1. Forms and conventions of a thriller film

2. Thriller is a genre of film that uses; suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Some subgenres of thrillers are: mystery, crime and psychological thrillers. What is a thriller film?

3. Thrillers are mostly characterised by a mood of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing society in a dark dangerous way. The majority of the time they often feature a happy ending in which the antagonists are killed or arrested; justice is usually served in the end. Thrillers feature devices such as plot twists and cliff hangers. They also use atmospheres of anticipation, adrenaline rush, anxiety and sometimes even terror. The tones in thrillers are usually coarse, slick and explicit.

4. An authentic thriller is one that provides thrills and keeps the audience at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually rises when a character is placed in a threatening situation, or in a predicament where escaping seems impossible. Lives are at threat, typically because the main character is unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially life threatening situation.

5. Characters and themes of thrillers Characters in thrillers consist of; criminals, stalkers, assassins, victims on the run, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers often include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary citizens not used to danger.

6. Thrillers mostly take place in ordinary suburbs/cities. Though sometimes, they may take place entirely or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, Polar Regions, or high seas. Some thrillers are an exception to this and they are set in surreal unrealistic environments which you would not come across in ordinary everyday life.

7. A lot of the time the thriller genre uses enigma to capture an audience’s attention, there is often a question or dilemma that the target audience can relate to that is then played around with and resolved or left unresolved. To capture an audience’s attention and give them a sense of thrill directors may use sub genres to suit the intended target audiences taste; for example horror thriller, psychological thriller, comedy thriller and so on. Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale - the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements. A thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the antagonist, saving others lives and his own.

8. Sound and editing plays a big part in thriller movies, the sound and editing is what makes an audience want to watch a thriller again and again. Quick cuts and a variation of shot sizes and camera angles, as well as a great use of incidental music all contribute to making an amazing thriller. Mirrors and stairs are a convention of thriller movies, lighting and especially the use of shadow can have great impact. In some thrillers you are made to feel sorry for the protagonist where you are told their story with the use of flashbacks and elliptical editing, psychological thrillers use this as it plays with the target audiences mind and makes them think about the action taking place.

9. In a thriller, the hero must throw the plans of an enemy rather than uncover a crime that’s already happened. Whilst a murder mystery would be spoiled by an early revelation of the murderer’s identity, in a thriller the identity of a murderer or another villain is typically known all along.