THRILLERSBy Esther & Ellie

• A thriller is genre found in literature, movies and television. It uses suspense in order to keep the audience wondering what is going to happen next. Thrillers of have a crime or horror theme. Thrillers normally have that element of surprise, extraordinary things happening to ordinary people.

What is a thriller

?

WHO ARE THRILLERS MARKETED TO?

• Thrillers are normally marketed at people who enjoy psychological movies, people who like to think and be apart of the movie experience. The main themes of a thriller is suspense and tension, so I would say they are more likely targeted to the age range of late teens to late twenties/ early thirties. I feel this is solely because people within this age range are most likely to have appreciation for the all the anticipation thrillers contain and the art form of how the story line was built up when all the dots of the thriller is connected.

CONVENTIONS OF A THRILLER

• Dark colour schemes and low-key lighting to connote mystery and suspense

• Themes of isolation which shows the character as vulnerable in comparison to the antagonist

• Props such as guns are used to signify terror – creates tension and suspense

• Distressed appearance• Tension• Constant twists in the plot• Protagonist vs. antagonist. The antagonist initially has control over the

situation and the power and the power shifts half way through to feature the protagonist in control

• Narrative dominated by the protagonist point of view showing the problem that the protagonist must overcome

HOW ARE THRILLERS DIFFERENT TO HORRORS?

• Thrillers are more of the art behind the madness, its mostly focused on the victims point of view, how they feel and think. All based around suspense, where as horrors are more gruesome for no reason for example someone could get there head chopped off and it would be normal for the people in the movie to see but in thrillers if that was to happen there would be more real reactions, thrillers show the more realistic side of horrid things. I personally feel as one of the main aims of a good thriller is to make the audience feel as if that situation could happen in real life.

• Horrors purposes is to make things as graphic and violence as possible with much more killings for no reason.

• However, there can be a horror thriller that does contain the suspense and action of thriller but also the gruesome gore from horrors e.g. cabin in the woods

EXAMPLES OF THRILLERS