Codes and Conventions of Thrillers

Jack, Josh and Liam

Characters• People with dark history's or backgrounds who have lost someone.

Normally the main characters are very controlling. • Realistic people who some can relate to. For instance, with hit men,

gangsters, or robbers.• The characters would also have important jobs such as police officers,

investigators, or detectives.• For example in the film Shutter Island the main character is very controlling

and works as a detective.

Props • In a thriller you normally see guns

that are very heavily used props, also you find that people wear very dark colours on the costumes as it represent evil and hatred.

• Some of the more darker characters that wear dark materials on suits and coats tend to always carry a cigarette in there hand or a cigar to represent there power and personalities. For example in Shutter Island the characters wear big black coats with a trilby hat.

• The photo shown is the badge of the main character in the film shutter island.

Setting/Locations

• Thriller films are most likely to be set in a weird or unusual place. Shutter island is filmed in a mental institution. Other locations can include museums, banks and a rocky beach on a deserted island.

• The first scene in the film Shutter Island the location is set on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

Music/Sound effects• Thriller music would be easy

music, subtle and intense, and builds up as it gets closer and closer, building up the tension for the audience. For instance, like the Jaws theme.

• The sound effect used in thrillers would be eerie sounds, rattling keys, footsteps, echoing. These are massive factors of making a thriller a great film.

• The sound effects above are used in the film Shutter Island a lot to create a massive effect on the audience.

Lighting • The lighting used in thrillers is normally dark which represents

the unknown because it deducts your vision which adds to mystery of thrillers.

• Also shadows are used in thrillers to create an eerie effect on the audience.

• In the film Shutter Island the lighting is very dark and the weather is used a lot in the film because there is a storm in the film which creates a scary theme to the film.