Spy Thriller Character Types

Common character types:

Men vs Women: 

Men are usually portrayed as independent, strong, muscular, brave and smart. Often the protagonist or antagonist. They are also usually young and white. While women are represented as more emotional, weaker, and pretty. They are often shown being saved by the male protagonist/captured by the male antagonist. For my film opening I want to go against this stereotype because I don't exactly like it, it feels it is more for the male gaze. That is why I am going to look into more of a femme fatale character type that can also be seen in this genre.  

The main character/protagonist for this genre is usually very smart, observant, can be cold, morally complex, and are very skilled in combat. A great example of a spy thriller protagonist is James Bond. The protagonist can often be seen wearing tailored suits, all black outfits for missions, practical clothing, and they wear lots of props as well. The often have accessories like watches, earpieces, and weapons. 

James Bond is the protagonist of his franchise and he portrays the typical spy very well. He is usually seen in his suits, is quite serious, and carries around the weapons for his mission. 

The double agent look like any other character, the thing that truly stands out about them is personality, theres is usually very charismatic, secretive, manipulative, and driven by revenge. But their costume can sometimes reflect how they are hiding their true identity so they where neutral professional clothing that lets them blend in. 

The main antagonist can be very smart, usually one step ahead of the protagonist, dangerous looking, and usually motivated by something like power or revenge. They are often seen in costumes of suits, luxury brands, very put together look, sometimes they use specific colors like dark coats to symbolize their personality. 

Le Chiffre is the antagonist from Casino Royale and he is wearing dark colors, a nice suit, clean hair cut. He overall looks very put together but also gives off a dangerous vibe, especially with the makeup done on his right eye. 

The hacker (tech savvy) character is a little often socially awkward, very analytical, loyal to the protagonist, and is usually not in fight scenes, they support from wherever the base is. Often use lots of props like glasses, headsets, laptops, and more tech things.

Q from James bond is the computer expert in the film and you can see that he is a little bit scrawny, wearing glasses, and carrying around equipment. His look shows the typical techy character in this genre.  

The femme fatale in this genre are often see and seductive, dangerous, very skilled in combat, and usually more rare. The female leads in spy movies are becoming a lot more common now but were not see a lot before. Their costumes usually are made to show strong silhouettes. 

Evelyn Salt is the female lead, you can see that she's wearing dark clothes somewhat cinched at the waist making it more feminine and she is also carrying her weapon making her look more dangerous. She goes against the common stereotype. Her makeup is bold with heavy eyeliner and her cheekbones being very accentuated. 

Reflection: In this genre it is very common to see characters who are very smart and most of them are great at combat. They are I also noticed that the costumes use a lot of formal clothes and lots of props. The makeup used is usually only after combat to see the effect of their fighting unless it is a woman.

Citations: 

Grundy, Amber. "Representation of Characters in Spy-Thriller Films." SlideShare, 7 Nov. 2014, https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/representation-of-characters-in-spy-thriller-films/41263566.

harrymakesfilms. "Thriller Costume Research – General Stereotypes." Harry Makes Films, 15 Nov. 2014, https://harrymakesfilms.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/thriller-costume-research-general-stereotypes/.

Spy Thriller Common Themes Research

My group and I have decided on doing a Spy Thriller for our final project so I will be researching some common themes of the subgenre:

Trust/Betrayal:

A core theme of spy thrillers is that no one can be fully trusted, allies may turn out to be enemies. This theme can create paranoia and suspense while it reflects fears about hidden power. 

A good example of this theme is Mission: Impossible, in this film the main character is framed by his own agency. 

Identity:

Another common theme is identity and double lives. This theme involves false identities, cover stories and often leads to loss of personal relationships due to secrets. This theme show the human part of spies and shows how it can psychologically affect them. 

A good example of this is The Bourne Identity. In this film the main character is searching for his true identity after getting amnesia.

Moral Ambiguity: 

Another theme is moral ambiguity. Spy thrillers often question whether all the actions done are justified by the result. Things like violence and deception are portrayed as necessary but troubling. The characters are flawed instead of just being purely good. This challenges the audience to think about power and its ethics. 

Duty/Feelings:

Spies being forced to choose between their duty and their personal feeling is another common theme. They have to sacrifice relationships and a normal life. The isolation is part of the job. This theme adds realism and emotional depth. 

Reflection: 

In reflection there are many themes to choose from and a lot of them intertwine with each other. For example identity is a big part of the genre is general so it is often mixed with another one. Another thing I noticed was that all the themes have to do with the loss of personal relationships. This showed me that the characters need to be developed enough to show that loss of relationship. 

Citations:

“Exploring the Art of Movie Espionage Cinema: Key Themes and Styles.” Tasteray, edited by Tasteray Editorial Team, 21 July 2025, www.tasteray.com/articles/movie-espionage-cinema. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026

“Decoding the Spy Genre in Film and TV.” No Film School, nofilmschool.com/spy-movies. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.

Target Audience Research

Target Demographic: 

The thriller film market is mainly dominated by adult audiences but the target audience for thrillers has a pretty wide range from 15-50.  The younger half of the demographic is the fastest growing, they tend to like high intensity, supernatural, and genre-blending thrillers. While the older half is more interested in psychological and complex thrillers. There is also a family portion of viewers which focuses on PG and PG13 mystery/adventure films. This is only a small portion of viewers but can grow through animated content and family friendly streaming platforms.

Males usually also lean towards action thrillers and women tend to go towards psychological and romantic thrillers.

How does this genre publish:

Many thrillers are released into theaters first, this is common for big budget thrillers that use big stars in casting. While some thrillers do start off streaming, others go into it after being released in theaters. Streaming is really popular for thrillers because people often enjoy binge watching a bunch of suspenseful content. Another option for the films is releasing DVD's or Blu-ray, but this isn't very popular anymore because of streaming. If a thriller is going to be released as a DVD it will take some time after the film's release so it is like the last step. 

Where do they publish: 

As seen in this graph the two most popular places that thrillers are published are in theaters and digital platforms. There is more of a rise happening in digital platforms though.

How frequently:

Based on this chart I found you can see that thriller films are often released in the beginning of the year and around the end of summer/start of fall. You can see that starting in February there is a deep decrease and then it keeps a somewhat steady increase until June which is when it then turns around and has a steady increase until September. 

Citations: 

“Thriller Film Market Size, Scope, Growth, Trends and Forecast.” Verified Market Research, www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/thriller-film-market/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.

Limited, Ampere Analysis. “Seasonal Changes in the Genres of Box Office Releases.” Ampere Analysis, ampereanalysis.com/insight/seasonal-changes-in-the-genres-of-box-office-releases. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

Thriller Sub Genre Research

Crime Thriller:

Crime thrillers focus on external threats like criminals and violence. They are made to feel dangerous and morally grey. 

Lighting: In this sub-genre they often use low-key lighting. They use strong shadows and limited light sources. It is realistic, they use things like street lamps and desk lamps. The shadows can represent characters and their personalities, like how they are often morally grey. The darkness can also make the films more suspenseful since you can't see everything clearly. 

A good example of a crime thriller is The Dark Knight 

This movie has a lot of dark lighting. The shadows add to the entire vibe of the movie. It adds to the suspense and sort of mystery around Batman's identity. 

Setting: These films are often set in ordinary locations like cities. Using The Dark Knight as an example again, this movie is set in a city. The setting can make the crime feel more realistic and shows that it can happen anywhere. 

Cinematography: Some very common shots used in crime thrillers are tracking shots. These are used a lot when pursuing a villain so we get to follow along the chase. 

Iconography: Very common props in this sub genre are weapons, police cars, and other police force tools. 

 Psychological Thriller:

 Psychological thrillers focus on internal threats rather than external ones. For example battling with your own mind. This is meant to make us feel more unstable rather than scared. 

Lighting: Often use high contrast lighting, shadows on faces, and unnatural/harsh light. These types of light can help emphasize the mental instability the character can be feeling. It can also separate the reality from the delusions/hallucinations a character might be having. 

Setting: These types of films can be done in isolated environments forcing the to battle themselves, it can add to the sense of them feeling trapped mentally. This also takes away the perspectives from other characters to we are seeing everything the was the main character would They also often use repeated environments. Repeating the environment lets the directors build on previous scenes and the director can slowly make subtle changes, this can make what was familiar feel dangerous and give off a sense of dread. 

Cinematography: This genre uses a lot of close ups and slow zoom ins. It lets the viewers see all the emotions a character is feeling and sort of lets you get a glimpse of what's going on in their head. 

A great example of this is Black Swan. This movie uses a lot of close up shots which allows you to see the main characters emotion and see how her mental stability is slowly deteriorating throughout the movie.

Iconography: They often use mirrors, hallucinations, medications, and doubles of the character. All this is used to show how they are battling identity and how what we are seeing can be unreliable. Black Swan also does a good job showing this. It shows the main character going against herself figuratively and literally.  

Spy Thriller

Spy Thrillers go into the topics of secrecy, global issues, and deception. They often balance reality with craziness. 

Lighting: They use dim lighting in more secretive scenes to be mysterious and a lot of bright high key lighting during the action. 

Setting: In this genre many different settings are used. They use international locations that are often constantly moving to show that there isn't any permanent safety and to show how high the stakes are for the world. 

A good example of this is Mission Impossible. In these movies you see the main character going to many different places like Berlin, Rome, and China. 

Cinematography: A lot of fast editing is used in action scenes to create a sense of chaos in the fighting. They also use close ups during dialogue so we can see the emotions a character is going through as they get deceived and figure things out. 

Iconography: They use things like disguises, codes, weapons and gadgets, all things associated with spies. 

This all adds to the realism of the films. 

Citations:

Thriller Genre Subgenres: 10 Types of Thriller Novel, self-publishingschool.com/thriller-genre-subgenres/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

“Thriller Definition - Screenwriting I Key Term.” Fiveable, fiveable.me/key-terms/screenwriting-i/thriller?utm_. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

“Psychological Thrillers Definition - Film and Media Theory Key Term.” Fiveable, fiveable.me/key-terms/film-and-media-theory/psychological-thrillers?utm_. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

“Film Appreciation: Mise-En-Scène.” Mise-En-Scène | Film Appreciation | OpenALG, alg.manifoldapp.org/read/film-appreciation/section/6c87565c-8398-40fd-9c82-7d9aec5ead99?utm_ Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

“Crime Genre Conventions.” Savannah Gilbo, www.savannahgilbo.com/blog/crime-conventions?utm_. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

Thriller Film Openings Research

Overview:

For this part of my research I am going to be watching the film openings (first 5 minutes) of 3 thriller films. I am commenting on what happened as a reference for my future film opening. The films I will be watching are Woman of the Hour, The Weekend Away, and Subservience. 

Woman of the Hour: 

This film started off with an establishing shot showing the setting, it then cuts to a man taking photos of a woman. It shows us a POV shot at first only seeing the woman through the camera, I can hear the man's voice but not see him. For the first 3 minutes it is just dialogue using mid shots and over the shoulder shots. I get to hear a lot of the woman's backstory but nothing about the man, keeping him mysterious. During this dialogue I see a significant amount of space between them, but he starts to move closer to her as to comfort her. After closing the space he tries to attack her and we get a close up shot of the woman and you can see her start to realize she is in danger. And then a close up shot of the man and you can see his face turn serious. The five minutes then end with him attacking her and no longer being alive. This leaves me with confusion, suspense of what will happen next, and wanting to know more about the man. 

The Weekend Away:

This film starts of showing us the ocean then panning out showing a body floating in the water. It then uses an establishing shot to show a city. It then shows a close up on a woman showing her in the car, and it shows us POV shots of her looking out the window. The woman then engages in dialogue with the taxi driver and he gives her a a card for is she needs a taxi later on. This gave me a sense of foreshadowing. After talking with the taxi driver someone new is introduced it is the woman's friend and it is revealed they are staying together for the weekend. They engage in more dialogue with over the shoulder shots and the woman gives her friend a necklace. The five minutes end with the woman getting ready for dinner and calling her husband. This leaves me nervous for how their weekend will play out since it started with a body floating, it created tension making you wait for things to go wrong. 

Subservience:

This film starts with an establishing shot showing a snowy forest and extended to a city by the ocean. It then starts tracking a family in their car and shows the man having flashbacks of him and his wife. We then see the wife crying in pain and clenching her chest. It then cuts back to the man with his children but not with the wife making me think something happened to her. It then shows the man taking his kids through what seems like a mall, where he engages in dialogue with an employee that then introduces him to a robot that runs on AI. We then switch to tracking the young girl and we see a bunch of the robots in different home settings. The man then comes to find his daughter and she is brought over by one of the female robots. The robot, man, and employee then begin some more dialogue in which the employee explain that she is a newer model that mimics human emotion. The five minutes end with the daughter asking to keep the robot. This leaves me a little worried about the mimicking of human emotions and I wonder how the rest will play out. 

Horror vs. Thriller Research

Overview:

For this blog post I am comparing the two genres horror and thriller because I feel that I need to know more of a difference. 

Thriller: 

• Thrillers focus on mystery and suspense, they want you on the edge of your seat and they want you immersed in the story trying to solve the mystery with the characters
• Thrillers often feature more complex characters in their stories with many layers
• Pacing is very important in thrillers, often have steady build up of suspense while dropping hints throughout the story to keep viewers engaged
• Settings vary but are usually realistic, emphasizing on tension without using anything supernatural
• Thrillers want you to be tapped into the movie figuring things out and questioning things as they go. The point is to keep you curious
• Thrillers use quick cuts to add tension and to match the pace of narrative
• Thrillers can sometimes change the points of view from antagonist to protagonist to make things feel more unpredictable

A good example of a thriller film is Knives Out 

This film has a really good buildup of suspense, it focuses on finding out who killed a wealthy man. It follows a detective investigating a family. Throughout the story the family is interrogated revealing new information and secrets. You get to piece together the different clues with the detective up until the climax in which there is a big twist. 

This film follows the conventions, building suspense, engaging you in the story, letting you follow along with all the clues, and keeping the anticipation all the way up to the climax.

Horror: 

• Horrors focus on creating fear, shock, and disgust in their viewers. They want you experiencing the fear with the characters
• Horror tugs on the fears that most people generally have, death and the unknown
• They often rely on visual effects to make the bigger impact, this includes costumes and makeup
• Horror often has a slow pacing with very sudden jump scares to keep viewers on their toes, can go from slow to very fast and intense climax
• These films use sudden loud noises and other discomforting sounds like whispers 
• Horror engages in fear rather than making you think
• Horror focus on the point of view of victims

A good example of a horror film is The Conjuring

This film is a great example of the conventions. It follows a family moving in to a seemingly normal house that is actually haunted. It has a bit of a slow pacing with a lot of dialogue at first with the occasional jump scare. It also follows the theme of focusing on fear but using the makeup and costumes to make it even scarier. It reflects how the pacing is slow and then at the climax it completely heightens it and goes all out on the scare factor. 

Citations:

“What’s the Difference between Horror and Thriller?  .” Screencraft, screencraft.org/blog/whats-the-difference-between-horror-and-thriller/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.

EllieB. “Thriller vs. Horror: Understanding the Key Difference between Thriller and Horror Genres.” All In The Diffrence, 14 Oct. 2025, www.allinthedifference.com/difference-between-thriller-and-horror/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Agnetha. “What Is the Difference between Thriller vs Horror?” Greenlight Coverage, 23 July 2024, glcoverage.com/2024/07/23/thriller-vs-horror/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Genre Conventions of Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi

Horror Conventions: 

Setting: Can be in dark settings that cause a feeling of terror or uneasiness. Can also be in abandoned and isolated places like the woods. On the other hand horror movies can be set in places that seem harmless but really aren't, this is seen in paranormal movies with haunted houses like Insidious. 

Insidious Cabin in the Woods

vs.

You can see that there is a big difference is the feeling of these settings. The house from insidious looks extremely normal contrasting the horror that lays inside. While the cabin from Cabin in the Woods give you an immediate eerie feeling foreshadowing what happens in the future.

Sound: Non-diegetic sounds like music are often slow and eerie, music can be made this way through classical instruments. For example in the movie Halloween they have a really recognizable soundtrack that shows up when Micheal Myers’s is around.  They also use volume to build up suspense. For diegetic sounds like creaking doors, screaming, footsteps, heart beat and even wind to add to the unease.  

Camera work: Long shots are used to build up the creepy unsettling atmosphere. Close-ups aren't used often since they focus on emotion which usually isn't the main focus. Jump cuts are used a lot in horror films. They can cause confusion and fear adding to the effect. 

Costumes and props: Common props in horror films are weapons. When more uncommon weapons are used they can make an audience more disturbed. There are other props used to add to the creepy effect on the films like balloons, rocking chairs, and dolls. For the costumes they can be designed to look scary or uncanny so people naturally fear them. An example is Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street. 

 

Science Fiction Conventions 

Setting:The setting often depends on the subgenre of the film. Some of the most popular settings include outer space, futuristic cities, and spaceships/stations. There is often a lot of technology around as well.  These films are often made up of imagination so the setting allows us to see things we have never seen before and couldn't even imagine ourselves. The setting is used to support the plot of the movie and add context to characters. For example Avatar is a movie taking place in another world in the future, this movie is built upon its setting. Its setting causes challenges the main characters have to face and overcome. 

Sound: The sounds are used to compliment the things we are seeing and also help add to setting and mood. Some non-diegetic sounds used are music, it often adds suspense  and builds the atmosphere. Some diegetic sounds used can be beeping of technology or voiceovers of aliens and other creatures.

Camera work: Wide shots are used to show the big environments as well as establishing shots. Tracking is used when exploring new places and following the characters through the exploration. POV shots are also used from inside machines or from inside space helmets.

Editing: Sci Fi relies on special effects and a lot of CGI. For example in Planet of the Apes CGI is used when creating the main characters and making their movements natural and realistic.

Costumes: The clothing used usually reflects class, and climate of the film, it can often easily be recognized as sci fi. The costumes can vary from uniforms, space suits, futuristic type clothing, metallic looking, wearable technology, and things aliens wear. common colors in this genre are blue and white because they are often connected with technology. For example in Interstellar a big part of the movie is in spacesuits.

Romance Conventions: 

Setting: In these films the setting is often shown at the beginning of the movie, and can take place in aesthetic places like cities and beaches. There is a very wide variety of settings that can be used. Some things related with this genre are sunsets, sunrises, weather, and tops of buildings. The different settings affect how the characters feel.

Sound: Sound is a big part of this genre. It sets an atmosphere and expresses how characters feel without needing dialogue. In sad scenes there can often be powerful ballads that carry emotion with them. During happy scenes they may play upbeat pop music that reflects the joy in the scene. There are also voiceovers that reveal characters' inner thoughts and feelings. For some diegetic sounds they use sounds of cars and people talking to support the setting and immerse you in the story by making is seem more realistic.

Camera Work: Romance films are focused on dialogue so the shots used reflect that. Some camera shots often used are close ups, they let us see a character's facial expressions focusing on the emotion in the conversation happening. Two shots are used a lot since romance follows two characters and their relationships, these shots lets us see the body language and how the characters interact. Over the shoulder shots are used a lot to show conversation between the characters and make it seem like we are part of the conversation.

These close up shots show the many different emotions the characters in La La Land are feeling. Without even needing to speak to each other you can see the switch in emotions they are going through.

Costume and Props: Costumes are often just very day clothes based on where the film is set. Props in this genre are often things that you can find in everyday life to make characters relatable.

Citations:

Michellehui. “Genre Conventions: Romance.” Itisalreadyhere, 27 Feb. 2016, itisalreadyhere.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/genre-conventions-romance/.

Tolhurst, Kiera. “Cinematography in Romantic Comedy.” Slideshare, Slideshare, www.slideshare.net/slideshow/cinematography-in-romantic-comedy/82768078. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

Standard Sci-Fi Setting - TV Tropes, tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardSciFiSetting. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

Josse, Gabriel. “Science Fiction Sound Effects : A Complete Guide to Sci-Fi SFX.” Bluezone Corporation, 4 July 2023, www.bluezone-corporation.com/blog/science-fiction-sound-effects.

Natashaellis. “Typical Conventions of Scifi.” Slideshare, Slideshare, www.slideshare.net/slideshow/typical-conventions-of-scifi/61742126. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

Nathan, Posted byMedia Blog. “Mise-En-Scene: Props and Costumes in Horror Movies.” Nathan Walmsley | Level 3 Year 2 FMP, 16 Mar. 2020, nathanwalmsleyfmp.wordpress.com/2020/02/28/mise-en-scene-props-and-costumes-in-horror-movies/.

“A Short Guide to Writing Horror.” First Draft Pro - Book Writing Software, www.firstdraftpro.com/blog/a-short-guide-to-writing-horror. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.