Conventions of a Thriller

There are many conventions within a thriller film, such as:

• Mood - A good thriller always includes the moods of suspense, tension, a level of seriousness and thrillers can often also have elements of horror 
• Stock Characters - Very obvious and recognisable characters such as The Villain, The Hero, The Lover, Helpers (sidekick) and many thrillers also usually include either Detectives, The FBI or the Police. If there is a Villain and a Hero then they can tend to have a back story, previous to the film, and the film is then about the Villain to try and take revenge. The Villain often has a reason for turning bad which is revealed in the film and sometimes then opens an opportunity for him to reverse and turn good again. The Hero often has a lover who he has to save from some sort of danger. 
• Music - To be able to gain the tense atmosphere used in thrillers then the music is key. To be able to achieve the right mood the music tends to be climactic, which builds up and gradually increases, Music like this can heighten the action and give it a faster pace and tells the audience that something big is about to happen. However, the use of no music can also work effectively in a thriller to give it a slightly scarier atmosphere and gives it an air of mystery. 
• Lighting/Setting - The lighting in thrillers is usually dark, shot at night, with usually a mist and dingy atmosphere as this sets a mysterious and spooky atmosphere as people associate the dark with it being scary. The lighting is also quite dark and dingy which also adds to the spooky atmosphere. The setting usually happens in urban areas 
• Narrative - This includes things like either a happy or sad ending, climax's and cliffhangers, and twists. A good narrative that will keep the audience engaged the whole way through would usually use a storyline that will allow for unexpected twists so the audience can't guess what is going to happen as this keeps them watching and guessing the whole way through. 
• An Enigma - All thrillers must have (and usually start with) and enigma. An enigma is something which will create unanswered questions within the audience. Opening a thriller film with an enigma such as 'who are they?', 'whats happened?', 'why is that like that?' etc effectively engages the audience straight away as they are then hooked and want to watch the rest of the film to be able to answer the questions that the film has presented us with.