Our group have chosen to do a thriller for our chosen film genre. We decided upon thrillers because we established that we had all had experience of watching thriller films and so we already had an idea of what they involved. Examples of thrillers that i have watched are; Snakes on a plane which is a crime/psychological thriller, Casino Royale; an action thriller, Hotel Rwanda and Jaws; to name but a few. I have done some extra research however, to find out exactly what is meant by the term thriller. I have found out that the term thriller means a general genre of literature, film and television that consists of several, often over-lapping sub-genres. These sub-genres are;
- action thriller
- conspiracy thriller
- crime thriller
- disaster thriller
- drama thriller
- erotic thriller
- legal thriller
- medical thriller
- political thriller
- psychological thriller
- spy thriller
- techno-thriller
- religious thriller
These can also overlap into other genres and are mainly used in combinations of the above, using horror, conspiracy and psychological tricks to further the immense tension required. Tension and suspense is also enhanced by the use of red-herrings and cliff-hangers. A successful thriller must incorporate significant mysteries to build the suspense, making it highly compelling for the viewer and to get them thinking from the actions seen to possible resolutions.
Common characteristics associated with thrillers are; fast pace, frequent action, and inventive heroes who must stop the plans of the more powerful, better-equipped villains. These are typically associated with crime thrillers which our group is leaning towards choosing for our specific film genre. Within a thriller, there is also commonly a romantic storyline within it where the heroine ends up with the good-guy hero who gets away without a scratch. I noticed these typical thriller conventions were apparent in the above thrillers i mentioned.
After researching these different types of thrillers, myself, Lucy Cluley and Saskia halford, who i am in a group with have made the decision to create a crime thriller. We chose our group by the people we felt we could work best with.
