Conventions of a thriller

A thriller is a villain driven plot. In majority thriller movies there is a hero and a villain, the hero always overcomes the villain. The antangonists in a thriller movie are usually have some sort of power such as having money or authority in society whereas the heroes in thrillers are often average people who are relatable to the audience.  Thrillers usually have a wide range of sub genres.

Thrillers include 

- fast pacing

- frequent action
- more powerful and better equipped villains

Thrillers usually build up an atmosphere which creates suspense and leave the audience thinking what is going to happen next and eager to find out. Thrillers often use red hearings, these meant to leave the audience confused, it acts as a decoy. Thrillers also use cliffhangers to leave the audience wanting more and to get them thinking about what would of have happened at the end of the movie. Cliffhangers are usually dilemmas we don't see the full picture of, a lot of soap opera's use cliffhangers.

Sub genres

Legal thrillers - these involve the heroes and heroines usually lawyers/judges and confront 'the baddies' outside as well as inside the court, these legal people usually go through many difficulties to fight 'the baddies' but always win in the end, emphasising good is always over evil. An example of this kind of thriller is silent witness.

Psychological thriller - this is an emotional, mental conflict which plays with the audiences minds. Examples of these kind of films are doubt, strangers on a train and blue velvet. 

Spy thrillers - the hero in these kind of films are usually a government who tackle issues such as terrorism or any rivalry problems with the government. Examples of these kind of films are 24, with love, from Russia.

Techno thrillers - the problem usually arrives with a new technology that has gone wrong, it is in detail and made essential to the viewers to understand the plot. An example is hunt for october.

Religious thriller - These are related to religion and make the audience question into the deep issue of the film which is religion related. Examples: The DA vinci code, The name of the Rose, Foucalt's Pendulury.





Segments There are four different type of segments that contain different features for each genre.

Editing - Thrillers often use fast pacing editing to make the audience think about what is going on and where it is happening. The fact that it is a edited in a very fast way makes the audience feel as if they are also getting a feel of the fast event. Thrillers also use very slow scences to leave the audience anticipating on what is going to happen next, for an example if there was a scene of  a man going near an important box, it would make the audience think whether he is going to open the box or not and what would happen next. Slow scenes are also often used to draw attention to a particular item e.g a man opening an important box, this would also make the audience curious as to what is inside the box.

Camerashot/movements - In a thriller the different camera shots and movements are extremely important in how the events in a movie are portrayed. There are many different shots such as close ups, tilts, point of view angle, low angle, high angle and tracking shots. Close ups are often used to show something in more detail e.g a persons facial expression, from this the audience can see how the character is feeling. Point of view shots make the audience feel closer to the action and as if they are also going through the character's personal journey, a point of view shot also makes the audience see something how the character is seeing it.

Sound - Sound plays an important part in a thriller as it is usually the main source for creating suspense. The sound always goes from high to low and from fast to slow, this pattern builds up suspense, the sound emphasises on an important scene where emphasis is need e.g if someone is approaching someone with a knife, it leaves the audience thinking whether he is going to use the knife or not. 

Mis en scene -