Blog 1: Thriller Conventions

There are various types of thriller conventions that may be incorporated. It mainly is fast paced, there is frequent action, a protagonist/hero who has tot sop the villain from doing something which may use his influence to dominate or to destroy the world and an antagonist who drives the story along. The major conventions that are involved within the story of a thriller are cliffhangers, in which are unresolved segments of the story, suspense is when the audience has a sense of tension incorporated within the story to create a sense of suspension. A red herring is when the audience is tricked for a certain way,if the audience had thought that a side character is working for the antagonist, then the red herring to that situation would be that the side character is working undercover. The genre of thriller can be flexible, as it can be able to get multiple genres at one and combine them to make a film.

There are various ways in which thrillers use a set convention to try to give a dynamic style to it, one example is of lighting, if the place is dark and very dimly lit, there something is about to happen, in which would cause a issue within the story, a sense of disruption being incorporated, tense music, in which if an orchestra is used, then they would stress the music, giving it a sense of dread, a bit of a darker atmosphere in which is involved. The protagonist in the mercy of the antagonist, in which is the person has someone who is either kidnapped, then they would want to beg the antagonist to not to kill or hurt that said person that was kidnapped/taken. At the same time, there are often a montage of shots that are being involved, to try to give the scope of the area, in which also tries to convey that there is a sense of panic in which is being shown within the part.

The characters in which being conveyed, is also, a very crucial part of the film, because if the characters are very paper thin, then the movie will not work, and the plot will fall apart with the poor and sloppy development, the protagonist tries to become of a brave person throughout the film, they try to seek a new equilibrium and to also stop the antagonist. Whereas the antagonist within the beginning of the film, keeps an unknown identity in which the audience of the film tries to guess who the person is, within the main reason why the person act like this, it may be because of an past event in which had led them to their downfall of their positive and led to act like this.

The story in which is being incorporated within the film, tries to make the audience think that the thing that it could happen to them will happen, in which case, this will lead for the people to feel scared. The cinematography is very important, to try to make its audience to feel as if they are on edge, just like the main protagonist. There will be close ups and extreme close ups within the shots of the main character, this is mainly used to try to convey the emotions that they are feeling within the particular segment, and to also focus on the narrative. There will quick cuts and fast shots for the antagonist to try to keep their animosity, if it is a more longer shot, they it will mainly be the shadow or the silhouette of them.

The editing will be fast, there is a huge sense of jump cuts within the film, it will consist of fast editing, as there will be many things that will happen in which the audience watching it will not understand, as it will not make sense. There is cross cutting involved, to try to convey a sense of suspense within the thriller, at the same time, continue editing is also conveyed to try to give the audience a better understanding of what is currently happening.

Music is also very essential, as if the wrong type of music is being coveyed, then there is a lack of suspense being involved within the film. The right music being involved, whether if it is diagetic or non diagetic, will create a mood for that set character that is being involved, it starts off slow to try to get it started, then it will increase the speed to match the shots being shown, to try to heighten the tension involved.

There is also mise-en-scene being shown within, there is more often than not, a low key type of lighting, the film type is often within various types, black or white, colour, sepia or grainy. Costumes are very important to try to mainly convey what type of person or character wears these set of clothes.