Section 1: The Thriller Genre

A thriller is a genre of film, literature or television that creates tension and suspense. It makes the audience jump and gets their hearts racing. Within this genre, there is a sense of mystery that surrounds everything and the story-lines usually play with the audience's minds with twists and different narratives.


The Sub-Genres of Thrillers:

• Psychological thrillers
• Crime thrillers 
• Supernatural thrillers 
• Action thrillers 
• Erotic thrillers 
• Horror thrillers 
• Political thrillers 
• Drama thrillers 
• Disaster thrillers 

The 7 Theories of Thrillers:


The Transformed City - CK Chesterton

• Usually set in urban environments - eg Cities
• Transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. Makes you think that the storyline could happen anywhere.

The Heroic Romance - Northrop Frye

• The hero in the film is always an ordinary person, it could happen to anyone.
• An ordinary person who is forced to behave in extraordinary ways because of their circumstances
• "Moves the world in which ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended"
• Enchanted forest = Normal modern city.

The Exotic - John Cawelti

• Modern city = Enchantment and mystery
• Introduction of the unfamiliar 
• Artefacts/objects/props from the Middle East or Orient locations

Mazes and Labyrinths - W H Matthews

• Comes from Greek mythology
• Hero in a thriller often finds themselves in a predicament and has to get themselves out of it.
• Faced with mazes full of twists and dead ends in order to reach villains
• Could be literally or a metaphor for the narrative 
• Audience are presented with the Hero's puzzles and problem solving.

Partial Vision - Pascal Bonitzer

• Audience only see so much as elements are hidden
• Blind spots are introduced to build suspense and leave unanswered questions for the audience
• What we don't see is just as important as what we do see
• "Unlimited prison"

Concealment and Protraction - 

• Concealment - Deliberately hiding something from the audience
• Protraction - Deliberately delaying the suspected outcome i.e A bomb explosion, a planned killing.

Question and Answer Model - Noel Caroll

• Present with questions and wait in suspense for the answer. Will the hero die? Who is the killer?
• Probability factor - A "sure thing" is less exciting than the battle against the odds.
• Moral Factor- Morally right outcome increases involvement
• Maintains audience's focus and interest.

Codes and Conventions of Thrillers:

• Low key lighting gives a dramatic effect and makes the atmosphere uneasy
• Quick cuts to add a faster pace to the thriller
• Changes in camera angles
• Shadows are used a lot in thrillers to create tension