Conventions Of Thriller

Thriller Film is a genre that revolves around anticipation and suspense. The aim for Thrillers is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. The protagonist in these films is set against a problem – an escape, a mission, or a mystery. No matter what sub-genre a Thriller film falls into, it will emphasize the danger that the protagonist faces. The tension with the main problem is built on throughout the film and leads to a highly stressful climax.




Firstly, I will be discussing the common conventions that are involved and associated with Thriller films. The first convention that I will be discussing is violence. All Thriller films contain traces of violence or violence itself. For example, the story will usually be based off someone threatening to kill another person and hunting them down. This is an essential part of thriller films because it creates the suspense.


The next convention of Thriller films is the involvement of the police, army or government. The reason that this is done is to show the audience that the situation is very serious so that they stay hooked in on the film. In addition, the involvement of the police and government emphasises and also exaggerates the importance of the storyline.


Another convention of Thriller films is that they all have the same aim, to create suspense and therefore make the viewer excited about what will happen next. There is also a common device used in order to create this tension, this is the use of a dangerous and intimidating character. Usually, this character is one that becomes obsessed with the innocent person in the film and starts to follow him/her everywhere until they get killed. This is the whole idea of creating suspense.


Finally, I am going to discuss the environment that seems to be common across all Thriller films. Often, you will find that Thriller films are set in busy cities or urban areas, the reason that this is done is to emphasise the strange behaviour of the evil character by getting the viewer to compare the behaviour of the general public and evil character.