THRILLER GENRE CONVENTIONSBY ALEX BACKHOUSE

SOUND CONVENTIONSUsed to create fear in the audience.Used to create tension in the audience to build up to a battle or a death.Needs to have a good movie theme that can be recognised by people who haven’t seen the film and may want to make them watch the film.Music needs to be present during fight scenes as otherwise it would be boring.Sound Effects are essential as they make the film exiting and engaging for the audience.

EDITING CONVENTIONSSmooth cuts add to a good effect as it will excite the audience.Shorter cuts also add toward a general tension among the viewers.Sound effects are also important as without them the film would not be as realistic e.g. no epic music during the final battle between the protagonist and the antagonist.

MISE EN SCENE CONVENTIONS

The costume needs to show characters up to fit whom they are meant to be e.g. in a war film the soldiers need to be wearing camo.Props can include MacGuffins that the whole film is based around obtaining.The setting has to reflect the mood of the film e.g. The Dark Knight in Gotham`

CINEMATOGRAPHY CONVENTIONS

Shots help to add action to the film and can help bring the audience into the film with close up shots or POV shots. For example on a chase scene a POV shot can be used to put the audience in the shoes of the victim.The angle and position of the camera can answer questions on status to the viewer as in the beginning when they do not know who is who they can help get a better understanding just from the angle and position of the camera.The movement of the camera is also key as it helps to make the film more important for the audience so they can get more exited by the film.

CONVENTIONAL PLOTThe plot needs to be action packed to fit the ‘thriller’ genre as if the plot is not exciting then no one will want to watch it and it would not be a successful thriller film.Has to have at least several big fight scenes in order to entice the audience and make them want to watch more of it.

CONVENTIONAL LOCATIONS/SETTING

Locations are usual big spaces that can fit many fight scenes.A city where all the characters live e.g. Gotham for batman.Dangerous places such as on top of sky scrapers where a confrontation could be.

CONVENTIONAL CHARACTERSProtagonist.Antagonist.Possible love interest.Best friend character.Damsel in distress.Thugs.Law characters e.g. the police.

REPRESENTATIONS OF MALES Males are usually thought to be ‘main’ charactersThey are typically stronger and save the day.They are either the Protagonist or Antagonist.Save the women characters from the antagonist or their goons.Cocky

REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALES

Females are usually weaker characters.Only in some movies are they the main characters such as Clarice Starling in The Silence Of The Lambs who is an example of a strong female character.Damsels in distress.

NARRATIVE

This is the way the story or plot unfolds.Is the story an open or closed structure?A closed structure means the story ends satisfactory as in most films- This is known as closure.An open ending means there is no final conclusion to the story- a television soap has no final ending, it just has minor endings.Some texts have an interactive structure e.g. Big Brother.

A multi- strand structure means there are several narratives running at the same time. This is very common in television, such as Holby City, and The Bill.Other narrative structures include point of view (POV). (Documentaries often do this)A popular narrative device is the enigma. The plot constructs a puzzle that the audience is asked to solve while the characters act out the story.

TYPES OF NARRATIVELinear-Follows a straight line- Starting at the beginning, moving to the middle and proceeding to the end of the story.Non- Linear-Events are portrayed, out of chronological order.Parallel Editing-Parallel editing involves cutting between two or more separate scenes (remember, a scene is shot in a single location) that are happening at the same time in the story. This means that the different storylines unfold in parallel (at the same time but in different locations

NARRATIVE THEORISTS- TODOROVTodorov suggests there are five stages to how the narrative progresses:1-The equilibrium has to be carefully shown (otherwise the disruption may not be dramatic enough to create a strong plot).2-There is a disruption.3-There is a recognition that a disruption has happened.4-There is an attempt to repair the damage done by the disruption.5-A new equilibrium is achieved.

NARRATIVE THEORISTSProppPropp studied folk tales and he proposed ways of grouping characters and their actions into eight broad character types or ‘spheres of action’

The VillainThe HeroThe Donor- Provides an object with some magic or property.The Helper- Aids the hero.The Princess- Hero’s reward.Her Father- Rewards the hero.The Dispatcher- Sends the hero on has way.False Hero- Lays claim to the princess but is unsuitable and causes complications.

Star Wars Example-Villain- VaderHero- LukeDonor- Obi-WanHelper- HanPrincess- LeiaFather- The RebelsDispatcher- R2D2False Hero- Vader