How do thriller movies use imagery to project the genre?

To describe how thrillers use their marketing imagery to sell the genre we must first know what it is that makes the thriller category. The dictionary definition of a thriller is: 'a novel, play, or movie with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage.' So, being a thriller fanatic, the main concepts in which I may look for is: crime, espionage, or a rather intriguing plot. Now putting all of this into say a poster, is easier said than done. Trailers on the other hand seem a lot more plausible. But first let's look at the covers that will be published on buses, websites etc.

Above, are a collection of thriller covers. Although not all stereotypical we have a range from fantasy thrillers, to down and dirty thrillers. Although different movies nearly all have one thing in common (with the exception of 'The Thing' - bottom right) all of these covers use well known, rather famous characters on the front with anguished faces to promote the movie. With stars ranging from: Nicole Kidman, Nicholas Cage, Aaron Johnson and Angelina Jolie, with all these stars come a fan base. Now, these fan bases may not be used to thrillers, for Nicole Kidman is a stereotypical rom com movie queen, and therefore to then put her into a thriller, opens up a whole new relm for her fan base alone to explore. From this, they may choose to watch other thrillers as they liked Nicole in that movie, ultimately selling the thriller genre as well as increasing it's genre as a whole.

Another similarity between the covers are the colour scheme. In six of these covers we see the colour red being used on the titles. Red is stereotypically a colour associated with blood, death, horror and therefore being used for a thriller cover projects the association. Meaning the movie may contain certain horror aspects. This links in well with the definition (earlier used in the first paragraph) of thrillers having involved crime. Not only do they use the colour red, they also plaster it on a black backdrop to intensify the colour and really make the title stand out. This, as well as creating  a good image for the thriller genre is a great marketing technique as these will be posted on buildings and busses and to have such a striking title it will be one that will stick in the viewers mind.


Here we see the red writing across the black/dark backgrounds.

Most of these covers are also quite simple, with the exception of: Savages and Hunger Games being more complex. This intrigues people to want to see the thriller as they want to know more about it. Although simple, thrillers do tend to use stunning and effective images on the covers to create this surreal, strange backdrop for the title to be placed upon. A good example of stunning imagery on the cover is 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'. This movie was made in 1951 in the orignal version, and then remade again in 2008.

 In 1951 this was supposedly quite scary and a incredible thriller at that, however when remade in 2008 (due to the development of technology) we see the images a lot more surreal than before. With the use of big block capitals for the title, this is a title that won't be forgotten in a hurry. Already a well known title, this film already has some interest. However, it's the use of images that pull the audiences in. In the examples above we have alienated images, that strike the eyes. The use of colours with the black and lumionous blues and greens makes the images sharp and inviting. After the movie has been to the cinemas, we then get a dvd release and we see dvd covers use the same technique that we see in the posters. Keeping with 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' I have an example of the DVD cover:



 In the DVD cover we see the same techniques used as we did in the posters. For a first we have the same colour scheme as the others with the red writing across a black/dark background, making the writing stand out so when people skim read the back they take notice to the writing in red (supposedly the most important part). On the front cover we have familiar colours, the same used on the poster to promote the movie. This creates a familiar association to the movie, as people with reading disabilities can easily associate the colours and images to the movie. However, unlike the poster, on the DVD release we see the appearance of a famous actor (also the main character). This creates a visual recognition for people who may not have gone to see the movie at the cinemas. For they may see his face on the front cover and know that they've seen other films of his such as 'The Matrix' and want to see this movie because of it.