8. Identifying Traits Of Thriller Movies

Thrillers movies tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. They aim to heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, causing them to feel uncertainty, anticipation and a heightened expectation for fear and terror as well as excitement, suspense and tension. There are ten main subgenres for thrillers;  comedy thrillers (e.g. Mr and Mrs Smith), conspiracy thrillers (e.g. The Da Vinci Code), crime thrillers (e.g. No Country For Old Men), erotic thrillers (e.g. Chloe), legal thrillers (e.g. The Jury), political thrillers (e.g. Notorious), psychological thrillers (e.g. Panic Room), spy/espionage thrillers (e.g. Hanna), supernatural thrillers (e.g. Chronicle) and techno thrillers (e.g. I, Robot).

"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 initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• 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's point of view.
• 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 the 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. "

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)#Suspense)

From this research, I can see that we will need to choose a subgenre that will help us to determine the way we make our opening sequence. It is clear that building tension is very important but it is also important to have a sense of mystery that keeps the watcher hooked and interested.