Conventions of a Thriller Movie

The thriller is a broad genre and incorporates literature, film, gaming and television. It is made up of multiple overlapping sub-genres which make the whole thriller category known to people. The way in which thriller videos work is by the use of certain features. Thriller's often use fast paced scenes with frequent amounts of action, mystery or fear depending on what sub-genre is used. In addition to this, the use of suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers often make thrillers a genre which excites people and will make the audience engage with what they view. "A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace." extract from wikipedia.

There are multiple types of sub-genre thrillers which use multiple effects to make the media interesting and engaging. In a spy thriller such as James Bond's 8th instalment "Live and Let Die". "Three British agents investigating drug smuggling are killed under mysterious circumstances. Each murder is linked to a Harlem crime boss, Mr. Big, and an international diplomat, Kananga. The British send agent James Bond to investigate. When 007 arrives in New York he is nearly killed by one of Mr. Big's hoods, but the attempt gives Bond a lead and he soon discovers a plot to flood the US mainland with a billion dollars' worth of heroin (extract from Live and Let Die IMDb)". The film often uses action, and a fast pace throughout the movie which is utilised to engage the audience. In addition it uses a simple narrative of a hero vs. rival which means for an easy understanding storyline.

Another sub-genre of thrillers is a medical thriller. They are designed to use effects such as suspense and possible cliff hangers. 2011 movie Contagion is a good example. "Healthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people find themselves in the midst of a worldwide epidemic as the CDC works to find a cure (extract from Contagion IMDb)". This thriller uses such concepts of suspense as the epidemic becomes larger but also includes a mystery as to how this epidemic began, the use of mystery in thrillers is used frequently as it is designed to draw the viewer in and a use of such mystery codes will make the viewer watch as they are intrigued as to how this all began.

Thrillers are on a much grander scale and because of this it makes large companies able to create complex or fast pace concepts in which will engage viewers. This also means that they are able to make thriller conventions effective by the use of lighting and camera movement. In most thrillers pan and tracking shots are often used towards the beginning of films which is used to set the scene and to engage the viewer as to what is happening and add mystery if there is any (with guidance from thriller slideshare).

The mise-en-scene of thriller films are fairly similar. Most of them will use modern age equipment such as cars and weaponry to make the fast paced action a common effect and to make this work some thrillers are set up in areas where weapons are likely to happen. But in addition the location is specific to the narrative of the thriller. The mise-en-scene will be set to where the story is such as a 1920's detective movie would perhaps be filmed in New York with the use of Tommy Guns and Revolvers. Whereas a sci-fi thriller could be set in a future metropolis such as Neo-Seoul in the film Cloud Atlas.

The research I did during this task will be used to help me and my group decide what sub-genre of thriller we will choose when we begin planning our main thriller task.