The Thriller Genre

What is a thriller film?

• A thriller film is a type of film that will cause confusion and mystery amongst an audience. It uses a mixture of tension, suspense and excitement to thrill its audience and will leave them wondering and thinking about what they have watched and how to link every element of the film together. Thriller films anticipate its audience and allows them to expect the unexpected. A range of camera shots, sound effects, music, and mise en scene is what effects the audience and forces them to ask themselves questions about what is going on and what that certain camera angle is showing and what it could mean or indicate. The thriller genre is there to put audiences on the 'edge of their seats' in anticipation.

What conventions are commonly used in thriller films?

• Conventions that are commonly used in thriller films are examples such as red herrings; which are there to 'twist' the plot of the story and confuse the audience. Another example is a cliffhanger, quite often the audience will never find out what happens in the end or what a certain object or characters purpose was in the film. For example, the briefcase in Pulp Fiction has an obvious relevance but the audience never finds out why it is so important. Further conventions include camera angles such as point of view, close up, extreme close up, tracking, shot/reverse shot, low angle shot, high angle shot and over the shoulder shots. The range of shots are used to vary how the audience will perceive a scene or character to be and will allow them to make their own judgement on what is going on. Another convention used often is a plot twist, which is used to make a dramatic change in story line and is used to keep the interest and and excitement of the audience. Yet another convention used is the use of eary or dark music, which sets the mood of the film and keeps tension and suspense high amongst the audience, and continues to thrill them and keep them on the edge of their seats.

What are common themes of thriller films?

• Common themes in thriller films are often deaths or some sort of deadline that a character has to meet. There is always an element of danger in thriller films and the character will always be in danger themselves. Some other common themes are kidnapping's, ransoms, hostages, revenge, and heists. Usually, a detective or spy of some sort is involved to be the hero of the film, whereas the person who he is trying to capture is the binary opposite; the criminal. Most thriller films will have a hero and a villain. Also, very often there is some sort of quest or adventure that the hero will need to go on in order to capture the villain. 

What characters are often used in thriller films?

• Some characters that are used in thriller films are often people such as police, detectives and inspectors. These act as the hero of the story. Whereas, the criminal of the story is often someone such as a hitman, a murderer, a female character etc. Characters represent binary opposites that are the complete opposite to one another and the audience can obviously tell the difference between both of them and know straight away what roles they represent; often seen by what kind of clothes they are wearing, make up they have on, and the props they are holding. Quite often in thriller films, they character that the audience first thought was the hero of the story will turn out to be the villain and vice versa. This acts as a red herring which are commonly used in the thriller genre.