generic codes and conventions for thriller

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Generic Codes and
Conventions for thriller
By Selina Simmonds

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Codes And Conventions
 Mirrors , low key lighting , often filmed in dark areas
and spacing, shadows, quick cuts, change in
camera angles, tension music, flashbacks
 Diegetic sound of breathing, black and white shots,
more close-ups and direct camera angle
 Often seen a protagonist is in the mercy/wrath of
the antagonist.

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These are
examples of thriller
movies like the
hunger games, the
maze runner and
gone girl.
Examples

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Mise-en-scene/ settings
 The location is important for the film because it help the
audience establish the theme. Such as a home. Haunted
house.
 Lighting is often low key
 Costumes-antagonist will be in dark cloths if you see them.
Protagonist will be in ordinary everyday cloths.
 Comisition.
 Make-up and hair styles
 Acting
 Film stoke(black and white, or colour, fine-grain or grainy)

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Characters
 The protagonist is stereotypically a brave young
male who is in search of a new and good
equilibrium.
 the antagonist will have a hidden identity that the
audience will uncover/be told (dramatic irony) as the
movie progresses. Often the antagonist goes out for
revenge from a past event.
 The hero is often found staring in the face of danger
and stereotypically rescuing the damsel in distress.

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Soundtrack
Music is essential in any film to understand the
mood of the character and hint at a significant part
in the film.
In a thriller, it adds suspense and tension. It will
often start at a slow paves and then, build up to
make the shots more dramatic for the audience.

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Camera Movement/
cinematography
 There will be a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups
of the protagonist character, tis is often to show
their emotions, also it can be used to focus on props
to aid the narrative.
 The shots of the antagonistic character will be cut
quickly an will aim to hide their identity, i.e. a shot of
them, a low key shot, the silhouette, or shadow od
the character.

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Editing
 The director will include lots of jump cuts because
there will be things happening that the audience is
unaware of but is essential for the film to make
sense.
 The cross cutting is a key point in editing as it is
used to build suspense which is essential for a
thriller.
 Continues editing is used to help the audience
understand the film/plot better.

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So too Conclude…
Thriller movies often depend on the codes
and convetions of this genre to make it a
thriller such as the perfect lighting (dark,
shallow lighting), tense music to mark the
danjerous points n the film and diegetic
sound effects to present the mood to the
auidence.