Significant Developments in the Thriller Genre

A big development that has affected films recently is the investment towards 3D motion pictures. Aided by special glasses, the films enhance the illusion of depth perception by using a special motion picture camera that records the footage as it is seen from two perspectives. 3D films have existed in forms since 1890s but with recent dynamic developments in digital media and high definition imagery, 3D films are becoming more advanced, more realistic and more spectacular. In some respects this can be seen as a bad thing as film makers are spending less attention to detail when writing the story then when they are making it, the storyline could become less imaginative than it could be. Seeing as these are relatively new developments people will still go and watch the film even if they normally wouldn't be that interested in the genre, just to see the 3D motion. This can be shown with recently released films such as The Final Destination 3D (Final Destination 4) which earned $27.4 million in the first weekend even though it had bad reviews from movie critics who were more interested in the story than the imagery.

Another big development is the use of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) this is used for visual effects, usually because it's more controllable to create graphics on the computer such as explosions or gun fire. It can also be used to add crowds in the background, which can be shown in the film "300" where 300 men fight a whole Persian army, instead of hiring masses of people, the majority of soldiers shown were actually generated on the computer using green screen technology or chroma keying. This is where two images or frames are mixed together in which a colour is removed or made transparent to reveal another frame or picture behind it, making it seem as though it is in the same scene.

Recent developments in the quality of digital media, as with 3D footage, has meant that CGI effects have become more realistic and also more subtle, sometimes you may not even notice an effect but with out it the scene would not be the same. It has affected Sci-Fi and fantasy genres greater than Thriller films as they can portray characters, objects and actions which aren't possible in real life to perform.