Codes and Conventions of a Thriller

obtrusive editing: quick cuts and obtrusive editing are used frequently in thriller films to accentuate the feelings of suspense and tension. they are used generally on an important or  particularly "thrilling" scene, sometimes creating disorientation of space and time by using montage editing. my film will feature this particular convention in certain scenes, especially in the third scene where my story is being set up after the character development stage.I will not be revealing my antagonist  in the scene this is to keep the enigma for longer. however when the action kicks in i will be using quick cuts and disorient editing as my protagonist is a little bit "high".

Flash Backs: flashbacks contribute to thrillers by pointing out to the audience that something has happened in the past to create the situation that the character is in now. flash backs are generally confusing to the audience as they are meant to disorientate them by taking them out of the reality of the film to reveal more of the plot. i have not incorporated flashbacks into my film purely because i don't feel that my character needed a past for the story that would help as i felt it would make it "cheesy".

Black and White: is another convention of thriller because it makes the shadows elucid which can often appear quite dark and eerie. for instance in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" shower scene, the whole film is in black and white . however the shadow on the curtain creates a dark and eerie feel as if something bad is going to happen. again i have not used the black and white colour scheme as i would like to have colour, but i am going to create heavy emphasis on the saturation and shadows during the colour grading stage to give the film a more eerie feel.

Tension Music: music plays a big part in films as it can convey various emotions  to which the audience will feel. in thrillers tense music is often used in edgy dialogue scenes or if a character is in a location alone, tension music can also be used for build ups or plot twists. i will be using tension music in my film in specific scenes to convey to the audience that they should be on the edge of their seats.

Montage Editing: montage editing is used frequently in film and can be used to display scales of time that has passed, also it could be used to portray certain non important events, for instance in "prisoners" Hugh Jackman kid-knaps a man and decides to build his own torture chamber during this long process a montage is played whilst he builds it and then Hugh jackman visiting the man.

Deceptive Mind Games: mind games are commonly used in thrillers, more so in psychological thrillers where serial killers, mad scientists and other villains play tricks on the protagonist disorientating them and shaking them of off the ultimate goal. i have used a type of mind game in one of my scenes where my protagonist is "high" on drugs and sees thing which are not real, so rather than the antagonist playing deceptive mind games, my protagonists own mind plays tricks on herself.