Codes and Conventions of a Thriller

By Lizzie Garrard

What is a Thriller? The Thriller genre uses suspense, tension

and excitement to stimulate the audiences mind and provide the sense of anticipation.

It keeps the audience on the “edge of their seats” by using devices such as cliff-hangers, red herrings and plot twists.

An example of a famous Thriller film is Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. A successful director of Thriller films.

Characters The protagonist character is often a

brave male who seeks to restore the equilibrium.

The antagonist character will tend to have a hidden identity that the audience will find out about as the film goes on. Usually they are out to seek revenge of a past event in their life.

Different types of characters in Thrillers: Criminals, stalkers, assassins, victims on

the run, psychos, terrorists, con men.

Mise en scene

Low key lighting is essential in a Thriller as it helps to create a gloomy atmosphere and helps the audience feel more suspense towards the film.

The use of props is also a big part of Thrillers. Knifes, glass, drugs, guns, sharp objects, are all frequently used objects in Thrillers. A film that uses their props well is Eden Lake as the props show the audience that the characters are out to kill each other.

A typical Thriller setting tends to be in a haunted house or in a big open space like the woods. This makes it seem more real to the audience as these are real life situations and real life places which makes the audience feel like it could happen to them.

Sound

The sound used in Thrillers is one of the main things that makes people feel on edge in a Thriller film. The music tends to be eerie and builds up in loudness over a period of time. Also the use of silence in a Thriller is one of the main things that causes the audience to jump. It is used to create suspense and then a music sting follows through in the middle of the silence to give the audience a shock.

Editing

The directors of Thrillers use lots of jump cuts and rapid editing in their work to get through a sense of action to the audience and make them feel as if they don’t know what is going on. Continuity editing is used to make sure all the fast shots flow together to make it fluid and easy to understand for the viewer.

Cinematography

Lot’s of close up’s and extreme close up’s are used in Thriller’s, especially used on the protagonist character. This is often used to show the character’s emotions and to show fear.

For the antagonist character the shots used will be quick to cover their identity to the audience.

Examples of Thriller films: