conventions of a thriller

1. Conventions of a Thriller
genre

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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

10. Thrillers