The Forms and Conventions of Thrillers

The forms and conventions of thrillers are divided into 5 different groupes, these are:

1. Characters
2. Narrative
3. Themes
4. Iconography
5. Audio Visual Style

Characters:
There are all different types of characters for the different sub genres, however, most thrillers always include: corrupt cops/politicians, hit men, psychotic maniacs, but most thrillers always have an innocent victim who has to learn how to fight in order to survive what is happening. Such as in 'The Resident,' the young Juliet Bliss Devereau (Hilary Swank) becomes the victim of a psychopath as he becomes obsessed with her and she has to fight her way out of a situation that you think there is no way out of. Characters are important to thrillers because the innocent ones get the audience to feel for them and to share emotions this is good because it brings them into the film more. Some characters i.e. the bad guy differs for different sub-genres, some could be hit- men while others could be killers.

Narrative:
A narrative is also known as the story. Thrillers usually base their stories on crimes such as drug use, killings etc that happens at the start, or leading to a climax. Thrillers can sometimes be a race against time to stop something from happening i.e. in Silence of The Lambs someone of importance gets kidnapped by a killer and the FBI have to find her before she gets killed.

Themes:
There are all different types of themes for thrillers these include: madness, obsession, revenge, betrayal, deception, paranoia, love, alienation. However, the most common ones for thrillers are: revenge, obsession and betrayal. An example of revenge would be ‘Leon,’ an innocent victims life gets shattered so she takes it upon herself and a hit man to get revenge on who ruined her life.

Iconography:
Iconography is the 'visual elements' such as: props, costumes, locations or buildings. In thrillers these normally include: guns, urban area (city), drugs, suits, high-tech equipment, dirty run down environment and cops/government offices. These provide us with the knowledge of what sub-genre that thriller belongs in.

                                         Audio- Visual Style:

The audio-visual style provides us with: low-key lighting, fast editing, dramatic/tense music, jerky hand-held camera work. The type of music affects the audience because it helps build up suspense which is a key factor to a thriller, it works because hearing is one of our senses and the different type of music we hear affects our moods. Whereas, the jerky hand-held movements tend to make the audience feel like they are a part of the film and by seeing the camera shaking because the innocent victim is scared or hurt makes us feel sympathy for them.

Sub Genres Of Thrillers.

An action thriller will generally have a fast-paced, and definite plot and normally include a hero/herion and a vilian. Films I have seen include:

• To fast to furious
• xXx
• Kill bill vol 1 & 2
• Blade: trinity
• The fast and furious
• The fast and the furious: Tokyo Drift
• Snakes on a plane
• Underworld
• Underworld evolution
• Speed
• Mission: Impossible
• Kindergarten Cop
• Buried
• Rambo

A revenge thriller normally includes when something happens to someone’s family/ loved ones and they take it upon themselves to get them back or to punish those who done it, revenge films I have watched include:

·         Leon

·         Law abiding citizen

·         Taken

Physiological thrillers involve characters that do not have enough physical strength to overcome their enemies but rely on their mental resources. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state. Films I have seen to do with p physiological thrillers include:

• Phone booth
• The Silence Of The Lambs
• The Resident 

Political/conspiracy thrillers are usually aimed at the older audience because of the political element. This sub genre usually is based around the government like Enemy of the State where part of the government is trying to cover up a political murder. These are the political thrillers I have seen:

·         Enemy of the state

Suspense thrillers normally rely upon excitement to make the audience on the edge of their seats, films I have seen to do with suspense thrillers:

·         Cliff hanger

·         Jaws

·         Deep blue sea

Horror thrillers are typically aimed at teenagers because it includes gore and blood in the film, more than a typical thriller. Most horrors are focused on serial killer plots, that is why it’s more for the younger audience; here is a list of thrillers I have seen:

·         The crazies

·         Devil 

Post apocalyptic thrillers are set in a world where a big universal disaster happens. Films I have seen involving this are:

• I am legend

A science fiction thriller contains elements that do not exist in this life, films I have seen involving this are:

·         Jurassic park

·         I, Robot, Knowing

 

Target Audience For A Thriller

A typical audience for a thriller would range between teenagers to people in their late adulthood, it all depends on if they enjoy thrillers or not and also, depending on what type of thriller i.e. any James Bond films, the audience are normally male. Teenagers normally get drawn towards horror thrillers because of all the 'gore.'

Definition Of Thirller

A thriller is a film genre of literature, film, and television programming which relies on high stakes, non-stop action, plot twists, suspense and action to make the audience 'grip the edge of their seats,' or 'surprise and excite.' A thriller also includes a hero fighting off a villain an example could be a doctor and an illness or a father and a kidnapper. People are not just engaged in the story of the thriller but by the way they are told visually.