Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains. Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers are used extensively.

If we say ‘let’s watch a thriller tonight’ we think of the usual murders, psychological mind games that lead to killings etc all things to do with someone being murdered or kidnapped. However, is a thriller really all about guns and blood?

No, It is an encompassing term into which many crime, action, and suspense stories can be grouped. It applies to a variety of types: the legal thriller, the spy thriller, the action-adventure thriller, the medical thriller, the police thriller, the romantic thriller, the historical thriller, the political thriller, the religious thriller, the high-tech thriller, etc. New types are constantly being invented. What gives them their common ground is the intensity of the emotions they create, particularly those of apprehension and exhilaration, of excitement and breathlessness. By definition, if thrillers do not thrill, they aren’t doing their job.

Generic Conventions of Thrillers

• Generic Thriller is an independent feature with another side to it

• Generic Thriller is a feature-length cinematic exploration of the choices writers make in constructing dramatic narratives.

• Generic Thriller is designed to explain the principles of dramatic construction by demonstrating, declaring and deconstructing them, so it is not just art, it is art about the making of art

Themes and ContentDifferent types of thrillers have different themes depending on the type of thriller. Different types of thrillers require different content, for example your not going to put a car chase with a building blowing up in a psychological film involving mind games and phobias. That would happen more likely in an action – adventure film or a police drama. Themes can vary from the music that gives the film the suspense or emotion that the film wants to give. A film, like the theatre, uses light and sound to set the scene and describe what’s going on.

Three examples of thrillers are:

James Bond PsychoSaw IV

Saw IV is the typical movie that everyone thinks about when describing a scary film. It includes gruesome things like the chopping off of a man’s leg and other extremely disturbing things. A target audience would be for an 18+ because of it’s disturbing content.

The main reason why people want to watch thrillers I feel is down to excitement and seeing things that don’t happen in there everyday life, in horror thrillers you want to get scared because you aren’t normally scared in everyday life, in action thrillers you want the adrenalin rush that makes you excited.

We thought of two ideas that could be used to make a succesful opening to a thriller.

a) A woman on her own at night, slightly tipsy – obviously walking home from a party – she is very dressed up. She hears noises coming from the trees but ignores it and carries on walking. Then a man murders her and the final scene is of his face.

b) A police investigation unit is shown and there are photos being taken of a body – whats left of a body. There are flashbacks of a girl running and smiling every now again and then there is the murder that takes place.