What conventions do we expect in thriller sub genres?

What conventions do we expect in thriller sub genres?

Techno thriller

·         Sci-fi

·         Futuristic society

·         Element of thriller but also featuring science fiction

·         Example – District 9

This is usually set in a futuristic setting like can be seen in a District 9 and the reason why this is a futuristic setting is due to the fact that there are things such as spaceships which are included in the film which give it that sense of futuristic that is found in techno thrillers.

Action thriller

·         Violence

·         A quest

·         Chase/action sequences

·         Stunts

·         Example – The Bourne Ultimatum

This is where there is a quest when for example in Bourne Ultimatum Jason Bourne is still trying to uncover his dark past mean whilst there being the other conventions of an action thriller throughout as there are chases and fight scenes with the people who are trying to kill Bourne.

Conspiracy thriller

·         Investigation of something that stands in doubt

·         An investigator (historical investigator or someone in the present)

·         Example – Inception

This is where an investigation is taking place regarding something which has become apparent to the people acting within the film this usually something that stands in doubt to the characters within the film, in Inception the thing that stand in doubt is about how exactly Dom Cobb does what he does and whether he can achieve his task in planting an idea into someone's mind. Conspiracy thrillers can also include having a historic investigator which causes the film to have a sense of history to it.

Crime thriller

·         Crime or murder that has occurred

·         Pursuit of the criminal

·         Come upon multiple obstacles on the way

·         Example – Now you see me

This is a very common thriller that is found amongst all the sub genres of thrillers and what this thriller entails is usually a crime or murder and there is always someone who is in pursuit of these criminals who have committed whatever crime. Whilst the people who are in pursuit of the criminals are trying to catch them they always come upon obstacles which slow them down when trying to catch the criminals. In Now you see me the criminals are magicians and the people who are trying to catch them are part of the FBI which is another common part of thrillers having people with some form of status such as police or FBI. The people within the FBI working to try and catch these magicians come upon obstacles and diversions which slow them down in the time it takes to catch the magicians and these obstacles are all to do with magic tricks which are a nice link. Finally the criminals are caught at the end which is always seen in the end of the thriller.

Disaster thriller

·         A natural disaster which has occurred

·         Causes the film to focus on thing such as people relationships

·         Example - The day after tomorrow

This thriller entails a natural disaster occurring such as an earthquake or tsunami which causes huge problems within a large city for example which affects many people. The film then usually hones in a a small group of people or a relationship for example and goes through the motions of the natural disaster breaking up a relationship for example due to the disaster or the group of people working together to try and fix what's gone wrong. In the day after tomorrow there is a huge shift in weather and the world is entering a new ice age. Whilst this is happening a palaeontologist has to try and save his son and friends who have been stuck in New York and are surviving through the extreme conditions.  

Eco-thriller

·         Things such as disasters occur which can be linked with the earth

·         Example – Flight

This is where a disaster occurs and it is usually the earths doing say for example extreme whether. There is then someone who saves people for example from this disaster and then the film goes into the life of the this person and also looks into how they did what they did. In Flight Whip (the pilot of the plane) who is a pilot begins his flight and experiences turbulence at the start of his flight not long after this occurs the plane suddenly experiences mechanical issues and he forced to crash the plane in doing so he saves almost all the passengers on board. The film then gone through looking into his life and finding out he was intoxicated when this happened and looked to how he actually crashed the plane kea whilst saving so many lives.

Forensic thriller

·         To do forensics such as forensic investigators.

·         Murders being investigated.

·         Example – CSI

This type of sub genre involves people who are in forensics and the police department. The events which occur over this time are things such as murders for example and the forensic investigators and people investigating the crime are seen to be trying to work out who the killer is and then eventually catching the killer. An example of this is CSI which is in fact a TV series but a very good example of a forensic thriller as investigators who are part of the FBI investigate the crime and people witching their forensic department help to target the killer.

Medical thriller

·         Setting such as a hospital

·         Could link in with a natural disaster where a lot of people become injured and end up being within hospital.

·         Example - World war Z

This sub genre of thriller usually includes having a setting of a hospital. The reason for this is because here is usually a natural disaster which causes many people to be injured and cause them to have to be in the hospital being treated. In World War Z a mysterious infection causes many people to turn to zombies and lane who is one of the people who survived is then urged to go and investigate what's happened.

Mystery thriller

·         When a mystery is trying to be solved

·         An antagonist and protagonist are working against each other to try and solve a mystery

·         Example - The Da Vinci Code

This sub genre of thriller involves a mystery being solved such as a murder by an investigator. There is both an antagonist and a protagonist, the antagonist working against the protagonist when trying to solve the mystery. In the Da Vinci Code Robert Langdon is trying to solve a mysterious murder where clues can be found within Da Vinci’s Paintings. Along the way allies such as Silas cross paths with Robert Langdon to try and stop him solve the murder.

Political thriller

·         A thriller that picks up political elements say a political campaign for example.

·         Made against a political struggle.

·         Political corruption and warfare are main themes.

·         Example – John F Kennedy

A political thriller is a thriller that contains political elements within it this could be a political campaign ahead of an election for example. There is political struggle within the film showing the political figure to struggle through their campaign for example. There are two main themes within these films and these are political corruption which could be shown in films that are made looking at an African political figure. Another main theme is political warfare and this could be shown in films which relate to world wars. When John F Kennedy was killed New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison ad many doubts about the story which the FBI bought to the table. He then took it upon himself to investigate the killing of John F Kennedy and found some conspiracies which were never thought to be found.

Religious thriller

·         Cover religious beliefs

·         Religious objects

·         Institutions

·         Religious question

·         Example – End of Days

A religious thriller is one that covers religious beliefs. It can also include religious objects which are connected to different religious institutions for example. Things which can be included in the film are religious questions of the characters of example which are answered throughout the film. Am example of a religious thriller is End of Days. In this film Satan goes to New York and inhabits a mans body  to try and find a bride for himself but the cop Jericho Cane who is a turned atheist is the man who needs to find the woman satan is targeting and stop him getting to her.

Psychological thriller

·         Something exploring the conscious and subconscious

·         Confronting people’s fears and psych

·         Example – Se7en

A psychological thriller is a thriller that explores the psych and can look at both the conscious and subconscious. These films are in place to do things such as confront people's fears and not only this by psych which can make some of these films scary for the viewer. In Se7en there are two detectives who are in search of a serial killer. These murders are terrible and also shown graphically which could be seen as the part of confronting people's fears.

Romantic thriller

·         A romance which comes to a success

·         Example - Mr and Mrs Smith

Romantic thrillers usually include some sort of action to provide parts of the film to keep the viewers attention. A romance is squally in the balance but nothing is properly formed but by the end of the film the romance comes to a success. In Mr and Mrs Smith a married couple are both assassins whom neither partner is aware of until they find out they are assigned to kill each other as they work for different agencies. Along the way they learn a lot about each other and more than they have over the number of years they've been together.

Spy thriller

·         Mystery

·         Stunts and action scenes

·         Good working against evil

·         Example - James Bond

In a spy thriller there is a large sense of mystery regarding characters or a certain subject in the film. Despite all the mystery there are a lot of stunts and action scenes containing violence. There are usually two sides to this film and this is good vs evil who work against each other. In James Bond Skyfall James Bond is on a mission to keep a computer drive from being used against MI6 as it contains all the names of the agents in the organisation. He loses the computer drive when he is accidentally shot by his accomplice and is thought to be dead but is instead laying low. M the head of secret intelligence service is in the bad books of the government and is asked to leave MI6 but refuses. When she returns to her office there is an explosion which kills her. James Bond hears the news and looks to find who was behind all of this and it is both the person who has the hard drive and who killed M.

Supernatural thriller

·         A disturbing thriller

·         Example - Predator

This sub genre is usually seen to be disturbing for the viewer and this therefore can make the film full of tension and also scary for the viewer. This could therefore put it into a category which could make it a type of horror film. In Predator a team of special force operatives are sent on a mission to find potential survivors but little do they know there is a lot more in the jungle than they think. The predator picks off one by one of the operatives but is never seen until the leader of the team Dutch is the only one left.