Media Coursework

1. Thriller: Genre Research
MATT LEESLEY

2. What is the Thriller Genre?
 Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous
subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit,
giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise,
anticipation and anxiety. Today, thrillers provide a wide variety of worlds -
the law, espionage, action-adventure, casino underworld, medicine, police
and crime, romance, history, politics, high-tech, and religion. Thrillers are
usually about life and death situations.

3. Examples Of Thrillers
 Blade Runner 2045
 War For The Planet Of The Apes
 Batman: The Dark Knight
 Inception
 Jaws
 Gravity

4. Sub-Genres Of Thrillers
 A sub-genre is a type of genre in another genre whereas a hybrid is two types of
genres in one.
 Thriller films usually have sub genres or hybrids, such as…
 Crime Thriller
 Mystery Thriller
 Action Thriller
 Thrillers also go well with horror films, for example…
 IT
 Saw

5. What does a thriller film use to achieve the “thrill”?
 A good thriller includes intense excitement: building up suspense, tension and anticipation of things to come.
As a movie genre, it provides thrills from various circumstances presented in the story, where a character
encounters certain types of menacing, mysterious or dangerous situations. When making a thriller movie, you
need to keep the question of what comes next for the viewers' minds as the movie keeps them guessing.
 Some of the popular elements a thriller story holds include suspense-filled chase scenes, "whodunit" plotting
that allows the audience to wonder who killed a character or who committed the crime in the story, shocking
sounds and visuals that surprise the audience every now and then, and unexpected twists and turns in the story
that provide adrenaline rush to both the characters and the audience. Usually, the plot of a thriller intends to
isolate a character from his or her surroundings as the danger intensifies.
 Usually, thrillers use the point-of-view shot where the camera works like the eyes of the character. This allows
the audience to share the same view of the scenes the way the character sees it. Lighting the scene in a
puzzling, strange or curious way provides a more atmospheric mood to further evoke the thrill needed in the
movie's various scenes. Putting emphasis on the pacing of the movie during editing. Use variations of tight and
long shots, short and long takes and moving and stationary shots to visually provide an effective succession of
images, emotions and ideas.

6. History Of The Thriller Genre
 Over the past 30 years the thriller genre has changed a lot, this may be
because of the advanced technology, special effects and our evolving
culture. The thriller films that were produced during the 1940's - 1970's
were based on peoples actual fears. These films were considered realistic.
The modern thrillers have many sub-genre's such as disaster, mystery and
crime.
 Old thriller examples…
 Armored Car Robbery
 Side Street