Genre Research- Thriller
Why do people watch thrillers?
People watch thrillers most importantly to be entertained and thrilled - this relates to escapism, and emotional release because you get so into the film that you forget about your own problems in life and escape into it, feeling the emotions expressed within the story. Thrillers are not particularly relaxing films as they create a lot of suspense so people wouldn't watch in order to relax. Like all films, thrillers are sometimes watched to fill time.
People may watch a thriller film to gain an insight into others' circumstances and identify with others. Maybe someone they know is in a similar situation. Also social interaction and a basis for conversation. For example films are involved in social gatherings like trips to the cinema and film nights - this then creates a conversation.
A thriller film in particular can generate conversation because thrillers are not only action-packed but take a lot of thought to work out. The psychological aspect of a thriller film aids conversation because people like to boast about working out the ending before their friends.
Another reason why people watch thrillers is to find models of behaviour. This is because there is usually a clear difference between good and evil in this genre which could influence people to act heroically by identifying with that certain character. In addition, a person may be able to gain insight into themselves by seeing similarities between a character and themselves.
Lastly, people may want to watch a thriller for information purposes. There generally isn't a great deal a person can learn from a thriller but occasionally historical or social events are explored. Society around the world can be explored as thrillers can involve a lot of traveling, therefore seeing different parts of the world's differences.
Key: menace, crime (often murder), high level of tension and suspense.
Narrative: (story & plot) how it's told, complex paths, clues, resolutions, enigma, happy endings, extraordinary events. The story is what the audience works out from watching it. The plot comes from the key events and what we actually see.
The Protagonist: (the hero) usually disempowered, becomes drawn into the 'web of intrigue' by...
The Antagonist: (the antihero/villain) they usually put the protagonist in peril.
The Da Vinci Code:
As we can see from this trailer the plot of the film has lots of twists and a complex path to it. Also we can see a man running in fear, one of the conventions of a conspiracy thriller is that there is suspense and tension on the films. Here is a prime example of tension and suspense as we can see the man running in fear and what don’t know what’s going to happen with him.
The November Man:
In this film an ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials. This is a prime convention of a conspiracy thriller as the plot involves a very big twist and unusual storyline in that he is going against an agent he trained up.