Codes & Conventions: Thriller

Codes and Conventions: Thrillers.

Codes are systems of signs, put together (usually in sequence) which create meaning. Codes can be divided into three categories - Technical, Symbolic and Written/Audio:
Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.
Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling.
Written/audio codes such as headlines and captions/Music.
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. Conventions are genre specific.
Codes and conventions of a Thriller Movie:
- Sound and editing. eg quick cuts and camera angle changes.
- Music that gives tension when appropriate (Visceral).
- Harsh and abrasive sounds.
- Lighting, especially the use of shadow. Usually dark.
- Objects such as mirrors and stairs.- The use of flashbacks.
- Blurred, flickered, distorted or faded camera shots.
- Psychological; gets the audience thinking.
- Ordinary people in extraordinary situations’
- Plot intensive.
- Clues are laced into the thread of the film
- Often a twist at the denouement.
- Audience as detectives.
- Thematically darker side of human emotions – Revenge, obsession, murder, money, regret, concealment, escape, passion or hatred.
- Mood/Tone is dark, oppressive, sinister, mysterious, cold, bleak.
- The opening should introduce a significant theme / moment from the film and/or character from the film but should be careful not to reveal any crucial information.
- Should seek to engage the audience in the world of the film.
- Should seek to set the tone of the thriller (diegetic), dark, oppressive, atmospheric.
- Violence and obscenity showed in action and uses of props (guns, knives, weapons).
- Roland Barthes: to create suspense in narrative, there must be
unanswered questions which will compel the viewer to anticipate action with a resolution.
- The audience is gripped by the plot and wants to watch on to see the story unfold.
- Age Certification of 18+
- Opening titles/credits - writing font in red to symbolise evil/blood or credits fragmented.
- Prologue acts as a ‘hook’ to get the audience interested.
- Begins with protagonist introduction (Victim/Killer).
- Killer is male to represent strength and dominance, also a stereotypical view of a killer/evil person.
- Storyline not in chronological order.
- Victims are innocent and vulnerable.
- Dark costume - represents evil, sinister dark side of character.