Genre conventions Thriller

Thriller GenreAnalysis of the conventions with in a thriller. – camera, characters, mise en

scene

Overview of some things that you get in a film of the thriller genre You get a lot of closes ups to show the emotion on a characters faces

– this helps to build up the tension and let the audience know what the character is feeling.

Lots of non-diegetic sound to help build up the apprehension of the climax which is normally where the music comes to a head and then the beat slows and the volume normally decreases.

Usually includes a battle between the protagonist and the anti-protagonist this then leads to a disruption of the equilibrium. What we normally get in a thriller film is.

Equilibrium – disruption of this – discovery of the disruption – climax – resolution

Resolution can be happy or sad but I normally a happy ending also in the resolution things don’t have to go back to the same way they were before the disruption

Overview of some things that you get in a film of the thriller genre We sometime see special effects to create things like an explosion. This builds up the drama

in the scene. Also depending on the sub–genre different special effects may be used. Dark visual effects to build tension and keep the viewer interested in watching. Low key lighting They are often set in urban areas. quick cuts – changing in angle – this can be used to disorientate the audience and it can

also be used to build up the tension We see shadows and get some diegetic sound or breathing which makes the audience see

that the character is bring watched or something important/scary is happening We sometimes get a montage of shots and we also sometimes get some black and white

shots

Character conventions

The protagonists is often brave heroic and male - This makes people want to be him and makes people want him to win.- Often they will be shown to look weak by the use of high angles and the

music but then we see them become brave and we all want him to win because we are always ‘rooting for the underdog’

Anti-protagonist is also often male and they are normally hidden this is done by the use of shots and the depth of field because we sometime get a shot where the ‘bad guy’ is in the back of the shot but is blurred out because we have a shallow depth of field

The anti-protagonists is often out for revenge and this is only uncovered at the end of the film but the audience are trying to uncover him the whole way through which keeps them interested

They are often dressed in dark clothing to give the connotations of fear and mystery

Cinematography conventions

Lots of close ups and extreme closes ups on the protagonist this shows the audience there emotions which allows the audience to be able to connect with the character also we sometimes see and extreme close up to show how uneasy the protagonist is which then also makes the audience feel uneasy

Shots of the anti-protagonist and quick cuts to hide there identity and increase the mystery around there character.

- We often see the back of them or then in a dark setting and in dark clothes so it hard to see them or figure who they are or what they want this is done to keep the viewer asking questions throughout and it also means they are going to want to carry on watching

Mise en scene conventions

In a thriller the location is always really important because it helps set the tone of the thriller and helps the audience know what's going on and establish a theme.

The lighting is often low key which give the audience the idea that tension is building and sets a good scene. Also they also use shadows which could be used to represent the inner darkness or evil within people or beings within a thriller film. They can also be used to increase the tension and eeriness in the sense when this is combined by the lighting and the sound it really makes the audience feel uneasy.

Often mirrors are also used this could be to show the audience the reflection of someone’s soul and their inner self. This lets the audience know how the character is really feeling and gives them more of an insight and makes it easier to relate or to not relate to the character, but this could also lead to some people in the audience feeling uneasy. Mirrors are also used to represent ‘evil’ in some characters.

Colour is really important in thriller films because we associate different emotions, and thoughts, with different colours. Applying this knowledge thrillers would generally use dark greys, black, and red. The dark colours both have connotations of death around them and then the red has connotations of blood and trouble which are both often found in a thriller

Costume hair and makeup make actors appear lifelike to the characters they are playing. Also it normally changes depending on the target audience

In thriller films there is often the use of incorporating weapons of different sorts. We normally see camera shots to make us focus on the wepon so that we know it is important. Often extreme close ups are also used to make us aware of the weapon and to make the audience feel uneasy