By Amaal MahamedELEMENTS OF A THRILLER

Thriller is a genre of movies that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewers moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra- heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline rushing gritty, rousing and fast paced.

A thriller provides the sudden rush of excitement and exhilaration that drive the narrative sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls. Sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the ‘edge of their seats’. A thriller is usually a villain driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

WHAT IS A THRILLER?

To captivate an audience there are essentials that every thriller must have for it to be successful.1) A thriller must have a good story. Thrillers want to be thrilled, a common element in a thriller is that the protagonist will fall victim to someone else’s scheme and get stuck in a moment of dread. There are only three themes in all of literature these include death and rebirth and also the the request to make life better.2)Writing about the underdog. The thriller must be told from the point of view of the person with the most to lose. The protagonist gives the story character. They should be given baggage and emotional complexity.

ESSENTIALS OF A THRILLER

3) Multiple points of view can give a great range in a thriller. They allow you inside the heads of many characters, which can build

dramatic tension and irony.4) Opening must be an action scene. Introduce the hero and

villain and even some obstacles the protagonist may face.5) The protagonist wants and fears must be made clear early on.

6) characters should look miserable. Give them grief, false hope, heartaches, anxiety and near death experiences.

7) main character should change. Must be an emotional change that shows growth and victory over some of their baggage.

8) pacing must be high. Each scene should reveal something new, no matter how silent it is.

The primary elements of the thriller genre:The protagonist(s) faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's.

The force(s) of the antagonist's must be initially be clever or stronger than the protagonist.

The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down. The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.

The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist point of view. There may be a suspenseful and atmospheric soundtrack for the scenes of suspense.

All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in their representation on screen.

The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and morality of individuals. One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of

innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a

physical level, but on a mental one as well.Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous

conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.

PRIMARY ELEMENTS

Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must stop the plans of an enemy rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. Mystery thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments.

Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements in the mystery-thriller genre

Thriller movies that have been successful.Silence of the lambs

SevenLimited

The lovely bonesThe boy next door

Fatal attractionaddicted