forms and conventions of a thriller film
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Forms and
conventions of a thriller
film
Thriller is a genre of film that uses; suspense, tension and excitement as
the main elements. Some subgenres of thrillers are: mystery, crime and
psychological thrillers.
What is a thriller film?
Thrillers are mostly characterised by a mood of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing
society in a dark dangerous way. The majority of the time they often
feature a happy ending in which the antagonists are killed or
arrested; justice is usually served in the end. Thrillers feature devices
such as plot twists and cliff hangers. They also use
atmospheres of anticipation, adrenaline rush, anxiety and
sometimes even terror. The tones in thrillers are usually coarse, slick
and explicit.
An authentic thriller is one that
provides thrills and keeps the
audience at the 'edge of their
seats' as the plot builds towards a
climax. The tension usually
rises when a character is placed
in a threatening situation, or in a
predicament where escaping
seems impossible. Lives are at
threat, typically because the main
character is unknowingly involved in a dangerous or
potentially life threatening situation.
Characters and themes of thrillers
Characters in thrillers consist of; criminals, stalkers, assassins, victims on the run, characters with dark pasts, psychotic
individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers often include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles
leading to murder. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary citizens not used to
danger.
Thrillers mostly take place in ordinary suburbs/cities. Though
sometimes, they may take place entirely or partly in
exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, Polar Regions,
or high seas. Some thrillers are an exception to this and they are set in surreal unrealistic
environments which you would not come across in ordinary
everyday life.
A lot of the time the thriller genre uses enigma to capture an
audience’s attention, there is often a question or dilemma that the target audience can relate to that is then played around with and resolved or left unresolved.
To capture an audience’s attention and give them a sense
of thrill directors may use sub genres to suit the intended target
audiences taste; for example horror thriller, psychological
thriller, comedy thriller and so on. Thrillers often overlap with
mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale - the crimes that must be prevented are serial
or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of
governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are
standard plot elements. A thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the antagonist, saving
others lives and his own.
Sound and editing plays a big part in thriller
movies, the sound and editing is what makes an audience want to watch
a thriller again and again. Quick cuts and a variation of shot sizes and camera angles, as well as a great use of incidental music all
contribute to making an amazing thriller. Mirrors
and stairs are a convention of thriller movies, lighting and especially the use of
shadow can have great impact. In some thrillers
you are made to feel sorry for the protagonist where you are told their
story with the use of flashbacks and elliptical editing, psychological thrillers use this as it plays with the target audiences mind and
makes them think about the action taking place.
In a thriller, the hero must throw the plans of an enemy rather than uncover a crime that’s
already happened. Whilst a murder
mystery would be spoiled by an early revelation of the
murderer’s identity, in a thriller the identity of a
murderer or another villain is typically known
all along.