Thriller Conventions
A thriller should be fast-paced and exhilarating. There should be frequent action and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of a more powerful and better equipped villain(s).
All the following devices should be used extensively they are:
- Suspense
- Red Herrings
- Cliffhangers
A thriller is a villain driven plot. The villain presents obstacles and barriers that the hero must overcome. The genre is flexible and can engage the audience through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions.
Alfred Hitchcock, a famous director, stated that thrillers allow the audience, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like".
In other words audience members like to experience a sense of thrill, and fear.
Foreboding builds up tension and a sense that something bad will happen, this can be used in a thriller.
A Thriller should have the following to the central plot:
- Justice vs Injustice
- Blurred line of good and bad
- Enigmas
- Red-herrings
- Plot twists
- Cliff hangers
- Foreboading
A Thriller can be divided into sub genres such as:
- Mystery
- Crime
- Spy
- Political
- Psychological
Some Thrillers can create different moods such as:
- Murder
- Menace
- Mystery
- Paranoia
It is typical for a thriller to have characters on a dangerous mission, who escape when it seems impossible, North by Northwest is a good example of this.
Thrillers should include:
- The audience being on the 'edge-of-your-seat'
- Tension
- Climax
- Suspense
- Chases
- Pursuits
- Deadlines
To make a good thriller your villains must be complexed characters and troubled. And society must be seen as dark and corrupt.
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