Conventions

Thriller Conventions

• A build up to the action
• Creation of fear / apprehension / anticipation / unsettling feeling / confusion / doubt over a character
• Dark, shadowy atmosphere (use of light and dark images)
• Establishing mood and atmosphere throughout the film
• Delay in showing the face of a significant character, or the action of an important event by first showing the hand of the character for instance or a reaction of someone watching the event
• Creation of suspense using soundtrack music –eerie innocent music?
• Morally ambiguous central character – film noir (Seven)
• Murder encouraging a suspecting audience
• Realistic settings to create a sense of ‘the unusual’ occurring within a normal setting
• Flashbacks
• Hero(ine) in situation of threat or struggle
• Red Herrings (Hitchcock movies)
• Twists and unexpected turns (The Usual Suspects)
• Making and keeping the audience tense and on the edge of our seats.The thriller relies on an intricate plot in order to create fear and apprehension in the viewer.
• The hero(ine) of the thriller is seen in situations of threat/peril before the film's narrative is resolved.
• The female characters in a thriller are often objectified through a series of gazes.
• The thriller narrative contains a build up of suspense
• The thriller is often located within an ordinary situation where extraordinary things happen.
• The killer ensnares the victim in a set of intricate moves.
• The thriller narrative is usually centred on a crime (usually a murder).
• The hero(ine) of a thriller is fallible.
• The audience are often positioned as voyeurs.
• The thriller often includes themes of identity (mistaken identity / loss).
• There is often a theme of mirroring involved in a thriller.
• Labyrinths and mazes are often motifs; they may be actual or psychological.

Music Video Conventions
The video will either be one of the following types or will be a hybrid of:

• Performance
• Narrative (lyrics)
• A concept or idea
• There will be some reference to the ‘notion of looking.’
• There will be a relationship between music and visuals.
• There will be close-ups of the artist and/or star image motifs.
• There will be intertextual references within the video
• The video will contain clear genre characteristics.