Thriller genre conventions

Themes:


In the thriller genre, there are certain themes that drive the narrative.

This includes:
-Revenge
-Murder
-Paranoia
-Terrorism
-Conspiracy


These are some of the most commonly seen themes in the thriller genre. However, we sometimes see more themes than these in thriller movies. One example of a thriller film that has uncommon themes for the thriller genre is 'Pulp Fiction', which contains elements of humour and comedy throughout the film.


Narrative:
Narrative is the key convention that differentiates on movie from another in a genre. This may revolves around one or more charcters and may affect the storyline or make the storyline what it is. Narrative is directly affected by the themes, as they define the nature of the storyline and define the main goal to be achieved by the story.

Typical storylines seen in thriller films revolve around the themes stated above. An example of a film using some of these themes is 'Edge of darkness'. Edge of darkness is a film about a man called 'Thomas Craven', a detective who investigates the the murder of his daughter. The film's storyline expands into a tale of revenge as Thomas Craven tries to find his daughter's murderer, conspiracy and terrorism as Thomas Craven discovers the reason why his activist daughter was murdered.

Iconography:

Iconography is everything you would expect to see in a particular genre of film. For example, in a thriller movie you may expect to see guns, fast cars, and high tech gadgets. These certain props form a certain iconography which gives the thriller genre its themes and also helps build certain narratives.

Examples of typical props in a thriller include:

-Guns
-Suits
-Urban environments
-Attractive women

Cinematic style:

The cinematic style of a film is the type of sounds and visual effects you would expect to see in a certain genre. For the Thriller genre, you would expect to see many explosions for the visual style.

Casino Royale's trailer consistently shows key action thriller cinematics and iconography. From gun fights and stylish cars, to explosions and urban environments.

Also, for the audio style, because of the many fast paced action scenes, you would most likely hear music matching the pace of the scenes. Fast music helps build tension in films and can be used not only to heighten the tension but to create it as well.

The haunting in connecticut is a supernatural thriller film that uses a chilling piano tune in the background of the trailer. This is a great example of how the music can build suspense in a trailer.

Characters:



Robert Clayton Dean
(Will Smith)



The characters in any genre must vary to make the film different. However, there are some aspects of each character's role that will stay consistent to each genre. For example, in the thriller genre there is usually an innocent victim who has been brought into the story. One example of this is in Enemy Of The State. Will Smith's character. 'Robert Clayton Dean' was dragged into a government conspiracy and was being chased by the government. Will Smith's character was the innocent victim and main protagonist of the film, and the government acted as the villain of the film.

Sercret Service Agent in
Vantage Point

Typically in the thriller genre the appearance of a person involved with the law is common. This may range from an average police officer to an F.B.I. Agent. We may also see spies, and government leaders as well. We can also see the opposite of law abiding citizens, such as gangsters. If a gang is involved in a thriller they are typically going to be the villains of the film. An example is 'The Godfather'.



Basic Instinct Poster



Villains of thrillers are typically seen to be males, however this is not always the case...films such as 'Basic Instinct' have cast a female as the villain of these films, showing an inversion of the stereotype of men being the killers of films in their genre.