THE CODES & CONVENTIONS OF THRILLER

FILMS

By Kieran Thompson-Oliver & Ciaran Walsh

CHARACTERS

In thrillers you will find a typical set of characters, not in all of them

of course. But you will find at least one in any

thriller.

For Example;

In ‘Se7en’ you will find that there is an Unknown Antagonist and the film shows how they have to work out where the killer is and why he

is killing these people.

Examples:

Detectives

Shady figure

Murderer

Serial Killer

Unknown antagonist

People with authority (Government figures, Federal officers)

Protagonist (Men/Women)

Spies

Civilians

LOCATIONSWhen looking at locations, you often find that they are set in bad weather, usually rain. They usually try and set the mood of the film

straight away by showing the weather. (Usually

thunder & rain)

Examples:

Derelict Buildings/Houses

Alleyways

The future

Locations that are ill lit

Offices

Places with little or no chance of escape ( A remote island, at sea)

Mental asylums

Abandoned places

Foreign Lands

Labs

Hospitals

The countryside

EXAMPLES:• Thunder/Lightning

• Rain

• Orchestral Music (Fast/Slow Tempo)

• Dark/Eerie Music

• Gun Shots

In thrillers they tend to try and set the tone/atmosphere surrounding the film from the outset. For example; They like to use thunder and/or rain in order to set a dark eerie tone. They did this in Shutter Island in the scene where they are on the boat.

MUSIC/SOUND

EFFECTS

EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF LIGHT

USED:• Dark

• Dingy

• Dull

• Blue Lighting

• Red Lighting

• Simple/Plain Lighting

• White lights

The vast majority of thrillers use a lot of dark/dingy lighting in which the surroundings are barely visible. For example in Se7en there is a scene in which they find one of the seven sins written behind a fridge.

LIGHTING

EXAMPLES;Props will range from things like:

• Guns

• Vehicles (Usually cars)

• Case Files

• Other forms of weaponry

• Phones

• Drugs

• Computers

• Evidence.

The typical set of props in Thriller films depends on the type of Thriller you are watching, i.e; Psychological Thriller, Crime Thriller etc.

PROPS