Convenctions of a Thriller

A Thriller film uses suspense, shock and excitement to entertain the viewers. The primary sub genres of a thriller are; mystery, crime, and physcolical thrillers. They exagerate these genres usually by showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous. Fight/chase scenes are very common in thrillers. (we would like to have a chase in our thriller too.)

·        Costumes

-          In general, most characters will appear well dressed

-          Villains usually wear something to emphasise their build, e.g. leather

-          You want to be able to see the difference between the good side and the bad so their must be a contrast in costume e.g. black and white (unless of course the idea is to confuse the audience about which side is which)

-          Female characters are more likely to be wearing something revealing or red to attract male audiences.

·        Settings and Locations

-          Either an urban city where there are lots of everyday people that can be affected by what happens, or a country village where the characters are left feeling trapped and helpless with no one around!

-          The settings usually begin to show in dull colours like grey and black, this is to make the first characters that we meet stand out more.

-          Colours can be used in the locations to symbolise something, for example; red background may suggest danger.

·        Sound and Music

-          Slow introduction music to build up tension

-          Fast and upbeat music in the action scenes

-          Sad music when something bad happens

-          No music when there is narration

·        Situations

-          The hero is in some sort of trouble and has to overcome events

-          Usually a growing sense of danger and threat

-          Good and Evil fight against each other

·        Good example of thrillers

-          Blade

-          Exception

- The Godfather

we need to bare all these convenctions in mind when making our thriller, the more of these we use - the more realistic and thrilling they will be.

BETHANY