Information about the Action/Thriller movie genre

1. By Craig Curtis
ACTION THRILLER MOVIE GENRE

2. PURPOSE OF ACTION THRILLER MOVIES
• Action/Thriller films are action packed movies which get
you on the edge of your seat, they aim to keep you
entertained with pyrotechnics. Amazing storylines and a
twist in the plot.
• Action/Thrillers deal with semi realistic storylines
although most of the weapons used or other devices
maybe a bit far fetched, the plots of Action/Thrillers are
the same which contain Terrorists, psychopaths,
exploration and/or crime fighting

3. MORE ON PLOTS
• Plots written within the action or thriller genre often involve a typical theme of
heroes/villains, guns and other weapons. Although most action genres are realistic, it
has many sub genres such as adventure, spy, war and super hero movies. Most
action movies contain moderate forms of violence and gore such as fight sequences,
wars violence, torture etc., that is where the thriller side comes into it as they always
keep you on the edge of your seat, they usually contain suspense, murders or
psychopaths, mysteries and twists.
• This genre has not changed over the years, but more recently the sub genre of super
heroes has become popular such as marvel comics and DC comics being made into
films, there is much more of a demand for this subgenre. Good thrillers nowadays
are hard to come by and do not tend to see many of them.

4. • Codes and Conventions
• Low key lighting
• Fast paced editing
• Enigma
• Close up on characters facial
expressions
• Fast pace music
• Effect on the Audience
• This sets the scene for the audience and
makes them feel more on edge
• This encourages the audience to feel
more wary of some characters
• This makes the audience intrigued and
therefore encourages them to watch on
• This allows the audience to see the
situation from the characters perspective
which makes them feel as though they’re
in the scene and it encourages the
audience to emphasise with some
characters
• This exaggerates the scene and makes it
more dramatic. It also establishes that a
big event is about to happen.

5. HISTORY OF THE GENRE:
• The Action/Thriller genre was first shown in the 1970’s, in films
such as Dirty Harry and The French Connection. Action Thriller
films within this era usually featured guns and crime.
Protagonists were also predominantly male.
• In the 1980’s, Action Thrillers became Hollywood blockbusters
due to films such as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon because of
their simplicity and crowd appeal. These films featured some of
the conventions which still remain today, such as lots of
violence, and characters lives being in jeopardy.

6. HOW THE HISTORY OF THE GENRE HAS
INFLUENCED FILMS TODAY
• Conventions used in old films from the genre are still
incorporated into action thriller films today. Violence and use of
guns are still significant features that are used in modern action
thrillers. However, there are also new conventions used today,
there are more women in the industry and some play roles of
the protagonists. Romance is a new important feature used,
usually there's a romance between the protagonist and the
heroine. This feature could have been introduced to target a
much wider audience.

7. TECHNICAL FEATURES
• Action thriller films often have a low lighting on the
bad characters to show the audience that these
characters are bad and they have shadows on their
face making them dark and mysterious
• They usually have fast paced cuts between shots to
keep the viewer off their seat during the heat of the
action
• Action thrillers also have extreme close up’s on the
characters faces to show their expression and their
emotion when all the action and tense moments are
happening

8. SYMBOLIC FEATURES
• The characters often have blood on their body to show the
viewer that they have been in on the action and drama which
would lead to them having blood on them
• The characters often start with nice clean clothes and then end
the film with their clothes being scruffy which is a symbol for
their situation and they started happy and are now distraught,
which is in their clothes. This shows that clothes can often
reflect the feelings of the protagonist
• The characters are normally in their late teens when they are
stereotypically most likely to go out partying with their friends
and get into tight situations.

9. WRITTEN AND AUDIO FEATURES
• Action thriller's have faced paced and dramatic music to help
add to the tense moments to create suspense and to match the
action that is happening with the music
• The characters often scream to add affect that the position they
are in they don’t like and never wanted to get into that situation.
• Action thrillers often have music to suit the characters
personality, e.g when a bad guy enters the frame the viewer
would hear dark music because the character is bad and this
lets the viewer know.

10. KEY COMPANIES, DIRECTORS AND ACTORS THAT
HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN ACTION THRILLER GENRE
• There are some well known directors that have made some really memorable movies. Tony
Scott, who directed Top Gun, as well as others like John McTiernan and Sam Mendes, who
have directed Die Hard and James Bond respectively, are just a few who have revolutionised
the genre.
• Companies that have been involved in just a few of the many Action Thriller movies are Eon
Productions, which is a company who produced the James Bond franchise. Also, 20th Century
fox have been involved in production of the Die Hard franchise.
• Actors also include Daniel Craig, who has endured the role of James Bond for four movies, and
Bruce Willis, who portrayed John Mcclane in the Die Hard franchise, as well as others such as
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvestor Stallone, who have been the main characters involved
with the Terminator and Rocky franchises respectively
• Warner Bros have been involved with many iconic franchises, including Harry Potter, batman
trilogy, James Bond, Lethal Weapon films, Sherlock Holmes films and The matrix trilogy as well
as others like The Hobbit trilogy and The hangover films. Warner Bros are now arguably the
most well known film company.
• Another company who have revolutionised the film industry, introducing the Superhero Genre,
are Marvel and DC comics. Marvel have introduced the Iron Man trilogy, Captain America, Thor
and many more, and DC have screened well known hero comics such as Batman and
Superman.