Reseach Into Existing Products: Thrillers

A thriller is a genre of film which features a fast paced story line and lots of action, the majority of thrillers follow a lead character or "hero" through his journeys for example Jason Bourne in the Bourne Supremacy. the heroes are often hard men who can handle danger and are trained in how to use weapons, they can be characters like spies or law enforcement. typically we follow the main character attempting to stop villainess plans but can also cross into the genre murder mystery and see the hero solving crimes like mass murder, terrorism or more commonly assassination. The plot elements used are usually include confrontational fights between the hero and villain and climaxes at the point when one is defeated. Directors often use literal devices like red herring, suspense and cliffhangers to keep the viewer guessing and wanting to watch on to discover the outcome of the plot.

Early thrillers were inspired by "film noir", a form of crime drama unknown to the American film industry before Nino Frank introduced it to Hollywood some time in 1946. They include a  range of plots with the central figure of the film being a private eye or a plain clothed policeman. Film Noir has inspired many films through the years and recent examples are The Man Who Wasnt There, Sin City and the hit tv series Veronica Mars.

Sub Genres

Action Thriller

an action thriller is the more common form of thriller, it has elements of crime and mystery and includes alot of explosions, guns and fight scenes. Popular action films are The series of Bourne films, James Bond and the Transporter. the Bourne film features elements of a spy film and follows Jason Bourne, a amnesiac former spy attempting to discover his true identity.

Crime Thriller

The crime thriller is almost backward to an action, rather than following "the good guy" we follow the criminals which are usually gangs. the plot usually includes shootouts, robberies, murders and chases. A prime example is The Godfather which was made from a 1969 novel of the same name. It has been voted the second greatest film in American cinematic history behind Citizen Kane and was followed by two sequals. 

Typically thrillers will be set in exotic places such as deserts, foreign cities or polar regions, and will always have a non-diagetic up tempo beat playing in the action scenes to heighten the drama, the films usually begin with the main characters living their day to day life before a twist in the plot sees this character take on some sort of terrorist plot. Directors will usually use up tempo editing during the film as the majority of it will involve action, each clip would last no more than a few seconds before transitioning to the next, Alot of scenes would use medium or long shots to allow the viewer to see the action take place and also get an idea of the surrounding area, thrillers often use stunning visual affects and locations to wow the audience.