Thriller Essay on Conventions

A thriller is a Genre of Movie that follows lots of different set Conventions in order to have a certain effect on the audience. Many Thrillers these days can be split up into different subsections such as ; Action thriller, Conspiracy thrillers, Crime thrillers, Legal thrillers, Political thrillers and Psychological thrillers. Thrillers can be great films if they are done correctly, and can make a lot of profit for the producers. Thrillers use psychological mind games to put mind games and thoughts into the audiences head so that they are interested, pumped with adrenaline and kept on the edge of their seat throughout the film. Due to these thrillers being so successful, many have been produced, which means that conventions and ideas will be re-used. Conventions can be found by analyzing multiple films and finding similarities between them. 

Thrillers often tend to have a Protagonist who is normally unaware of the Antagonists true identity, who they are, and what their morals are. An example of this would be in Taking lives, Where Angelina Jolie's character is unaware that the man she slept with is actually a serial killer that has taken the identities of many different men in order to lead a different life and escape the Punishment of his crimes. He uses very clever mind games to try and make himself seem innocent. This can also be related to Psycho the viewers are made to believe that Norman, and his mother are too different characters. Due to the camera angles we never actually get to see the face of his 'mother', as not to give away that it is really him. Having this lack of knowledge from the main Protagonist adds Tension to the film as it is unknown to the audience and the character who is the antagonist, and what are their motives. However This is not evident in the film "Memento," as the main Protagonist knows who the Killer of his wife is, But cannot access his memory due to an accident, this is How the technique is not portrayed in a film as the protagonist had knowledge of who killed his wife, but is unable to remember it, thus has to have the information of his killer tattooed on his body. Although the Protagonist knows who the antagonist is, He still is unknown to it, creating an effect where the viewer knows a lot more than the character knows, but this effect still works and adds tension to the film.

An Example of the Tattoos In Memento

The main plot of a Thriller usually revolves around there being a crime of some sorts, this is because we as a audience are not used to seeing major crime from the point of view of the victim and the criminal. The crime generally depends to be a murder. Many of the 'Big' Thriller titles usually involve a Serial killer going around, while the Protagonists tries to stop them. Taking lives is a really good example of this, as the whole film is based upon a Serial Killer killing people and stealing their identities, and the protagonist is trying to crack the psychological game and catch the killer. The whole plot is based around Murder, and this adds a thrilling tension and keeps up on the edge of the seat, as murder is not something we are used to in everyday life. The film takes us through the thoughts of the people we are not, and lets the audience see something from the perspective of a special agent who would deal with murder a lot. Another Example of this is in No country for old men. The when the money is found, it is at the scene of a major drug deal. The Core of the plot is also based upon crime as there is a psychopathic killer who is after the protagonist. This use of Crime keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, as it a unknown area for them, and they do not naturally know the thoughts of the people involved, what is going to happen next.

Thrillers also generally have a feeling of voyeurism, this is when somebody is being spied on and doesn't know. This is done because it adds tension, and questions in the audiences head that go unanswered, like why are they spying on them, what will happen next. An example of this is in Psycho when Norman is watching through the hole in the wall. Marion does not know she is being watched, but we as the audience can see that she is. This adds tension because we wonder why he is watching her.

Another Convention of the thriller is that the title normally reflects the psychological state of the Antagonist or Protagonist. "Psycho" Is called so because literally the antagonist is a Psycho. Also this is the case with Taking lives. The Antagonist is killing people thus taking their life. Not only this, but he also physically "Takes their life" by becoming them. The titles reflecting the psychological state of somebody is a good convention because it leaves the Audience guessing as to why the film has been titled what it is. What aspects of the film make the title have that name, and how are they related.


Sound is also important in the thriller genre as this can be mainly responsible for all of the Tension that is built up. We can feel the emotions and feelings of the characters through the use of Digetic sound. We can hear what they can hear so emphasise with them as we too can hear. Useing Non Digetic music can add a lot of tension, this is also the case with silence. silence and Music give the film a lot more tension, and a lot more thrilling to watch. The Use of sound in the shower scene in psycho is possibly the most well known piece of music from a thriller film ever. This in itself is an obvious example of how well music ads to the tension of a thriller. However, before this scene, there is no music. This leads up and slowly increases the tension.


All Thrillers have Set conventions that they use in order to make them thrilling. Using all of the techniques in some way will add tension to a film. Thrillers are there not to scare the Audience, but to build up the tension, constantly leaving questions unanswered, so the audience do not know what is going to happen next. Tension is the most important part of a thriller, it is what most people find interesting in a thriller and go to watch them for. Without using these forms and conventions, thrillers would not be thrilling.