Conventions of a Thriller Film - Miss Miller

I will be researching the conventions of a thriller film, there are several conventions within the thriller genre, mainly consisting around the sense of suspense, shock and surprise. I will be looking at the film Eagle Eye.

A convention used within this film is a vulnerable female and a male hero, this is common to thriller films as traditionally males are seen as more dominant and the protectors over females, whom from the influence of Alfred Hitchcock have always been timid victims. Within a thriller film it is usual that the female victim will be in trouble and it will be the male heroes duty to save her, there is most usually a romantic sub-plot, however that is a usual convention within all genres of movies as it gives the audience a relatable engagement, both characters are generally good looking and athletic. Thriller films generally always have a female victim and are most usually blonde and attractive, films such as Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre use female victims and sexualise them in order to gain male and especially teenage appeal, the use of this resultantly will leads to higher viewership and a higher profit. The male audience may grow fond and form a relationship with a particular female character and thus will create a better viewing for them and they may also be more shocked and emotional if they were to be killed.




The male protaginist protects the
vulnerable female, the use of worried
facial expressions and the positioning
of the woman under the male shows
he is more powerful and in command.

Another convention within this film is the hidden identity of the villain, in thriller films the villains identity is usually kept secret through a mask or darkness, or even in a phone call as it is in this clip the main aim of this is to maintain suspense and so the audience are eager to find out who the killer is, and what their motives are, the villains mask is usually disturbing to shock the audience when there are close ups. The use of a phone call in this scene creates a sense of mystery as it makes the audience unaware of if the villain is alone or part of an organisation, it gives no clue to what the villains back story is as only a small part of information is given on their behalf as they are ordering the victims. Hidden identities within thriller films is very common, films such as Scream and Halloween both hide the identity of the killer to both create tension as the audience do not know anything about the killer and to create a shocking motif, the audience will soon relate the mask or costume both the killers are wearing and anticipate death and danger is nearing.

The antagonist within the thriller is hidden behind a
computer and thus the audience cannot tell
anything about them, thus creating suspence and
blocking the emotional relationship the film makers
woudl not want their audience to have with a killer.        

A convention within this clip is the use of tense music within the scene, this creates an atmosphere and sets the scene, the tense music used can make the audience anticipate that bad things are coming as this is a usual convention and a sign that the victim or hero is in trouble, the tense music, combined with a shocking moment can be a strong surprise for the audience as they may not have been expecting it. The tense music increases in tempo which creates excitement and a sense of adrenaline within the audience as it relates with the scene in which there is a situation where the mysetrious phoncaller is asking the female victim if she would risk her life for her son, the audience are eager to see what her reaction would be and what will happen next. Music and sound effects are an incredibly important aspect of thriller film as it can create feelings and emotions single-handedly, for example within Shutter Island the use of a repeating heartbeat that eventually begins to raise in tempo creates a feeling of urgency that can give the audience a sense of what is approaching.
In the clip the setting is very dark and there is a focus on the victim and the screen which shows the victims child, this makes these two things a strong point of focus and the audience cannot ignore these things. The use of low key lighting is very conventional  The dark setting is a very regular convention as the dark is traditionally correlated with evil and the dark is used by villains as they can hide easily and scare victims, the audience will feel scared as the setting is dark and the villain could be anywhere as they are not on screen. Lighting is incredibly important within filmography as it can create a certain perspective and adjust the audiences perception on a particular character, for example the use of bright main lighting on a character can make the character instantaneously look pure and like a protaginist, and the use of low key lighting the opposite.

The use of low key lighting instantly can give the
audience a sign that this character is evil.