What is a thriller film?

What is a thriller film?

Codes and conventions.
Enigma - A mystery is always set in a thriller
Representation of characters - victims are represented as being weak
Violence - when people are being killed
Dramatic irony- audience knows the victim is going to get attached the sound goes up
lighting- low key lighting creates shadows, high key lighting creates a happy scene
Editing - to build suspense and tension
Iconography- props, weapons, chains, ropes
Non - diegetic sounds - Creates tension, hear sound when you cant hear where its coming from
mirrors- To show persons reflections


there are many different conventions which all together create the whole idea of a thriller film. The different conventions are all essential for the making of a thriller film. Normally in thriller films there is dark lighting and settings which are not clear to us which creates a sense of suspension throughout the film. There is always a narrative and story line which makes it easy to follow whats happening. There is nearly always an aspect of violence as this is one of the main conventions in a thriller film. Jumpy sounds are used and load and bold music to make the audience scared and on edge. The clothes in thriller films are important as it can diffrerentiate between the victim and the killer, generally the victim would be in white which shows innocence and the killers identity is usually hidden.

  An example of one of the conventions is shown in the opening scene to the first saw film, this particular convention was low key lighting. The first scene shows the man waking up in a dark room and he is unable to identify his whereabouts. This gives the audience a feeling of uncertainty and builds a tension. This convention is important in a thriller film becasue it can create an eery setting.

Another convention that is shown in the saw opening was violence. There is a man laying dead in the middle of the floor and this creates an enigma as nobody in the room knows why he is there. this is important for thriller films to include violence so early on in the film because it can create the whole atmosphere as to what the film will be about and so the audience will know that it will include more violence.

The final convention that i analysed was Iconograhy. There are many props used in the opening scene, There is a gun in the middle of the floor and both of the charachters are chained up to objects in the room which they wake up in. Neither of the men know why they are there or why there are weapons in the blood stained room. This creates an atmosphere of tension as the charachters have no idea why they are there and niether do the audience. This is important because the props can say alot about the genre of the film, and what is going to happen next.


Our opening scene of our thriller