Conventions of a Thriller genre

What is a thriller?

A thriller usually consists of a battle between the protagonist character and the antagonist, when there is a disruption in the stability. Then the story shows a chain of bad events building tension and suspense for the climax. The aim of the protagonist is to restore justice, while the antagonist seeks to destroy it.

Conventions of a Thriller• Low key lighting• Quick cuts• Shadows • Tension music• Changes in the angle of shots• Diegetic sound of breathing • Black and white shots• Montage of shots • Protagonist is in the mercy of the Antagonist

Characters

• The protagonist is often a brave male/female who seeks to restore the stability that had gone wrong due to the antagonist

• The antagonist will have a hidden identity that the audience will uncover as the film progresses. Often the antagonist goes out for revenge from a past event.

Themes of Thriller

• The storyline will be designed so the audience will think that it can happen to them, which will make them feel scared, but not so much as a horror due to the fact that it is supposed to be scary and make the audience jump but a lot less compared to a horror movie.

Cinematography of a thriller

• There will be a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the protagonist character, this is often to show their emotions, also it can be used to focus on props to aid the narrative.

• The shots of the antagonistic character will be cut quickly and will aim to hide their identity, e.g. A shot of the back of them, a low key shot, the silhouette, or shadow of the character

Editing of a Thriller

The director will include lots of jump cuts because there will be things happening that the audience is unaware of but is essential for the film to make sense. Continuity editing is used to help the audience understand the film better.

Sound in a Thriller

• Music is essential in any film to understand the mood of the characters and hint at a significant part in the film. In a thriller it adds suspense and tension. It will often start at a slow pace and the then build up to make the shots more dramatic for the audience.

Mise en scene• The location is important for the film because it help

the audience establish the theme.• Lighting is often low key• Costumes- antagonist will be in dark clothes if you see

them. Protagonist will be in ordinary everyday clothes• Composition • Make up and hair styles• Acting• Filmstoke (Black & White, or colour, Fine-grain or

grainy

Thrillers