How can a thriller be defined?
A thriller is a genre of movie that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements, the cover up of important information and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller sub genres.
Examples of thrillers:
Disturbia
Crank
Lakeview Terrace
The fast and the furious
Underworld
Seven
What are the conventions of thrillers?
The plot of a thriller generally
- builds towards a climax
- leaves people on the ‘edge of their seats’
- Uses a cliff-hanger
- Uses car chases and fight scenes
- Common methods in psychological thrillers include mind games, stalking and death-traps/confinement and crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge and kidnappings.
- False paths and resolutions.
Camera angles help give a thriller its genre, as different camera angles create different senses of body language and emotions, so this is a key convention.
Editing is also another key factor; an example of this is quick cutting.
Sound is the final key element in a thriller movie, an example of this is setting a certain theme of music throughout a movie and this influences peoples view towards the film and creates a certain mood depending on the moment.
