TV Thriller History and Research

The Popularity of TV Thrillers

Audiences love the thriller genre as it gives us an adrenaline rush through shocking revelations, plot twists, and the exploration of characters’ twisted thoughts. The main target audience for thrillers is 15–50-year-olds as the genre can appeal to a wide range of ages. Typically, thrillers appeal more to males due to a focus on action, however, the inclusion of romance in thrillers can make them more appealing to a female audience. Statistically, 60% of thriller/suspense media enjoyers are females over the age of 35, with 57% being males over 35. When making a thriller, the market is divided by type – crime thrillers, action thrillers, mystery thrillers, and supernatural thrillers. This allows you to have a better knowledge of audience preferences and genre-specific narrative strategies to make your thriller successful.

The History of TV Thrillers

Despite roots of the genre being traced back hundreds of years, thrillers began to develop as a distinct style in the 1800s and 1900s through novels. Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock were essential for further development into the genre during the mid-20th century. Now, thriller is a mainstream genre, being included in TV shows, movies, and novels. The first thriller movie ever made was Safety Last (1963), directed by Fred c. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. After this, each thriller film made after this required the same elements to be classified as a thriller. The first sound thriller, Blackmail, was made in 1929 by Alfred Hitchcock which was based on the 1928 play with the same name. An early Thriller TV Show was Thriller (1960-1962) which focussed on crime and mystery tales. One of the most well-known Thriller TV Shows is Twin Peaks (1990), created by David Lynch and spanning 3 seasons. The show told the story of an FBI agent investigating the murder of a 17-year-old girl. In the 21st Century, popular TV Thrillers include Dexter, Breaking Bad, Black Mirror, and Stranger Things.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thriller TV Show Analysis #3

Image
  The main image of the poster is a female character, presumably 16-20 laying in a lake. Her reflection is of a different character, and she is surrounded by forests that we can see behind her. The sky is dark and cloudy. This main image is important as it is the audience’s first impression of the show, meaning the designers must promote the atmosphere and characters to the audience.  The title of the thriller is important in hinting to the audience what will occur in the show. For this TV show, the 4 title ‘Cruel Summer’ makes it clear that the season/weather will be summer and that something or multiple things go wrong for characters throughout their summer. Furthermore, the placement of the title is effective as it's below the characters’ faces, at the middle bottom of the poster. The design is also interesting as the word 'summer’ blends into the water.  The setting of the poster is important as we can see a forest and a lake. This desolate location suggests that the ...
Read more