2. What made it so popular?
The Thriller Genre became increasingly popular to
use after the Assassination of John F Kennedy in
1963, due to his assassination being all over the
media, the idea of Political thriller and paranoid
thriller became very successful and popular sub
genres for film, as they were linked to
both similar investigations to his murder, and the
conspiracy theories which came with it. Successful
examples of this Genre are the films of Alfred
Hitchcock.
3. What we get out of it
Thrillers heavily stimulate the
viewer's moods such as a high level
of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation,
uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement, tensi
on and terror. Literary Devises such as red
herrings and Cliff-hangers are used extensively.
The covers up of important information from the
viewer, fighting and chase scenes are common
methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although
each subgenre has its own characteristics and
methods.
4. What they can contain
Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms,
captivities, heist, revenge, kidnappings. More common in
Mystery Thrillers are investigations and the
"whodunit" technique.
Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind
games, stalking, confinement/death-traps, horror Thrillers
heavily stimulate the viewer's moods such as a high level
of anticipation, ultra-heightened
expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement,
tension, and terror.
Literary devices such as red herrings and cliff-hangers are
used extensively. The cover-up of important information
from the viewer, and fight and chase scenes is common
methods in the entire thriller sub genres, although each
subgenre has its own characteristics and methods.
5. What the Genre’s goal is
The use of all the elements and techniques
are to overall get the audience on "the edge
of their seats", this is their goal. This is used
with the typical scenes which contain very
tense moments with a long build up to a
successful climax which will satisfy
the audience’s emotions in one way or
another.
6. Similarities to Horror
the common iconography and themes in
thrillers are very similar to horrors, they can
involve dark dank corridors, knives, gore
and of course the hidden knowledge from the
viewer, leaving the audience wondering what
is going on and having to leave them
thinking, making this genre quite high
culture.
7. Who its aimed at
The “thriller genre” has been known to be
taken interest in by all walks of people, but is
typically known to be more of a male genre
for its amounts of action and sometimes
"fantasy escapes" from the real world,
although they can relate to things happening
in the real world today or in the past. This is
what gives some thrillers the ability to have
you walk away thinking deeply
about certain things.
8. Diversity of the Genre
The thriller Genre is impressive for its ability
to sub genre into many other genres, for
example, "the fugitive" a very famous action
thriller, and "the number 23" a
successful psychological thriller, Though the
genre struggles to sub genre into romance or
romantic comedies, rendering it more likely
to be stereo-typically a
Male orientated genre.
