Codes and Conventions of Thrillers

Characters Most of the characters in these thriller movies tend to be more human than characters you would see in an action movie for example, no matter how much better the characters are than actual humans they still are very human in nature. An example would be Jason Bourne in the Bourne films as he is able to calculate what will happen at what time much better than any normal human could do, and yet still shows human emotions which makes the viewer feel that the person on screen is still human.

Props/Costumes In many thriller movies the props tend to be very similar for example in many thrillers guns are a major prop as there would be policemen or even some pulling a gun on someone, other weapons are also used quite a large amount like an axe or a knife. Something else that is used in thrillers is blood, especially used as a warning sign for the protagonist and to the viewer so that everyone knows that something is going to happen.

Settings/locations The settings for most thriller have two main setting/locations at that being either a closed area to add to a claustrophobia factor the other is quite the opposite where it would be an open area but can give a feeling of being alone in a large area with no one to even talk to, another factor to add to these is that most examples contain areas that are very real and can happen to anyone.

Music/Sound Effects The music in thriller films is used to build tension in such a way that the audience knows something is going to happen to someone as the music gets faster and faster the tension raises the faster the music gets as the scene gets closer to its climax and cuts the instant as the scene finishes so that no sound can cut into the scene so nothing can really distract the viewer from what is going on, on screen.

Lighting The lighting in these movies tend to have an effect on the scene, a dark scene would help with any tense moment as is for example when a character is in the dark and the audience knows that someone else is in there you don’t know when everything will happen, and the character doesn’t even know sometimes that there is someone in there with them, or if they do they mostly don’t know where they are.