Conventions of a Thriller Movie

1. Conventions of a Thriller Movie
What is a Thriller
A thriller is usually a movie containing a battle between good and evil, the protaganist and the
antagonist, linking back to Todorov's Narrative Theory there will be a disruption in the
equilibrium which will cause the chain of events that will follow in the movie, the aim of the
protaganist is to restore the equilibrium, while the antagonist aims to stop this happening.
Tension and Suspence will be built all the time. A typical James Bond movie would be a key
example of this, James Bond is trying to restore justice after the initial disruption takes place,
the Villain or bad guy he is hunting would symbolise the antagonist who would seek to destroy
the protaganist and therefore stop the new equilibrium from taking place.
Typical Conventions
The Thriller movie genre would usually contain a lot of quick cuts in order to show off the overall
fast pace the movie contains, this will help build up suspence throughout the movie. Thrillers
will also try to include low key lighting in order to further generate suspence in the film, this
alsongside the tension music shown throughout will add extra tension and suspence overall.
Shadows and diagetic sounds of breathing can also add further suspence and tension to the
movie as well as make the film more exciting and intense for those watching it, a Thriler movie
may contain changes in the angles of shots in order to show off variet and possibly even make
the viewers feel confused and distorted when watching the film. A Thriller movie could contain a
montage of shots in orer to build up more tension and suspence for the viewers as well as add
to the overall confusion and distortion of the scene. Finally, a movie could conatin some kindd
of black and white shots and seeing the Protaganist in the mercy of the Antagonist. This is
important as it shows that power has shifted throughout the movie from all the characters. The
camera angle may show us who is on top at the moment through the use of low angle and high
angle shots. The change in power may also hadd to the overall distortion and confusion of the
movie.
Characters
A Thriller movie will usually contain a main protaginist wjo will often be a brave male seeking to
restore the equilibrum, the character may be wearing normal clothes or a suit in order to show
his normality in everyday society as well as showing he is not different to anyone else around
him. The movie's antagonist wil often have a hidden identity that the audience wil uncover over
time. The anatagonist may be gpoing for revenge from a past event and will usually be wearing
very different clothes from everyone else in order to pick them out from society and show they
are different to everyone else. They may be wearing dark items of clothing which will have
connotations of darkness and eerieness throughout the movie. This may also show off the nner
darkness the character contains.
Camera Angles

2. There may be lots of close ups and extreme close ups of the protaganist in the narrative, this will
show off the characters feelings and emotions throughout the scene as well as showing off their
true identity to the viewer. These shots may also be used to show off key props or objects in the
background which will help the viewer fully understand the narrative. The antagonist character
will have shots tailored to hide their identity from the audience in order to create more
suspence. You may see a silhouette or a shadow of the character in order to hide their full
identity from the audience which will help build suspence.
Music
The Music in a Thriller movie will have to build up suspence and tension. The music may start off
very slowly and then build up over time to add further suspence for the viewers to teh scene.