Introduction to Thrillers.

Thriller is a very famous genre of Film, Television and Literature. This type of genre has an exciting plot, which tries to keep it's audiences on the edge of their seat throughout the film. It uses three main elements; Suspense, Tension and Excitement. People enjoy thrillers for in most of them, the audience is put through tense anticipation throughout the whole movie, wondering what is going to happen next, and they keep their audiences attention, for they are known for their fast-pacing, exciting action and complex plots.
There are different types of Thriller films as well, such as spy films, political films and action films.
An example of a spy thriller film is James Bond. This is fast pacing, builds suspense and tension and always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

There are many methods involved in a good Thriller, such as Plot twists, Red Herrings and Cliffhangers.
A plot twist is a change in the outcome of the plot of a film, for example, in the start of James Bond:Skyfall [SPOILER for those who haven't watched it yet] Bond and his enemy are fighting on the top of a train, Bond's team try to shoot at the enemy fighting Bond, and the audience automatically know that it is going to hit the enemy, but plot twist, it hits James Bond, and he falls to his expected untimely death into the water. Yet he still doesn't die. James Bond is one of the most famous Thrillers known to man, and the audience enjoys it so much for its use of techniques that makes a good thriller.


A Red Herring is another great characteristic of a thriller. A Red Herring is a type of diversion used to distract the audience from the original plan of the movie. In North By Northwest for example, [SPOILER for those who have not watched it] Eve, the main female character, is shown to be working with the bad guys, the villains. She gains the heart of the main character, Roger Thornhill, and tells the villains where they can find him, and sets him up for death. Yet, we later on find out that she is actually an agent working against the villains, trying to set them up to the police. That is an example of a good Red Herring.

A Cliffhanger is a very good technique to grab the audiences attention and make them want more. A cliffhanger is a device used to show the character is in a difficult dilemma, or presented with a shocking announcement. Although many people think a cliffhanger belongs at the end of a movie, sometimes it is used in the beginning of a film, or in the middle of a film. If a cliffhanger was put in the beginning of a film, it would catch the audiences attention, and make the audience think "Well, how did he get into this mess?" and then they would continue watching to find out the story of how the cliffhanger was created, therefore creating a great Thriller. A great example of a cliffhanger in a Thriller is a movie called "Inception." It ends with the main character, Dom Cobb, spinning a totem. This made everyone in the audience sit on the edges of their seats in anticipation, waiting for the epic moment of finding out whether Dom is still in dream world, or if it topples over, then he is back to reality. The totem wavers as though it is about to fall, which some of the audience believed that it would be proof that he isn't dreaming. Just as we are about to find out the moment of truth, the screen goes black, and it ends. So the cliffhanger being "was it dreamworld or did he get back to reality?"