What is a Thriller Film and what are Thriller Sub-genres?

What is a Thriller Film and what are Thriller Sub-genres?

A thriller is a widely expressed genre that is very popular within film, television and literature. Typically a thriller includes certain characteristics that make it identifiable as thriller film. These are:
• The pace of the film is usually quick
• There is a lot of action
• Build up of suspense and the plot is never set in stone
• The audience should be on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen to the characters. Will the good guy beat the bad guy etc?
• The main characters or heroes are usually men however in modern thrillers women are presented as protagonists to a limited extent.
However within the genre of ‘Thrillers’ there are many sub-genres that overlap.

Action Thrillers- An action thriller is a mix of action and thriller content. It generally includes a hero figure and the plot revolves around the characters growth and realization of the enormity of his task. It frequently plays into the audience’s fears but can sometimes be a little far fetched. They can contain a lot of violence and a ‘race against the clock’ mentality. Some of these are:

Crime Thrillers- Crime thrillers are very popular in the film making industry. Crime thrillers are usually full of suspense and generally include a police officer or detective trying to uncover a murder or horrendous crime of some sort. They can include aspects of action thrillers and psychological thrillers.

Conspiracy Thrillers- Conspiracy thrillers can sometimes tie in with political thrillers. It can usually revolve around a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. Conspiracy thrillers often involve corrupt governments or framed characters trying to clear their name.

Horror Thrillers- these thrillers often conjure up intense feelings of fear and anxiety within the audience and the characters. They often portray the characters as victims facing death and trying to run from it. These thrillers often can include some psychological elements.

Disaster Thrillers- The plot or conflict is caused because of a natural disaster that could not be prevented. It can cause rifts between characters or new relationships to form. In these sorts of thrillers the audience often becomes close to the characters. A lot of the time it uses the illusion that it is a matter of life and death.

Techno Thrillers- A movie in which the excitement of the plot depends in large part on the descriptions of computers, weapons, harmful software, military vehicles and other sorts of machines.

These are just some examples of thrillers, others are
-Drama thrillers
-Eco Thrillers
-Erotic Thrillers
-Leagal Thrillers
-Political Thrillers
-Medical Thrillers
-Psycological Thrillers
-Spy Thrillers
-Supernatural Thrillers

Shanice
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The importance of Suspense

One of the earliest Thriller Writers was Edward Morgan Forster. He was a english novelist and was known for his well written plots that focused on class difference and hypocrisy in 20th Century Britain. Two of Forsters best known works were 'Passage to india' and 'Howards End'. Forster associated suspense with curiosity and often used this concept in his work. However, we feel there is a difference between curiosity, which is ultimately satisfied and suspense, which is ultimately relieved by the end of the story. In most thrillers, especially whodunits the audience member wants to discover who is the murderer. They do not want to wait with the kind of anxiety associated with suspense. However directors continue to use the concept as it adds extra tension to the piece. It is said that movies that are considered suspenseful seem to retain their quality and can be watched numerous times and still conjure up new or the same feeling to the audience. Suspense relates not to the question of what will happen next but to the expectation that a specific action might take place. Therefore suspense is very important in thriller films and we will bee taking that into consideration when making our thriller opening.

Shanice and Ashley

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Thriller Questionnaire

Hey everybody ive been out and about asking the general public what their idea of a thriller film is and this is what I found out!

I asked: Which of these concepts do you believe a 'Thriller' should incorporate?

A) Violence

B) Fast pace action like car chases

C) Mystery

D) Loud noises i.e explosions etc.

E) A build up of tension

F) Gory, bloody, horrific scenes

G) In-depth plots

H) Unexpected twists

I) Makes you feel scared and vulnerable

J) Other (please state)

Results:

A) 34%

B) 4%

C) 2%

D) 1%

E) 12%

F) 22%

G) 5%

H) 9%

I) 8%

J) 3%

Conclusion:

From these results we have concluded that the general public have some understanding of thriller concepts, however because people have their own opinions about what films they like, and also because there are various different thriller sub - genres, this affects peoples understanding of thrillers. For example a large majority believed thrillers to be about violence and gore, whereas these are the attributes of a horror film.

Josh + Brad xxx

The Basics of Video Editing

Establishing Shot - This is where character 1 is established in the location and makes the audience aware of what's happening or what is about to, or has already happened.

Close - Up - This is where a close - up shows an action that character 1 is performing.

Match On Action - This is the cut between two shots where no time has passed from one shot to another. Match On Action is where you cut during an action to another shot from a different camera angle but showing that no time has passed from shot to shot. This keeps the scene flowing and upholds the continuity.

Reaction - This is where we first see character 2 in the scene, and we believe that the two characters are in the same room.

Long Shot - This is the shot where we see both characters in the location which informs the audience of where the two characters are in realtion to eachother.

Brad x

What is our Preliminary Exercise Task?

We were asked to create a short clip that included these elements:

• A character opening a door
• A character crossing a room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character
• Both characters exchanging a couple of lines of dialogue

The task also had to include and demonstrate different shot types.

Group 2

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180 degree Rule

Taken from:

http://www.screensite.org/courses/Jbutler/T340/ClassicismIllustrations01.htm (02/10/08)

This diagram explains the importance of the 180 degree rule when filming. The 180 degree rule is a filming technique which is always used in film-making. It prevents the film maker from crossing a radius of 180 degrees. This is one way the film maker can uphold continuity within their work. If the film maker were to cross the 180 degree line, for example if the shot was of two people having a conversation, their positions would be reversed and this would give the audience the impression that the two people have swapped places, however they have not actually moved.

Group 2

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Introduction to our Group

Our group consists of Bradley Gregory, Ashley Henry, Josh Hinds and Shanice Steele. On this blog we will be taking you through the run up to our two minute thriller opening. We will be including research and a diary of our film making progress and also an evaluation.

Sit back and enjoy!

Group 2

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