusion/and doubt over a character
A certain mood or atmosphere throughout the film
Dark shadowy atmosphere(use of light and dark images
Delay in shwoing the face of a significatnt character,or the action or an important event be firs showing the ahnd of the character for instance or a reaction of someone watching the event
Creation of suspence using music
Morally ambiguous central character
Realisting settings to create a sense of

the unusual

occruing within a normal setting
Flashbacks
Hero(ine) in situation of threat
Red herring
Twists in the storyline