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 cliffhangers, 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 dont 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

Lots of close ups and extreme close

ups are used in Thrillers, especially
used on the protagonist character. This
is often used to show the characters
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: