Sub-genres of Thriller Films

Some Thriller directors and writers make the decision to combine conventions of a Thriller film with ideas from other genres. This can change the target audience of a film.

HORROR This is a very specific genre that people often confuse with Thriller. This is because film makers often combine conventions of Thriller and Horror films in order to add interest and heighten the intensity of a movie. Typical conventions of a Horror include blood and gore, with the intention to shock the audience. Films like 'Hostel' and 'Saw' combine conventions from these genres.

ACTION An Action-Thriller usually has some sort of challenge or race against the clock element to it. Typical motifs are lots of violence, chase scenes and often an obvious antagonist (this could be an individual or a group of some kind). Action-Thrillers sometimes use new technologies to enhance what is happening on screen, eg. green screen, big-budget stunts, exotic locations etc. A great example of a Thrilling Action movie is the James Bond films.

CRIME Using elements of Crime often influences the plot of a Thriller, in that it becomes less psychological and more about the logic behind the crime that has taken place. Examples of common themes of Crime-Thrillers include murder, kidnapping, drug dealing, gang warfare. For example, 'Se7en' and 'Reservoir Dogs' are sometimes classed as Crime-Thrillers.

EROTIC Combining Erotica and Thriller conventions became particularly popular in the 80's, with films like 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Fatal Attraction'. These films may include themes of lust, infatuation and obsessive love, leading to a thrilling plot. Some say that combining such genres is so powerful because Erotica is intended to raise the heartrate and prevoke an emotional reaction, as is the aim of a Thriller.

MEDICAL A Medical-Thriller may involve characters whom are in the profession (eg. doctors, nurses, surgeons). This would naturally lend to setting a film in a hospital of some kind. Typical plots of Medi-Thrillers include solving a medical problem, medical experiments gone wrong and life-or-death situations. Some Medical films are based on elements of true stories, like 'The Hot Zone'. Others may only take some conventions of a Medical film (like in 'The Dark Knight' where a hospital is used as part of the setting).

PSYCHOLOGICAL I personally find Psychological-Thriller films the most Thrilling, because they often plant things into the audience's minds that will generate a reaction and (if it's a good film) leave you thinking about it for days. Psychological films are usually based on the mental and emotional conflict between characters, as opposed to physical combat. Sometimes there will be a character who has a psychological problem which leads to their strange behaviour. 'Hostage' takes some conventions of a Psychological-Thriller, adding extra suspense and originality.

RELIGIOUS Typically, the themes, storylines and characters are, in some way, founded in religion with a Religious-Thriller. This could include historical, religious conflict, the beginning of a new religion and often elements of corruption. This offers the opportunity for grand settings, much like the set of 'Angels and Demons', based on the Dan Brown book.

'No Escape'

No Escape from BDC on Vimeo.

Target Audiences for Thrillers

Our thriller opening is a psychological thriller, this type of movie would attract a certain type of audience. From researching other psychological thrillers such as:

Seven
This thriller portrays the exploits of a deranged serial-killer. His twisted agenda involves choosing seven victims who represent egregious examples of transgressions of each of the Seven Deadly Sins. He then views himself as akin to the Sword of God, handing out horrific punishment to these sinners. Two cops, an experienced veteran of the streets who is about to retire and the ambitious young homicide detective hired to replace him, team up to capture the perpetrator of these gruesome killings. Unfortunately, they too become ensnared in his diabolical plan.

Memento
Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line movies forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

Silence of the lambs
Clarice Starling, a young intelligent FBI trainee, has been sent to the Batlimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview an inmate Dr. Hannibal – the cannibal – Lecter. A brilliant and renowned psychiatrist turned serial killer. She must match wits with Lecter to gain clues in the search for “Buffalo Bill” – an unknown psychopathic serial killer.
All of these following three films have certificates of fifteen to eighteen. Seeing as our thriller movie has content of a young girl being stalked by a older man, and content which is not suitable for young children, I would say our certificate would be round about the same as the other movies fifteen to eighteen. I would see adults watching this type of movie as it has mature themes and will be testing the audience's intelligence with the plot and they will have to have a open mind watching the movie.

[written by Joe]

Location information

This is the image of the doorway to our location. This is a very important part of our thriller opening as this is the place where we first see our stalker, we needed to know what this part of the location looked like for camera set-up reasons.
Doorway width: 2ft 6. Doorway Height: 6ft 4.

This is the hall way space where both characters in the opening interact
width: 4ft 9.

Lenght: 10ft 6.

This is shot of our locations kitchen. This is important as it is where we first start to establish the character of the stalker. The lighting is really good in this as it is really bright, and also has outer lighting when in pitch black from the garden.
Lenght: 15ft 6.
Width: 4ft 4.

This is the staircase, This will be shown twice in our film for entrances and exits.
Width: 2ft 4.

This is the bedroom of thriller opening, this is where we will film the majority of our opening, where both characters will intertwine. However there is bad lighting in this room so some shots may have to be compramised because of lighting.
Width: 9ft 6.
Lenght: 10ft 4.

This is the bathroom of our location will show the young girl getting ready for her night out and will also have the last shot of the opening. This room is very bright so will be easy for close ups and other shots on the young girl.
Width: 6ft 7.
Lenght: 7ft 2.

[By Joseph Cocklin]

Production Schedule

Filming: We will be filming on Wednesday the 2nd of December from 6-10 pm, and on Sunday 6th December from 5 - 11. We've chosen to film then because we need it to be dark and the people acting in our opening are only available on those days.
Actors: We will be using Joe's sister Lauren for the girl in our piece, and our friend Ollie to play the stalker.
Transport: We will be going from Selhurst station to East Croydon, to London Bridge, then to Welling.
Location: 44 Kenmere Road (Joe's House)
Phone Numbers: Holly - 07751822111
Joe - 07859103083
Laura - 07847552897

[written by Laura]

Character Profiles

The Stalker: We wanted the stalker to be really creepy. Someone which would raise the hairs on the back of your neck. We also didn't want him to be stereotypically creepy though, we decided that he'd have a job, dress well and always be neat. But perhaps, a little too neat. We knew straight away that we wanted him to be very OCD. This would become obvious within our thriller opening as you see him straighten and clean things. We wanted him to always be calm and collected. When you hear the girl re-enter her home, his face stays the same. He doesn't panic, or rush, or run. He always has a plan in his head and can think extremely quickly. This would add to the creepy feeling that he was always one step ahead of you. We wanted him to be tall and in his thirties.
The Girl: We wanted her to be/look about twenty. We imagined her to be pretty, slim and completely normal. This is so that the beginning of our opening with just her would put the audience at ease, and create more tension when we introduced the stalker. We wanted her to be quite the opposite of him; messy, bubbly and cheerful. We definitely wanted her to seem sweet and nice so that the audience would like her character, and therefore feel threatened and worried for her safety when she came back into the house and nearly found the stalker.

[written by Laura]