The conventions of a thriller

  • Little Red Riding Hood

    Little Red Riding Hood
    This was an early Disney story of a physco-stalker. This is a common convention in the thriller genre.
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    Sub-genre's In Thrillers

    The different types of thrillers include;
    -Action thriller
    -Comedy thriller
    -Conspiracy thriller
    -Crime thriller
    -Erotic thriller
    -Horror thriller
    -Legal thriller
    -Political thriller
    -Psychological thriller
    -Spy film
    -Supernatural thriller
    -Techno-thriller
  • First ever Thriller

    First ever Thriller
    Alfred Hitchcock's first thriller was the third silent movie The Lodger. Dealt with Jack the Ripper therefore they had a typical story line for this genre.
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    Changes in the Thriller Genre

    There have been many changes in the genre such as, stereotypical plots although they still have a modern twist. Often include situations relevant to modern society e.g. Taken is linked to government/ Terrorist based plots. As time progressed, music and sound was used to make the audience feel tense and create suspense
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    More changes in thrillers

    Another convention which changed was, lighting and colour also became available to directors, this allowed them to use dark, shadow lighting to emphasis the dark characters.
  • Second Thriller by Hitchcock

    Blackmail was his first ever sound film. He then produced over films such as, Number Seventeen and The Man Who Knew Too Much
  • Many other British thriller directors

    Around the period of, 1932- 1935, there was many other thriller directors such as, Walter Forde, Victor Saville, George A Cooper and Michael Powell.
  • Other films released in 1950's- 60's

    • The Night Of The Hunter
    • Touch Of Evil
    • Cape Fear
    Through the use of repetition, thriller films stuck to the basic codes and conventions of a thriller film e.g. Stalker, protagonist and antagonist.
  • Colour Films

    Hitchcock didn't add colour to his thriller films until 1951 in his film Train.
  • 1970- 1980

    During this era, the Thriller films began to edge closer towards the horror aspect, adding violence to the film whilst still maintaining the clear comparison between the two genre's.
  • 21st Century Thrillers

    During this era, the thriller genre moved even closer towards the horror genre. The films contained more blood, gore and deaths. Also interacting with codes and conventions of action movies. Instead of re-using old Thriller plots, they modernised the plots. They did this by, adding government conspiracy, terrorism issues and world wide issues
  • Themes & Characters

    Common methods in thrillers include, ransoms, captives, heists, revenge, kidnappings. Characters may include, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims, menaced women and psychotic individuals
  • Story and setting

    It often includes, an atmosphere of menace and sudden violence such as a crime or murder. Tension usually arises when a particular character is put in a dangerous situation. Or trap which seems impossible to escape.