Prada Nayar's work on the history of thrillers.

THURSDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2013

The History Of The Thriller Genre

I have decided to look further into the history of the thriller genre so my group and I could gain a more advanced comprehension on how the genre has altered through the years. The main reason why the thriller genre tends to change is due the audience becoming less scared as the story line became almost predictable to them. 

Thriller is a genre which is used in several aspects of media such as television, film and literature. Thriller is used in these to create suspense, excitement and tension. The most common use of sub genres to the thriller history are mystery and psychological thrillers. This may be because of the story lines which has been used. Thriller is very similar to the horror genre as both make use of suspense and atmosphere to encourage feelings of dread to their audience as well as intrigue. The genre of thriller developed from popular novels, the novels were then used for ideas which people reproduced into a film. A film is portrayed as a thriller when the plot gives the audience a thrill and keeps them on the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds up towards the climax. The tension is usually built up by a character being placed in a threatening situation, a mystery or a trap which seems impossible to escape. There is also use of life threatened during a thriller film, as the main character is usually unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in an extremely dangerous situation.

Example of a 1930's thriller film.

Here is example of a 1980's thriller.

An more recent example of a thriller 2013.             

After having looked at all three of these trailers it is clearly evident how the thriller genre has evolved. One major change in the thrillers is that when it goes on, it gets more dark and scary as the audiences expectations are raised. The first film which was made in 1930 would arguably not come under the thriller genre if it was made today as people would not be on find it thrilling due to fast change over time, so this arguably goes against the conventions of what a thriller needs to make an audience feel. The second one improves, as you can tell it is very stereotypical due to the violence and weaponry but still I do not think it would create sufficient suspense of tension required for a modern audience. However, the last example: Gravity, would be in the thriller section as when watching the trailer it built up tension and intrigues the audience leaving them wanting to know what is happening in more depth, along with the sound camera angles mise-en-scene etc.

From looking at Prada's work i have learnt how thrillers have evolved over time, and what has changed. Looking at this helps us to incorporate new ideas when it comes to a thriller into a film based in the 1950's.