CAMERA

SHOTS/MOVEMENT AND

EDITING CONVENTIONS

OF THRILLER FILMS

Ellie Lovatt

Camera shots + movement

These typical conventions help to give the film

its thriller ‘feel’, as different camera angles

create different senses of emotion and body

language. To do this, shots such as close-ups

are used quite frequently as a way to portray the

emotions of characters much easier.

Movement

Some camera movements sometimes help

make the film feel more intense, and can make it

seem much more realistic to the viewer. An

example of this would be the movement of the

camera of a bad character point of view to make

it look as though they’re following them etc.

Editing

Different conventional editing techniques can

help the film develop a much more intense

atmosphere for the viewers. An example of

these editing techniques would be quick cuts,

used to make the scene much more fast paced.

Another example would be fade to black. This

fade to black is commonly used at the end of

intense scenes to dull them down. When the

scene fades to black, it adds an element of

mystery as the viewer isn't aware of what is

going to happen next.