Conventions or Rules of a Thriller

Conventions or Rules of a Thriller

In class we outlined rules or conventions of a thriller. This the brainstorm we came up with, I have added a few of my own too.



Tension: Is apparent in thrillers it sets the mood of thrillers especially during the climax of the film.
Maguffin: set the base of the thriller, but the film is not centered around the base. Such as in the movie Unknown the Maguffin is the Prince's new agriculture deal, but that wasn't the main plot.
Chase: A chase is scene is famous in many thrillers, especially spy thrillers such as James Bond in Casino Royale. Chasing the man with the gun at the beginning of the film.
Cliff hanger: Cliffhangers bring tension and climax. This a popular convention in thrillers such as in The Birds: when she was hanging off a cliff. It was literally a cliffhanger! We didn't know what was going to happen.
Dilemma: Dilemma brings the whole film together, without a dilemma there wouldn't be tension, suspense apparent in thrillers. Without this a thriller won't thrill.
Suspense: Suspense keeps the audience at the edge of their seat.
Red Herrings: Lead us astray, we believe we have the person the film is about, but then at the near end we are faced with the truth we didn't expect. As seen in Psycho we thought that Mrs Bates was the serial killer, but we find out it's actually Norman Bates DRESSED as Mrs Bates.
Twisted Plot: A plot full of twists and turns, expect the unexpected.
Mise-en-scene: Setting, Make-up, costume, camera angles, lights etc are all essential to a thriller.
Fast editing: Including jump-cuts. Brings tension and suspense to the thriller. The mood is heightened.