This document outlines the generic conventions of a thriller film. It discusses the semantics and syntactics that audiences expect to see. For semantics, it describes common thriller characters (mysterious with dark pasts), locations (dark, murky cities), props (guns, blood), music (mysterious, dark soundtrack), and shooting style (mix of fast and slow camerawork). For syntactics, it provides an example of how these semantics come together in a film like "Max Payne," where the protagonist seeks revenge for his family's murder in a dark city using guns.

1. Generic conventions of a Thriller
Semantics & Syntactics
By Rashedul Bari

2. When viewing a thriller, audiences should
develop a certain understanding of what to
expect if they decide to view the film in
cinemas. There has to be iconography of that
from a typical thriller film such as the location
being a dark, dull city. Trailers should also
create an enigma for the viewers, especially
thriller trailers as they normally contain
mysteries. The narrative of the trailer should
be easily understandable for the audience to
fully comprehend the trailer and immerse
themselves in it.

3. Semantics of Thrillers
Characters: often in thrillers, the main character/s will be
mysterious people that the audience can’t seem to figure out
and might have a dark history to them that makes them
reclusive. They will have to overcome obstacles set by the
antagonist which is a key element of a thriller.
Locations: In thriller, locations will be often cities. They will be
dark and murky and might be set in the winter to add darkness
to the narrative. E.g. thrillers will not be set in the countryside
as it is not mysterious enough, where as cities are vast and dark,
which will make it more suited to thriller films.
Props: Thrillers mostly include death and guns as props. A
thriller might begin with a murder where the viewer will see a
body and blood, enter the detective charged with solving the
case and finding the killer, who will use his gun as a weapon.
Music: Thrillers are all about setting the atmosphere, therefore
music is key to setting the right atmosphere for a thriller. A
mysterious and dark soundtrack/score will help the thriller.
Shooting style: Thrillers will mostly involve a mix of both fast
and slow camerawork to reflect a popular thriller. E.g. when the
protagonist is chasing the antagonist the camerawork will have
to be fast to raise the pace, where as when the protagonist is
searching through a dark warehouse, the camerawork will have
to slow down to build up the tension.

4. Syntactics of Thrillers
Syntactics is how all the semantics come together to make a thriller. For
example, all the semantics will culminate with a murder occurring at the
beginning of the movie, then that’s where the protagonist will come in, a
detective and he will spend the rest of the movie trying to find the killer, a
movie that suits this scenario would be ‘Max Payne’ (2008), where the
protagonist Max Payne has his wife and children murdered and he spends the
rest of the movie trying the avenge their deaths. He suits the semantics of
thriller as he is a enigmatic character that the audience can’t figure out.
Another way it suits semantics is the location where it is a dark, dull city. There
is also the typical props where there is guns and blood spread all over the
story.

5. Conclusion
In conclusion, these semantics and syntactics
will have to be present in our trailer to be fully
affective and for the audience to comprehend
it to be a thriller.