Codes and conventions of Thriller Films.

Here is a list of codes and conventions traditional to thriller films. It is useful to consider these whilst planning for you own.



Characters: 

• Femme Fatale. 
• Police. 
• Innocent victims. 
• Psychopaths. 
• Convicts. 
• Investigators. 

Sound: 

• Tense music.
• Silence. 
• Exaggerated sounds. - Tyre screeches, doors opening etc... 
• Diagetic - In the movie, characters can hear it. 
• Non - diagetic - Added in afterwards. 

Editing: 

• Fast pace. 
• Slow pace. 
• Parallel editing. 
• Jump cuts. 
• Bullet time. 
• Over cranking. 
• Under cranking. 

Lighting: 

• Dark. 
• Mysterious. 
• Night time/ evening. 
• Back lighting (silhouette).
• Chiaroscuro (Side lighting).
• High lighting (usually eyes).

Costume: 

• Police outfits. 
• 'skimpy' outfits for Femme Fetale. 
• Good guys - Light colours (white) 
• Bad - Dark colours (Black) 

Camera work: 

• Tracking shot.
• Point of view shot. 
• Low angle and high angle shot - Shows power. 
• Close ups and extreme close up's - Show emotion. 
• Mid shot - Show emotion and body language. 

Themes: 

• Chase/ pursuit. 
• Red herrings. 
• Time/ deadline. 
• 'Whodunit' effect. 
• Ransoms. 
• Kidnapping. 
• Murder. 
• Investigations. 
• Heists. 
• Revenge. 
• ENIGMA. 
• Mystery. 
• Stalking. 
• Flash backs. 
• Race against time.