What is a thriller film?
A thriller film is a piece of media that uses suspense, tension, excitement, anticipation, uncertainty and terror to keep the audience both entertained and on the edge of their seats. Red herrings and cliff-hangers are often used within this genre to help create some of the moods mentioned. There are many subgenres and hybrids of the thriller genre some are mystery thrillers, psychological thrillers and crime thrillers they are all different types of film that was created from the thriller genre. Thrillers tend to have fast paced plots and action scenes and most of the time keep you thinking,the main characteristics of thrillers are that they are usually set in a remote or exotic setting such as deserts or foreign cities.
Thrillers often overlap with mysteries but they can be distinguished by the structure of their plots. Thrillers generally show justice and injustice fighting against each other, with an overall fell of suspense, usually the antagonist is known and the protagonist must stop their plans; a thriller film usually has a growing sense of threat and/or danger. A thriller film is usually told from someone’s point of view allowing them to become more involved in the events and get to know the characters more in different situations.
Events that have occurred in the film previously are important to later scenes that reveal the confusion and the plot of the film; there are a lot of action scenes to keep the audience guessing what will happen next with builds suspense and confusion. During a scene that has a conversation taking place the audience can understand what is happening but as a result the whole plot or events happening are not fully explained which keeps the confusion throughout the film and if it is done right it will keep the audience entertained and want to keep watching. The two different main characters (the antagonist and protagonist) are usually distinguished by their character but the way they look is important as well. The hero in thrillers are usually people who encounter danger on a daily biases like a police man or someone else who would wear a uniform or just someone who has just been pulled into the situation by accident. The villains in thrillers are typically men and are tall but with a shady sense about them which gives the impression that they are not to be trusted, they will usually have a deformity or had suffered a traumatic experience that has changed them completely.
A thriller film is a piece of media that uses suspense, tension, excitement, anticipation, uncertainty and terror to keep the audience both entertained and on the edge of their seats. Red herrings and cliff-hangers are often used within this genre to help create some of the moods mentioned. There are many subgenres and hybrids of the thriller genre some are mystery thrillers, psychological thrillers and crime thrillers they are all different types of film that was created from the thriller genre. Thrillers tend to have fast paced plots and action scenes and most of the time keep you thinking,the main characteristics of thrillers are that they are usually set in a remote or exotic setting such as deserts or foreign cities.
Thrillers often overlap with mysteries but they can be distinguished by the structure of their plots. Thrillers generally show justice and injustice fighting against each other, with an overall fell of suspense, usually the antagonist is known and the protagonist must stop their plans; a thriller film usually has a growing sense of threat and/or danger. A thriller film is usually told from someone’s point of view allowing them to become more involved in the events and get to know the characters more in different situations.
Events that have occurred in the film previously are important to later scenes that reveal the confusion and the plot of the film; there are a lot of action scenes to keep the audience guessing what will happen next with builds suspense and confusion. During a scene that has a conversation taking place the audience can understand what is happening but as a result the whole plot or events happening are not fully explained which keeps the confusion throughout the film and if it is done right it will keep the audience entertained and want to keep watching. The two different main characters (the antagonist and protagonist) are usually distinguished by their character but the way they look is important as well. The hero in thrillers are usually people who encounter danger on a daily biases like a police man or someone else who would wear a uniform or just someone who has just been pulled into the situation by accident. The villains in thrillers are typically men and are tall but with a shady sense about them which gives the impression that they are not to be trusted, they will usually have a deformity or had suffered a traumatic experience that has changed them completely.
Other characters in thrillers are usually on the protagonist side and females are seen as innocent and helpless until they are needed within the narrative.
The type of clothing that is worn is different depending on the character but they are typical and generic of that character. Most characters will appear smartly dressed or well dressed, but different types of thrillers and sub-genres will cause the dress to change accordingly. The colours of the dress is also important, they will relate to their personality, villains will usually appear in black as they are dark and evil, whereas, innocent young characters will wear pastel or white colours to emphasize their personality.
Although thrillers are usually set in an urban city they can also be set in a quiet village, where the people there live a normal live.
There is usually only a small range of colour used in thrillers, the main colour being black or grey, this shows how normal life is, there are other colours that correspond to points in the narrative, if there is a, lot of blue we can assume that someone is going to die or already has, if there is read we see that the person is in danger as it is a warning colour.
The camera shots are usually either steady or move around a lot like if you using a hand held camera. If there is dialogue in the scene or the character is having an intense moment then the camera will be still and focus on the characters more than they would the background behind them. If there are one or more characters in the shot then there will be a medium shot used or a two shot to show how they relate to each other, if they are standing together and or close to each other. The camera moves around a lot more if there is action taking place, in action scenes there is an increased cut rate this makes the audience on their feet and makes them watch more closely so that they don’t miss any of the action. More camera movement is also used when there is a sense of vulnerability or something has gone wrong, which increases the suspense.
The lighting is dim and hides part of the character or location to add confusion and mystery to the scene. The props that are mainly used are weapons.
The main themes in a thriller are based around something that is relevant to society and what they think and worry about, these can be anything from kidnapping, isolation to terrorism and the effects of it, most often the narrative will be from the hero’s perspective and the crime will be portrayed be the villain.
