What makes a thriller thrilling

What makes a thriller thrilling?

Thriller films are usually made to excite and unsettle the audience. When making a thriller film the things that have to be taken into consideration the plot, narrative, location, actors, camerawork, and lighting to make an effective thriller film.

The plot of a thriller film is vital in attractive and keeping the audience entertained. A typical plot of a thriller is a stereotypical death of a vital character or a serious injury inflicted on them which will send shock into the audience. Although in most thrillers the dead or injured person sometimes makes a miraculous return with more of a darker side to them, this is seen in most thrillers and this will unsettle the audience as they see a darker side of a character they may have liked earlier on in the film. 

The narrative of thrillers is usually at the start of a thriller film which is used to set the scene and get the audience familiar with the characters within the film. Although the narrative is not carried out throughout the film but usually is used at the end to help the audience understand what has happened within the film. 

The location of thriller films are usually always in big cities to show the action engaging with people from the outside world and engages the audience as they can put themselves in the shoes of the people around the action. This would unnerve the audience as they feel that if they visit the popular city the thriller film is set in they may come under threat from this action, although it is only a film it may still create anxiety within the audience. It also helps give the film a sense of realism. 

The roles of the characters are usually played by male and females and usually the female characters are stereotypically the weaker and vulnerable characters who are used as a main point in the storyline and women are usually used to cause the tension between two male characters which are usually villains and heroes. The use of women being shown as vulnerable to the outside world would create tension amongst the audience as the female viewers would feel vulnerable themselves. 

The camerawork within a thriller is important for making a thriller film effective. A tilted shot of a character is an effective shot that is commonly used when introduced to a hero/villain to represent the power that character has and shows the dominance of that character to the audience. In thriller films, most of them use close ups throughout the film, especially when showing characters. This is to keep to the conventions of a thriller film by keeping a sense of mystery and suspense around a character and keeps there identity hidden and gives the audience to be tense over and gives them something to think about, an effective piece of work. The editing within a thriller is always quite fast paced and this is used to usually reflect the action that is going on screen. The editing can create tension amongst the audience as the fast paced editing would take place during a murder scene, for example and this would strike fear and create tension as it will show the brutality and show the audience how quickly life can be lost and the editing speed can reflect this. 

The lighting in a thriller film is also an essential part of creating an effective thriller. When thinking about a thriller film, the colour darkness and danger would come into mind. That's why the lighting, especially in an action and tense scene, the lighting will be very dim. This is to create tension and give the audience an idea of something is about to go wrong. 

Conventions of a thriller:

Typical things to see in a thriller are things such as:

·         Cars

·         Weapons

·         Rough settings

·         Tension building music

·         Fast paced editing

·         Low lighting

·         Violence

Themes linked with thrillers:

·         Terrorism

·         Political conspiracy

·         Psychological mind games

·         Supernatural events

·         Crime

·         Spies

·         Chase

·         Suspense

·         Assassination

Typical characters in a thriller movie:

·         Heroes

·         Villains

·         Convicts

·         Soldiers

·         Spies

·         Law officers

·         Stalkers

·         Criminals

·         Assassins

·         Psychotic characters

·         Prisoners

How a thriller should make the audience feel:

·         Excitement

·         Suspense

·         Anticipation

·         Nerve wracking tension

·         Anxiety

·         Uncertainty

The Dark Knight

Plot: Set within a year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to confront everything he believes and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

In the image on the left we see the poster of the batman film. The image is important in showing batman as a character as the low angled shot is important in portraying the power of batman and shows his authority. This batman film certainly fits the thriller genre as the audience are always kept occupied and at many times during this film us as the audience fear for batman which creates tension which is a typical convention of a thriller film. It also has the thriller characters as batman is the hero of Gotham and the Joker is the villain of Gotham. Also lots of violence, explosions and action are shown and portrayed through the use of weapons and cars which are all part of the thriller genre.

In Time

Plot: You stop aging at 25, but there's a catch: you're genetically-engineered to live only one more year, unless you can buy your way out of it. The rich "earn" decades at a time (remaining at age 25), becoming essentially immortal, while the rest beg, borrow or steal enough hours to make it through the day. When a man from the wrong side of the tracks is falsely accused of murder, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage. Living minute to minute, the duo's love becomes a powerful tool in their war against the system.

The image above represents a shot within the film and during this shot the characters are running out of time to live. This is typical of a thriller movie and the move ‘In Time’ is a perfect example of the thriller genre. The typical conventions of a thriller movie is too keep the audience on edge and tense and this movie does that as the audience is always on edge, wondering whether the characters can find enough time to live. The image is well shown for showing the conventions of a thriller as it shows the stereotypical rough area and the weapons to show the action and violence.