The generic conventions of thriller genre. What is a thriller?

Genre is an enormous word and so it can be split into sub genres. For example thriller, comedy, romance, fantasy and sci-fi science fiction!. " thriller is a genre, a thriller is a film with an exciting plot, a thriller contains surprises and tense actions, to ma#e the audience feel surprised and excited. " thriller genre aims to #eep the audience excited and #eeps them captivated. " thriller film is very different to a horror film but most people get mixed up with the two. There is a difference between a thriller movie and a horror movie because a horror movie contains more graphic and more gruesome images but thriller movies do contain forms graphic images or any gruesome images but not as much. For example thriller$s li#e the se%en or the silence of the lambs contains elements of graphic violence, however they tend to create surprises are these. The main elements to the thriller genre are suspense and tension allowing audiences to guess what&s going to happen next and surprise them along the way This will ma#e them want to watch the movie even more, also thriller movies are mostly predictable and this ma#es the audience want to watch even more. 'owever sometime the ending of thriller movies are mostly unpredictable. This may be because the director want to ma#e the audience feel shoc#ed or to thin# (wow, i was not expecting that)

Generic *onventions? +ubgenres,

*rime thriller- This genre focuses on criminals and gangsters. "lso focus on the life story of the protagonists. "ction thriller- This genre focuses on dramatic actions and fast pace movies are more into action thriller movies. Film .oir- They focuses on hollywood crime thriller movies. They are all blac# and white movies. "lso they are all made late in /012s. Film .oir, most commonly, is #nown for its strong lighting, heavy shadows and high contrast lighting. 3sychological thriller- based around psychological issues more than action, storyline tends to be more complex than other sub-genres. 4eligious thriller- They are more based on supernatural and religious issues5experiences. +cience fiction thriller- This genre focuses on the future and they usually have lots of gadgets. This involves lots of expensive technologies and e6uipments.

7ystery thrillers- This genre focus on investigation and detective stories.

Aspects of thriller genre:

Film .oir, this word is originally from France, this word means 89lac# Film$. Film .oir is not a genre but it is usually thriller movies.

:ighting-

Film .oir uses blac# and white lighting. They always use low-#ey lighting. :ow-#ey lighting is a style of lighting that used in a film or in photography, it is to create a chiaroscuro effect. 7ost dangerous scenes of Film .oir ta#es place in night time because this is when they will get the rich dar# light that is very useful for these types of film. 2n the other hand sometimes some of the violence scene ta#es place in the middle of the day. The reason is because they want to ma#e the audience to feel shoc#ed. Films li#e ;ac#ie 9rown death scene is shot in the middle of day, for example when one of the gangsters in ;ac#ie 9rown unexpectedly shoots the blonde girl in the middle of the car par# in broad daylight. This will shoc# the audience because when it is usually daylight you are not expecting any type of #illing and so this is the reason why audience get shoc#ed.

*amera angles-

<n thriller films they usually use close-ups and mid-shots. The reason is because they want the audience to see the expressions of the victims, so that the audience can empathise with the certain characters to

see and feel what they are going through= this will ma#e the audience want to watch the rest of the film. This also helps draw the audience into the emotional aspects of a narrative. <f the camera is on the characters face they are more li#ely to be involved and empathise with the character, whereas more distant shots ma#e the audience feel removed. Thriller films and every other films lots of different shots, but in common= thriller movies usually use establishing shots. The reason is because the director want the audience to see where they are filming but sometimes they do not use establishing shots. Thriller films usually ta#es place in tunnels. The reason is because tunnels are dar# inside and the colour and the setting gives it more thriller loo#.

:ocations-

Generic thriller locations are usually areas which add a sense of claustrophobia with no escape, no way out for the character in panic situations. They uses places li#e these because it will be more dramatic and exciting for the audience to watch. *ar par#s and tunnels are commonly used locations in thriller films because they give out the feeling of claustrophobia. For example in films li#e >ssex boys. The director uses settig that suits the sub genres. For example films li#e the con?uring is a thriller horror movie and their main location is a creepy old fashioned house in the middle of nowhere in the woods. They have used this setting because they want the audience to feel that this certain house looms really haunted and it loo#s isolated and that it have never been used for anything.

3rops-

<n thriller films they usually use big guns and and big weapons. 7any main characters in a thriller own a gun or a #nife. <f they do not own a typical weapon, they tend to use items as weapons. For example they will use high heels, stones, heavy boo#s, bro#en glass bottles, cric#et bats etc. White vans are often used in thrillers. They are very enigmatic, because anything could be hidden inside.

*haracters-

Thrillers mostly focus on dangerous or wrongly behaviour, usually involving characters that are gangsters, part of the mafia, spies, detectives or any #ind of murderers.