Codes of a thriller

Low key lighting :  Creates a dark atmosphere and invokes mystery.

Tight spaces: Emphasises a characters mental state & the situation they are in.

Weather: Expresses emotion within a scene.

Dark & sinister characters: Adds to mystery and atmosphere within the film.

Hazy & unclear narrative: Allows the audience to figure out & interpret the story for themselves.

Weapons used as props: i.e. small hand gun, relates to real life situations .

Technical Language: Shows how people i.e. police are specialized in their fields.

Suspense > Antagonist : By not showing everything at once but by revealing small parts of information to keep the audience on their toes.

Unexpected story twists: Creates atmosphere and tension.

Conventions of a thriller

Literacy devices such as suspense and cliff-hangers are used extensively with effect.

Influenced by film noir & tragedy where the hero is often killed in the process.

Setting takes place [wholly or partly] in exotic settings e.g. foreign cities, deserts, high seas or polar regions.

Plot elements include jeopardy & violent confrontations.

Heroes are “hard men” who are accustomed to danger e.g. soldiers, spies , law enforcement officers etc but heroes can also be ordinary citizens who are drawn into the danger by accident.

Woman lead character as become more common e.g. Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver in Alien [1979].

Often overlap with mystery stories but are distinguished by plot structures.

Occurs on a grand scale then other genre. An example is of crimes which must be prevented are serial, mass murder, terrorism, assassination or overthrown governments.

Climaxes when the ‘hero’ finally defeats the villain: saving his own life and often the lives of others.

Main Production

The task for the main production is to produce opening credits to a ficition film, maximum length 2 mins.   The choosing genre is thriller.

Thriller ?

Thriller is a flexible genre form which can be undermine the audience through dramatic renderings of psychological, social, familial and political tensions it also encourages sheltered but sensation-hungry audiences.

A thriller is a ‘villain’ driven plot where he presents the ‘hero’ with obstacles he must overcome.

Thriller’s is a flexible genre because it contain serveral sub-genres these are:

• Action  : e.g. James Bond films
• Conspiracy  : e.g.  Capricorn one
• Crime : e.g. Inside man
• Disaster : e.g. earthquake[1974]
• Drama  : e.g. the illusionist,
• Erotic : e.g. obsessed
• Legal : e.g. the innocent man
• Medical : e.g. awake
• Political : e.g. agency[1980]
• Psychological : e.g. the good son
• Spy : e.g.  the Bourne identity,
• Techno : e.g. the hunt for red October
• Religious  : e.g. the da Vinci code[2003]
• science fiction : e.g. Jurassic park
• Military : e.g. Robocop
• Legal / Forensic: e.g. Seven[1995]