Conventions of a Thriller
WHAT IS A THRILLER?
Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and
television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined
by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense,
excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. A successful example of a thriller is the film
of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Suspense is a crucial characteristic of the
thriller genre. It gives the viewer a feeling of pleasurable fascination and
excitement mixed with apprehension, anticipation and tension. These develop
from unpredictable, mysterious and rousing events during the narrative, which
make the viewer or reader think about the outcome of certain actions. Suspense
builds to make those final moments, no matter how short, the most memorable.
The suspense in a story keeps the person hooked to reading or watching more
until the climax is reached. In terms of narrative expectations, it may be
contrasted with curiosity and surprise. The objective is to deliver a story
with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending doom. Common
methods and themes in crime and action thrillers are mainly ransoms,
captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. Common in mystery thrillers are
investigations and the whodunit technique.
Common elements in dramatic and
psychological thrillers include plot twists, psychology, obsession and mind
games. Common in horror thrillers are serial killers, stalking, death-traps and
horror-of-personality. Elements such as fringe theories, false accusations and
paranoia are common in paranoid thrillers. Threats to entire countries, spies,
espionage, conspiracies, assassins and electronic surveillance are common in
spy thrillers. Characters may include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent
victims (often on the run), menaced women, psychotic individuals, spree
killers, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes,
people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women,
psycho-fiends, and more. The themes frequently include terrorism, political
conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder. Plots of
thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with
outside forces Thrillers take place mostly in ordinary suburbs and cities,
although sometimes they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such
as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or the high seas. These usually
tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains
determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world.
Often in a thriller movie, the protagonist is faced with what seem to be
insurmountable problems in his mission, carried out against a ticking clock,
the stakes are high and although resourceful, they face personal dilemmas along
the way forcing them to make sacrifices for others.
Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and
television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined
by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense,
excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. A successful example of a thriller is the film
of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Suspense is a crucial characteristic of the
thriller genre. It gives the viewer a feeling of pleasurable fascination and
excitement mixed with apprehension, anticipation and tension. These develop
from unpredictable, mysterious and rousing events during the narrative, which
make the viewer or reader think about the outcome of certain actions. Suspense
builds to make those final moments, no matter how short, the most memorable.
The suspense in a story keeps the person hooked to reading or watching more
until the climax is reached. In terms of narrative expectations, it may be
contrasted with curiosity and surprise. The objective is to deliver a story
with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending doom. Common
methods and themes in crime and action thrillers are mainly ransoms,
captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. Common in mystery thrillers are
investigations and the whodunit technique. 
Common elements in dramatic and
psychological thrillers include plot twists, psychology, obsession and mind
games. Common in horror thrillers are serial killers, stalking, death-traps and
horror-of-personality. Elements such as fringe theories, false accusations and
paranoia are common in paranoid thrillers. Threats to entire countries, spies,
espionage, conspiracies, assassins and electronic surveillance are common in
spy thrillers. Characters may include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent
victims (often on the run), menaced women, psychotic individuals, spree
killers, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes,
people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women,
psycho-fiends, and more. The themes frequently include terrorism, political
conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder. Plots of
thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with
outside forces Thrillers take place mostly in ordinary suburbs and cities,
although sometimes they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such
as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or the high seas. These usually
tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains
determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world.
Often in a thriller movie, the protagonist is faced with what seem to be
insurmountable problems in his mission, carried out against a ticking clock,
the stakes are high and although resourceful, they face personal dilemmas along
the way forcing them to make sacrifices for others. 
No comments:
Post a Comment