thriller conventions

The conventions of a thrill include tense music. This is done to create an uneasy and tense atmosphere for the audience thus leaving the audience in suspense, wanting to know more.

A vast amount of camera angles allows the audience to see from different perspectives allowing the audience to gain a clear perception of all characters and also the narrative.

Fast cuts and montage editing are also common in thrillers as this adds to the fast tempo creating thrill and uncertainty for the audience. it further more engages the audience into the narrative and alludes to the use of the gratifications theory as the audience are left needing to know what happens next.

Hostile locations also conform to the conventions of a thriller as this entails the persona of the villain and allows the audience to gain there own perception of the characters due to the surroundings. This further more allows us to portray are characters much easily as our protagonists will be presented in an office environment where as our antagonist will be presented in a hostile environment. Mystery towards certain characters are also common as this leaves the audience asking questions wanting to know more about the character. We will create a sense of mystery towards our villain as this is most common.

Small condensed claustrophobic environments are also common as this creates uncertainty and disorientation, this further more makes the audience on edge leaving them wanting to watch more as they will be engaged into the narrative. Mirrors are also common as this allows the audience to look deeper into characters gaining more insight into the motives of the characters.

Character roles such as a "damsel in distress", "hero" and "villain" are also used often however we will subvert conventions as to not use a "damsel in distress" as this seems too common and portrays the narrative as predictable whereas we aim to keep our audience on edge thus conforming to the conventions in this aspect.

Low key lighting also portrays mystery and tension, this relates to the use of shadows creating mystery for the audience and also alluding to characters for example a villain will be portrayed in low key lighting to connote a sense of mystery towards the audience thus making the audience unsettled. An example of this would be the film Psycho. Flash backs are also common as this allows the audience to see deeper into the characters thoughts and motives for example in Memento. This allows the audience to gain more insight into the narrative leaving the audience wanting to watch more.