Thriller genre analysis

The thriller genre is a very wide category that includes aspects from all angles. the conventions of a thriller include:

• suspense
• cliff-hangers
• villain driven plots
• twists
• scored soundtracks to influence an audience

Crime Thrillers often focus on the criminals and their leading up to a crime, then solving the mystery or tracking down the criminal. the sub-genre consists of fast paced scenes and fiction based plots, they emphasize on the action over psychological elements. the themes include serial killers, murderers, robberies, chases, and heists.

Mystery Thrillers relate to crime thrillers as the plot is crimes that must be prevented, these include: assassinations, terrorism, serial or mass murderers. it typically focuses on an investigator or a detective trying to undercover the crime. This sub-genre allows the audience to find out information and try and undercover the mystery for themselves.this causes a more dramatic effect and suspense to follow the conventions of the thriller.

Psychological Thrillers a heavily focused on the mental levels of characters, and how danger is exposed to them mentally rather than a physically. this genre includes elements of mystery, drama and often horror. this genre usually consists of two or more characters preying up one another by playing devilish games or physically trying to destroy each others mental state. the plot tends to play with the audiences minds to make them think something when rather its the other, which causes suspense within the audience.

Science fiction Thrillers consist of manipulation to sophisticated technology. it includes elements of action and science fiction, creating a more realistic approach as typically the plots revolve around technology. the themes of this genre include futuristic technology and high tech weapons.

Supernatural Thrillers consist of elements that are mixed with suspense, tension and twists. the typical plot involves one of the characters having supernatural powers that lead them to the source of the problem. the powers are usually caused by demons, devils or ghosts which slightly links to the religious thriller. 

Thrillers have 'restricted narration'. It offers minimal information regarding the narration to create a suspense effect. The narrative structure is complex with false paths, clues and resolutions which creates apprehension for the audience. Narrative often includes riddles and problems that are there to be questioned whilst being solved. The narrative will build towards a dramatic climax. Narrative will often show the evil in society, that no one else seems to notice or see.

Mise-en-scene:
The settings of thrillers are normally presented in normal everyday places. This is to create the feeling of not knowing what's going to happen, which creates suspense for the audience. The props are very important in a thriller as they can reveal a lot about the characters. They create a sense of danger to the audience and also creates a tense and uneasy feel to it. The costumes and makeup make the characters seem more realistic and fully identified. Makeup is used a lot in thrillers as it helps to highlight and create their disguises. Lighting is such an important factor in thrillers as it can immediately display to the audience what kind of genre it's going to be. Colour is also key as they can show the wide range of different emotions to the audience. Sound within a thriller is sectioned into two different categories, diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sound is the sound that within a frame, for example a character talking or screaming because they are scared. Non-diegetic is a sound that has been added in post production, for example theme music or voice overs. It plays a huge part as you would need to create suspense for something such as a gun shot or a door slamming. You can also tell what kind of atmosphere the scene is going to be by how loud/quiet the volume is, and the pace of the sound- whether it is fast or slow.