Thriller films aim to stimulate viewers' emotions through suspense and tension. Common conventions include fast pacing, cliffhangers, and low-key lighting to build mystery. Protagonists are typically vulnerable characters like hostages, while antagonists are criminal or deranged. Settings are often dark locations like forests. Editing uses techniques like title cards over action and jump cuts to create confusion and suspense. Cinematography relies on close-ups and tracking shots to draw viewers in from the start.

1. Thriller
•Thriller is a very broad genre of film.
• The main elements that are used is suspense, tension and
excitement.
•The main intensions of a thriller is to stimulate the viewers
feelings and moods giving them a high level of
anticipation, surprise, uncertainty, anxiety, stress and even
terror.
•Thrillers are mainly inclined to be very quick and fast paced
and adrenaline rushing.
• Film techniques like cliff hangers are very commonly used.
• The main and most important aim of a thriller is to keep the
audience alert and on the edge of their seats.

2. Thriller
• There are many different sub sections to the theme of a
thriller movie:
• Crime thriller
• Mystery thriller
• Conspiracy thriller
• Psychological thriller
For my coursework I am working in a group. We are trying to
create a thriller movie. However to do this we had to look at
normal conventions that associated with this type of genre. So
that we as a group can incorporate these conventions into our
movie.

3. Thriller
Archetypal characters:
• A typical crime thriller would involve two characters which come into
conflict with one another. The main plot is that a protagonist character who
is seen as vulnerable and weak is set against a problem or mystery or an
escape. That seems impossible.
• The protagonist is mainly shown as a: hostage, victim, weak and
vulnerable.
This is Shelley
Duvall in ‘The
Shining’. She is
playing a weak
victim.

4. Thriller
Archetypal characters:
They are mainly played by women or girls as they are seen as more naive
and weaker then men. Mainly they look exhausted scruffy, and ill. As they are
normally in a confined space when being held hostage or have barely slept
because of their problem they need to solve. The main character always
wants to achieve sympathy from the audience so that throughout the film the
audience always wants to see the protagonist to achieve their goal.
This is an
example of a
stereotypical
female in a
thriller. This is
Sara Paxton in
‘The Last House
on the Left’.

5. Thriller:
Archetypal character:
The antagonist is mainly shown as a
criminal, stalker, kidnapper, assassin, and being evil usually with a vendetta
or plot to take revenge. They seem to always look strange with a sense of
madness about them. A thriller always has an antagonist character. This is
someone who represents the evil in the film someone whose intensions are
corrupt and dangerous. Mainly played by a man in his late 40’s.
This is Anthony
Hopkins who played
Hannibal Lecter in
‘The Silence Of The
Lambs’. He was the
antagonist character.

6. Thriller: Mise-en-scène
Lighting is especially important as the audience can assume what genre the movie is
by the way the lighting is displayed. In a normal thriller different levels of low key
lighting is used. This will create a mysterious secretive like impression. The normal
convention for lighting in a thriller would be very dark and gloomy lighting.
Examples of low
key lighting. The
photos are not
showing a lot of
detail so it is
mysterious.
Low key lighting is very conventional of any thriller film as it
builds up suspense. By the use of color we can depict a
mood or atmosphere. The normal conventions for a thriller
would be the color black grey and red. As each of these
colors symbolizes darkness and mysteriousness.

7. Thriller: Mise-en-scène
• Costumes and Make-up is used so that we can produce a character
and present them in a way that we would want the audience to perceive
them. In relation to thriller films a normal character would be a young
women fearful and in tears. Therefore the conventions towards makeup
would be someone with smudged make up who looks very fragile and
upset.

8. Thriller: Mise-en-scène
• Setting And Props – In a typical thriller movie scenes
would take place in locations that seem to have a dark
scary atmosphere. This would be a haunted house, or a
forest. The dark forest setting is a more stereotypical
location with crime thrillers where murders rapes and
conflicts can take place.
The most typical props
associated with thrillers
would be things such as
knives and guns.

9. Thriller
Normal ways of using sound:
All the films I have analyzed have incorporated non
diegetic music playing in the background essentially to
build a certain atmosphere at the beginning of the film.
Some films use dialogue at the start usually spoken by
the most important and influential character.
This is shown in the film ‘Kill Bill Vol 2’. Were the main
character speaks about the events leading up to the
present time.

10. Thriller: Common Editing
Commons editing: Most stereotypical editing features of
thrillers is the use of writing being shown over the top of action
being played on screen. This is what ‘The Silence of the
Lambs’ has done. Instead of including the title and credits at
the beginning of the film this thriller has incorporated them
during the first scenes. The writing is clearly written in black
and white. Which are two very distinctive colors. Which are
normally associated with a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

11. Thriller: Common Editing
Jump cuts/short takes are extremely common in thrillers as there are
many things happening that we are unaware of so jump cuts/short
takes fill us in but also they create a quick fast passed feel to the film.
The main reason thrillers use jump shots is to create suspense and
confusing which helps keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Long shots are also very well known to be added into thriller films. These are
largely used to set the scene. These shots are well known to be used in the
films like The Dark Knight. Another camera angle to be quite common in
thrillers are high angles mainly to represent a powerful and dominant position.
The position of actors introduced into a scene or the film do not seem to differ
from the films I have study the actor normally tends to be positioned in the
middle of the frame.

12. Thriller: common camera angles and
movements
The most commonly used camera movements at the beginning of a thriller
film are tracking and panning shots. An example of this is in the film ‘The
Silence of the Lambs’ as when the main character is running tracking shots
were frequently used. The most typical shots used in thriller films seems to be
close ups and extreme close ups. These shots are greatly used in films like
‘Kill Bill Volume 1’ and 2 also in the film ‘Se7en’. These shots are most
frequently used to create suspense, excitement and mystery at the beginning
so that the audience get grasped into the movie very quickly so that they are
hocked from the start and want to watch more.