What is/makes a thriller? #1

What is a thriller?

A thriller, by definition, is a novel, play, or film with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage.

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewers moods through creating suspense and great anticipation; engaging the audience. Through creating a high amount of suspense, the film-maker can manipulate the audience to feel shocked, frightened or excited.

There are many sub genres such as: crime-thriller, action-thriller, sic-fi-thriller and horror-thrillers. This gives my group and I a lot of flexibility with the content we can shoot for our opening. However, we must ensure the conventions used throughout all the sub genres are used, ensuring our opening remains of the thriller genre. For this to happen we must use various conventions; so long as they create tension and suspense to thrill the audience.

What's included in a thriller?

Events are often repeated throughout different films in the 'thriller' genre, including: heists, kidnappings, revenge, ransom etc...

These events are often accompanied by similar plot-lines and characters. This allows for a safe guarantee that the film would be successful in having the same effects of a thriller.

The primary elements of a thriller:

• The protagonist faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's.
• The force of the antagonist's must initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down.
• The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in their representation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
• One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
• The protagonist and antagonist may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
• Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.