2. Thriller movies started in the 1920’s-1930’s when Alfred Hitchcock made a silent film
‘The lodger’ which was a full of suspense and based on Jack the ripper. He then went
on to make his second thriller film which was Britain's first sound film called ‘Blackmail’
in 1929, because this was the first sound film in Britain the thriller genre films became
very popular as they developed the storylines became more focused on storylines on
solving murders and serial killers. in a majority of the films the murderer was close to
the victim. Alfred Hitchcock carried on making movies during in the 60’s and it this
time colour was introduced to television. After the 70’s thriller films focused more on
mentally disturbed/psycho characters and murder scenes became more violent.
3. The target audience for thrillers are usually always 18+. This is because of the
violence and gruesome scenes it contains. It also has many psychological issues
which would be disturbing for the young viewers. The thriller will sometimes be 15+
but that’s if the scenes are not explicit. Thriller films will rarely be open to watch by
anyone under the age of 15. Both men and woman like thrillers I think. Men like it
because of the suspense the way you’re on the edge of your seats and mystery but
also for the action e.g. Violence, car chases. Woman like it because of the suspense,
mystery but also for the typical strong male lead.
4. Thrillers are often based around the genre of crime but it could be based on anything,
with thrillers a lot of hybrids are involved where its two types of genre or a sub genre,
you could have a thriller/horror or a thriller/action so the narrative themes are not as
consistent as it mixed with other genres. In a thriller the narrative is restricted so a lot
of the information is hidden. There is an equilibrium and then the equilibrium is
disrupted and then the equilibrium is restored again. Thriller’s narrative have often a
complex structure, they like to keep the audience guessing on what will happen next
and it has twist and turns. A lot of thrillers have a restricted narrative, questions and or
riddles will be left unanswered until towards the end of the film. Also in narrative they
can put in false clues a ‘McGuffins’, do make the audience think its gone one way or
this certain ‘object’ that was spoken about was important but really it isn’t.
5. • Action thriller: Uses physical action to create suspense within the film, like a
traditional action film this sub genre would have continuous action likely to
contain fights, physical stunts, car chases, races e.g. The Expendables
• Erotic thriller: A type of thriller that has an emphasis on eroticism and where a
sexual relationship plays an important role in the plot e.g. Basic Instinct
• Crime thriller: This genre incorporates the suspenseful aspects of a thriller with a
crime plot. This sub-genre's plot usually centres on a serial killer, murderer,
robbery, or manhunt e.g. Untraceable.
• Physiological Thriller: In addition to the traits of a regular Thriller, a Psychological
Thriller incorporates elements of drama and mystery film. The suspense in this
sub-genre comes from the mind, rather than from a psychical threat. The
protagonists in Psychological Thrillers must rely on their mental resources to solve
the situation. Because of their nature, many Psychological Thrillers cross over into
the Horror genre e.g. Panic Room
• Science Fiction Thriller: “Usually this sub genre will focus on the future gone bad”
And uses things like alien invasion or a breakout in some disease has created a
superhuman or something like that e.g. Aliens
6. In thrillers there are several characters which usually are involved in the plot and
narrative, there is almost always a hero type character who is usually a man and they
re store the equilibrium. This person is probably just a normal everyday person who is
‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’ or a police officer. Another word for this is a
Protagonist. Then there is the antagonist (villain) who creates the narrative disruption
and is usually psychotic but extremely clever. Then there is the victim who is usually a
female who is most threatened by the villain and they’re usually not really involved in
the whole crime situation. You also have the donor, the helper, the dispatcher and the
false hero. Not all of these necessarily have to be the main characters or even in it at all
but these are just the usual type of characters that re in the narrative.
7. • Lighting: All most always a thriller film is going to use dark/low key lighting as the connotes
danger and makes the scene scarier.
• Sound: A lot of the time thrillers will have suspense building non diegetic music /sounds that
start of quiet and low pitch and slow then it will get quicker and higher pitch signifying that
something is about to happen. A lot of sharp loud sound are use as well like a thump on the
door or something falling down in the basement. Moreover there are diegetic noises that
build tension such as foot steps that start far away then become louder and sounding like
they are coming closer.
• Props: Weapons are often used in thriller films along with fake blood, these two create
gruesome murder scenes which keeps the audience entertained, furthermore masks are
another prop used a lot in thriller films they are usually used to hide the identity of the killer,
which creates an enigma code for the audience as they wonder who it is and trying to make
assumptions in their heads which attracts them to the film.
• Setting: Thriller films are usually set in isolated and abandoned areas, so it is hard for the
criminal to get caught and for the victim to escape.
