1. A thriller is a movie genre which normally follows specific
strategies in order to build a certain expected effect on the
audience. Most thriller films that are being produced lately
tend to share the same characteristics.
Thriller is a genre of
entertainment that uses tension,
suspense and anticipation to
rely its message. The genre can
be used in movies, books,
television series and video
games just to mention a few.
Personal Opinion:
I would say a movie that is
suspenseful without depending on
too much action(Action Movie) or
violence (Horror Movie) to pull off its
suspense.
Codes and Conventions of a Thriller:
The codes and conventions of a thriller include mirrors, low key lighting, shadows,
obtrusive editing, quick cuts, changes in camera angle, tension music, stairs, flashbacks,
use of photographs in black and white. The mirrors represent the darkness within some
characters while shadows and low key lighting represent the inner darkness within beings.

2. Different Types of Thrillers
There are many different sub-genres of thrillers,
more than most people are aware of.
These could be:
 Suspense Thrillers
 Conspiracy Thrillers
 Political Thrillers
 Religious Thrillers
 Spy Thrillers
 Psychological Thrillers
 Techno- Thrillers
 Supernatural Thrillers

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Murder
Violent Storylines
Kidnap
Make the viewer nervous, for the fate of characters
Heart-pounding excitement
Emotional involvement
Tension
Not knowing what will happen next
Suspense about what will happen next
Action
Protagonists in jeopardy
Physical and/or emotional violence
Fast pacing
Twists, turns, and reversals of fortune
A diabolical villain
Protagonists who are sometimes heroic, sometimes just caught
up in events
Character flaws that opponents exploit
Surprise endings
Endings where the villain, though apparently defeated, returns

4.  Convicts
 Criminals
 Stalkers
 Assassins
 Innocent victims
 Psychotic People
 Police (Law, government)

5. The conventions of the thriller genre are based on sound, editing, lighting, miseen-scene and cinematography. The codes and conventions are mainly what
the audiences expect to see within a thriller this includes all types of thrillers,
including its subgenres, (psychological, action, etc) What audiences expect to
see is what producers need to include to attract an audience. The codes and
conventions in a thriller always includes a victim, which most of the time is a
vulnerable female protagonist and a dominant male character. This lets the
audiences relate with the stereotypes and therefore this produces more
audience appeal and realism. Psychological thrillers usually play with
audiences minds by giving a false sense of security, using red herrings, or
manipulating a character keep audiences guessing. Sound is a large factor in
creating tension in a thriller sequence. High pitched strings are usually used
to heighten suspense, and eventually the suspense is released with a loud
diagetic noise. If the theme of the film is water or ice for instance, the sound
used may be similar to the noise you get when circling a finger round a glass,
this is a convention of a thriller because the image and sound are
synchronous.