Conventions of thrillers

Conventions of Thrillers

Mirrors, low key lighting, shadows, obtrusive editing, quick cuts, changes in camera angles, tension music, stairs, flashbacks, use of photographs, black and white, disorientation of time and space, montage editing.

Specific to psychological thrillers: two or more characters preying upon one another’s minds, deceptive mind games, trying to demolish each other’s mental state.

Mirrors are used as a convention of a thriller film through the use of ones soul and inner self. mirrors represent the darkness within some of the characters.

Shadows are closely related to low key lighting and are used as a convention of a thriller film. They are used to represent the inner darkness within beings, and can also add to tension and eeriness that is created.

Quick shots and obtrusive editing are used frequently in thriller films to accentuate the feelings of suspense and tesnion. They are often used during an important or particulary thrilling scene sometimes creating a disorientation of time and space, by using montage editing.

Flashbacks contribute to a sense of time and space disorientation in a thriller and this confuses teh audience. It is also a convention of a thriller film because it can display what has happened in the past to give the audience an insight into characters pasts.

Black and white is another of teh conventions of a thriller because it accentuates the use of shadows and can often appear quite eerie and dark.