Conclusion of Genre

Conclusion of Genre

The main elements that consist on making a successful thriller are suspense, tension and excitement. The sub-genres of a thriller are mystery, crime, psychological, and horrors. Thrillers are mainly characterised of violence, crime and murder which shows that the society is dark and corrupt. Thrillers are based with plot twists, mysterious scenes and cliff hangers. They promote moods with adrenaline rushes, anticipation, expectation and terror. This adds more of a thrill to the audience. In common psychological thrillers it mainly consists on mind games, death traps, stalking, horror and obsession. Also, there is always someone who is generalised as a villain. The characters in thrillers are mainly criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims, menaced woman, characters with a dark past, psychotic individualists, terrorists or cops.

The conventions of a thriller generally associates with lighting, sound and editing. There are quick cuts and camera angle change as the music builds up on tension and suspense. This grabs the audience’s attention as it shows the main sub-genre of a movie from the way the camera is positioned and the pace of the music. The audience are more likely to be interested in a movie with different types of shot which makes it a lot more exciting, than just keeping to a single shot. The pace of music has a big effect, as it created a certain atmosphere for a certain sub genre. E.g. if it were a horror thriller, there could be slow, low pitched incidental music to create tension. 


The lighting also can be used in two different ways; it can either be naturally occurred, or artificial. Natural lighting can be used in horrors, as they might just use the light from the streetlight, sun, or moon. This makes the scene look a lot gloomier and the audience will know straight away that it is a horror. However, an artificial lighting can be used, by changing the colour. E.g. if they are showing a flash back in a scene, they can use artificial lighting by changing it to black and white. This helps the audience know that it is a flashback, and grabs their attention even more, as it helps them focus more to understand the plot. However, the forms of a thriller show that it is constructed, and tells the audience how the story is told, from a person’s point of view narrative. 


There are many combinations of a storyline which ultimately make up a thriller. Some forms of a thriller are flashbacks, which encounter the pervious lifestyle of a character, which tell the main parts of the story, and so the audience understand the storyline clearly. The flashbacks are either used at the start or run throughout the film. This provides interest, as it first can start off by being very confusing and mysterious, until a flashback is shown and it helps explain and concludes the storyline.

The forms and conventions relate to the Similar Textual Analysis we did on an opening scene of a film. Fast and Furious, is a thriller with the sub genre of action. However, Paranormal Activity and The Ring are horror. In both these films, there are good uses of conventions when using certain camera angles and sound. In Fast and Furious, there is a whipping shot when it reveals the rest of the setting with incidental music playing in the background. This grabs the audience’s attention as it has a lot of adrenaline and impulse which makes it interesting for the audience. Ambient sound is used in Paranormal Activity and The Ring, which are emphasised and non-diegetic.
This gives more exaggeration and keeps the audience on edge of the seat. In The Ring, the storyline is mainly told by two girls having a conversation about their own experience. From this, the audience know what to expect yet, the tension builds up and becomes a lot more thrilling.