THE THRILLER GENRE

Aashna
Jadeja

THRILLER MOVIES
Thriller movies are made to create tension and
suspense towards the target audience.
They can cause extreme feelings of diff erent
emotions such as: excitement, anxiety, shock,
suspense and anticipation.
Thrillers can often get mixed up with the Horror
genre, but they have some specifi c diff erences.
Thrillers have many diff erent subgenres within the
whole genre. For example:

The Dark
Knight

Mr & Mrs Smith

Romantic

Panic Room
Psychological

Silence of the
Lambs Crime

CODES & CONVENTIONS

SUSPENSE This is the most important and signifi cant
characteristic of the Thriller genre. This fascinates the
audience. This creates a sense of the unknown and the
unpredictable.
Thrillers keep the audience on edge at all times, they do this
by shooting specifi c scenes in dark, eerie and creepy
settings, this makes the audience brace themselves to
prepare for shocks.
There is usually a problem that needs to be solved and so
this leads to a hero and villain, solving and causing the
problem.
The plot can often be designed so that the audience feel like
something like this can happen to them which makes them
feel more tension and suspense.
A lot of violence and fi ght scenes.
Some scenes are very over the top the make the audience
think something bad is about to happen.

CHARACTERS
THE PROTAGONIST- This is the main person, and is usually
a male hero fi gure who helps solve the problem, theyre
addressed at the beginning of the movie so everybody
knows who they are. E.g. James Bond Casino Royale.
THE ANTAGONIST This is the villain, also referred to as
the bad guy. Theyre never revealed early on in the plot,
but are revealed late on when mayhem has occurred so
that the audience can fi gure out who has done it. This
person could also have a hidden identity so it will be
someone you dont expect. E.g. Arthur Kingsman: The
secret service.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cinematography is the art of photography and
camerawork in fi lm-making.
Close up and extreme close up shots are used when
fi lming the protagonist and antagonist, this is usually
so that the audience is able to see their emotions.
When fi lming the protagonist, longer shots and full
body shots will be used as the audience like them as
they are the good guy. However when fi lming the
antagonist, very short and quick cuts are used to hide
their identity, and when theyre fi lmed its usually
their silhouette or extremely dark so they dont
reveal them self.

SOUND AND EDITING

The music in thrillers is essential or the audience to
understand the mood of the scene. In particular, the
non-diegetic sound added into a thriller is there to
create suspense and tension.
The music is likely to start off slowly and quietly and
then get faster and louder in the action to add a more
dramatic eff ect.
When fi lming a thriller, a lot of jump cuts are used
this is because in order for the fi lm to make sense,
these have to be included, however at the time the
audience will not make sense of it, but it will become
clear later on.
Cross cutting may also be used to add suspense
towards the audience.

MISE EN SCENE
Lighting depending on the location and setting the
lighting may be light or dark, this often fi ts the mood
of the scene.
Costumes each character will have diff erent outfi ts
that bring out their individual personality and
characteristics. E.g. There would not be a dark and
evil villain wearing a pink dress.
Composition Most directors use a few fi lming rules
such as the 180 degree rule and the rule of thirds,
this ensures that they get the most interesting shots
that look best.