GENRE RESEARCH

THRILLER

WHAT IS A THRILLER

A thriller is a movie that is created to keep the

viewer “On the edge of their seat” using suspense

and tension which provides sudden rush of emotions,

excitement and exhilaration which makes the

audience feel a sensation of hanging from a cliff, as

the plot builds towards a climax.

WHAT DOES IT NEED TO ACHIEVE?

For a thriller to succeed it needs to make the audience feel

certain emotions that they would usually feel when watching a

traditional thriller. It needs to keep the audience pondering

what is going to unfold in the forthcoming scenes. For example,

in a crime thriller you are wondering throughout the film: will

they ever catch the criminal or will they uncover who the

murderer is. Also, it needs to keep certain plot points from the

audience so that at the end of the film, the audience will feel

like they never saw that coming.

COMMON THRILLER CONVENTIONS

Common Thriller conventions include:

Tense and suspenseful atmosphere

Dull and washed out colours (through costume

and scenery)

Tense, fast paced and mysterious music

Confusing plot points and plot twists

Themes of justice and morality

HOW HAVE THRILLERS DEVELOPED THROUGH HISTORY

Many of the best thrillers were made by Alfred

Hitchcock who has been deemed as one of the

greatest directors of all time. Something that has

developed in thrillers over the years is that at first it

was hard to tell the difference between thrillers and

horrors with examples being Psycho and Jaws but

today have evolved into incorporating more action in

to thrillers with examples being Taken and Inception.