Researching Genre

Thriller

Definition of Thriller

• A novel, play or film with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. A genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal – to provide thrills and keep the audience ‘cliff-hanging’ at the ‘edge of their seats’ as the plot builds toward a climax.

Example 1: Olympus Has Fallen• Mike Banning is a Secret Service Agent who is assigned to the

President and is close to him and his family. When there's a situation wherein the President and the First Lady's life is endangered and

Mike can only save one of them, he saves the President. As a result the President has Mike reassigned to a desk job. The President has

a delegation from South Korea visiting. Shortly after they arrive a plane shows up and when it's told to land it refuses. An aircraft comes and shoots it down. It crashes at the White House, that's when some

people in the crowd pull guns and shoot the secret service agents. The Secret Service get the President into a bunker. Mike who sees

what's happening from his office goes there and starts shooting at the attackers. Later in the bunker, some of the people from the delegation pull out guns and shoot all the Secret Service agents. And outside all the Secret Service agents are being killed. The shooters take over the White House. Eventually they call the Pentagon where the Speaker of the House is now in charge; the leader in the bunker makes his demands. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs tells the Speaker they can't give in but to prove that the member of the delegation is serious he kills someone and will continue to do so till they give in. Mike, who's in the White House, eventually gets a special cellphone and calls the Pentagon. He tries to do what he can first by locating the President's son and getting him out. He then goes to save the President.

Example 2: Non-Stop

• Bill Marks, a former cop dealing with his daughter's death by drinking, is now a federal air marshal. While on a flight from New York to London, Marks gets a text telling him that unless 150 million dollars is transferred to an offshore account, someone will die every 20 minutes. Can he find the terrorist in time and save everyone?

Example 3: World War Z• Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his

family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a

mysterious infection turning whole human populations into

rampaging mindless zombies. After barely

escaping the chaos, Lane is persuaded

to go on a mission to investigate this disease. What

follows is a perilous trek around the world where Lane must

brave horrific dangers and long odds to

find answers before human civilization falls.

Key Components in a Thriller: Characters

• In a thriller movie there are usually the good character and the bad character. The good character is always promoted at the good character. This allows the audience to know exactly who the good character is right from the beginning of the film. However the bad character is usually hidden during the beginning of the film and the audience doesn’t know who the bad character is, therefore the bad character seems to be very mysterious throughout the film. This makes the audience question who the villain throughout the film.

Key components of a Thriller: Plot

• The stereotypical plots in thriller movies tend to be an average person acting like a detective who becomes the victim of the storyline and becomes in great danger. A thriller is a combination between a detective and horror story, however thrillers don’t usually have a lot of blood and gore included. There is always a fight/chase scene between the victim and villain, the victim always wins in the end.

Key components of a Thriller: Situations and Themes

• In thriller films, there is always a fight or chase scene which doesn’t include blood and gore, however it does include more physical action. The fight is between the victim and villain. Good always defeats bad. This allows the audience to identify which genre the film is.

Key components of a Thriller:Locations and backdrops

• Thriller films are usually set in busy cities and well built up areas as this crates a realistic location which the audience would be able to relate to. Also this is because the chase/fight scene usually involves a car chase therefore by the location for the film being a busy city with lots of vehicles again makes the chase look more realistic.

Key components of a Thriller:Music and Sounds

• In thriller movies the non-diegetic sounds are usually very upbeat and create a lot of adrenaline. This I because thriller movies include a lot of chasing and fighting therefore the non-diegetic sounds will match the scene. Also the voices (diegetic sounds) tend to be very deep and mysterious, this is because the villain doesn’t want to be caught out in the film therefore by having a mysterious voice allows the audience to get the impression that the villain is the bad character in the film and no one knows who he is.

Generic Conventions

• In thriller films the shots used during the fight/chase scenes tend to be very short fast shots this is because the directors and producers of the film want to make the audience be on the edge of their seats with suspense. When there isn’t a fight/chase scene the shots tend to be longer and slower than the action scenes because this is when none of the ‘action’ is going on therefore the shots need to reflect on this.

Key to success• 1. You need to have a good story: A common element to thrillers is that the protagonist

will fall victim to someone else’s scheme and get stuck in a moment of dread.• 2. Write about the underdog: Tell your thriller from the point of view of the person with

the most to lose.• 3. Multiple points of view: They allow you inside the heads of many characters, which

can build more dramatic tension.• 4. Open with an action scene: Introduce the crime – which tells you the stakes – and

introduce the hero and villain, and even some obstacles the protagonist may face.• 5. Early on make its clear what the protagonist ants and what he fears: You should

know what the protagonist wants and how he would end the film.• 6. Make your characters miserable: Ask what the worst thing that could happen to your

protagonist and make it worse. • 7. Pacing must be high: Each scene should reveal something new, no matter how slight

it is.• 8. Your main characters have to change: It has to be an emotional change that shows

growth and victory over themselves.