3. This is the spider diagram I made to show the main
conventions of the genre 'Thriller'. It show
characters, storylines, settings, themes, sounds and
editing. Not all thrillers contain the same
conventions but these are the 'typical
conventions. In this piece of work I use 'Physco'
(1960) as an example. Directed by Alfred
Hitchcock a Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from
her employer's client, goes on the run and checks
into a remote motel run by a young man under
the domination of his mother.
4. Characters in thrillers include
criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent
victims (often on the run), menaced
women, characters with dark
pasts, psychotic
individuals, terrorists, cops and
escaped cons, private eyes, people
involved in twisted relationships, worldweary men and women, psychofiends, and more. The themes of thrillers
frequently include terrorism, political
conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic
triangles leading to murder.
5. Typical Storylines- not all thrillers are about
violent crime, but they are different from
mysteries because of the angle they take.
A mystery is about solving a crime that has
already happened. The killer's identity is
hidden until the end because otherwise,
there would be no mystery. A thriller is
about a crime that is about to happen ...
unless the hero can stop it. The audience
often knows who the villain is from the very
beginning... even watches over the villain's
shoulder as evil is being committed.
