codes and conventions of thrillers
TRANSCRIPT
Ahmad Fadhil Saleh
Mirrors, low key lighting, shadows, obtrusive editing, quick cuts, changes in camera angle, tension music, stairs, flashbacks, use of photographs, black and white, disorientation of time and space, montage editing
Specific to psychological thrillers: two or more characters preying over another’s minds, deceptive mind games, trying to destroy each other’s mental state
Mirrors are used as a convention of a thriller film through the use of reflection of one’s soul and inner self
Mirrors represent the darkness within some characters
An example is ‘Mirrors’ directed by Alexandré Aja
Shadows are closely related with low key lighting and are used as a convention of a thriller film
They are used to represent the inner darkness within beings, and can also add to tension and scariness that is created
Quick shots and obtrusive editing are used frequently in thriller films to accentuate the feelings of suspense and tension
They are often used during an important or particularly ‘thrilling’ scene – sometimes creating a disorientation of time and space, by using montage editing
Flashbacks contribute to a sense of time and space disorientation in a thriller and this confuses the audience
It is also a convention of a thriller film because it can display what has happened in the past to give the audience an insight into characters’ pasts
An example is in ‘Momento’ by Christopher Nolan
Black and white is another of the conventions of a thriller, because it accentuates the use of shadows, and can often appear quite eerie and ‘dark’.
An example is ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock