Thriller/Mystery Genre - Narrative Structure

Narrative Structure

A thriller/mystery will include a particular narrative structure designed to create enigma and suspense, creating anticipation for the audience and often placing them alongside the protagonist in terms of their hierarchy of knowledge. Thrillers include storylines whose intention is building tension, often beginning in 'media res', showing effects but withholding causes to encourage active spectatorship. 

Thrillers will incorporate scenes that move at a slow pace to build suspense, though events which happen in the opening sequence often are fast paced to create intensity and confusion. Thriller narratives almost always include some form of criminal activity, though the narratives can focus on a character's mental instability, particularly in psychological thrillers.

Often in thriller/mystery films, filmmakers begin the opening sequence by showing a scene from later in the film, or even the end, moving story events around in the plot to create confusion and make the audience want to know what has happened to get to that point. This is something I am aiming to do in my opening scene, placing my protagonist in a situation she doesn't understand or in a location which is unfamiliar to her.

Then filmmakers would go back to the beginning of the story, shown in a flashback (which is often extended for almost the entire length of the film in some cases) to show what started the process. It is here that the audience get introduced to the protagonist's character traits through exposition or backstory.

A typical narrative structure could follow the formats below, but in a thriller filmmakers will often move segments or acts around, placing them out of chronological order.