Conventions of the Thriller Genre.

The following is a list of thriller conventions. Use it to both to create your own sequence and analyse existing ones, remembering that different films will use different conventions in different ways:

A genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

Thriller Conventions

-A crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily).

-A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions.

-A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved.

A protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.

-Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations.

-Themes of identity.

-Themes of mirroring.

-Themes of voyeurism (a person who enjoys seeing the pain or distress of others)

-Protagonist with a ‘flaw’ which is exploited by the antagonist.

-Titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist’s psychological state.

-There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril.

-Mise en scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist’s plight.

Some of these can be identified in the opening sequence of the film 'saw 2':

Link to 'saw 2' opening scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXkiaZbM9MM

.Film opens with a man sitting on a chair with a device strapped to his head. poses the questions; Who is he? Why is he there? What is that device strapped to his head?

. A video comes up on the screen of somebody talking on a screen wearing a mask describing what is going on. poses the question; who is he? why is he doing it?

By : Azzari