Thriller Conventions

Today in class in small groups we talked about what conventions are commonly used in most thrillers, and what makes a film a thriller?
Thrillers nearly always include..
-suspense
-small amounts of action ( not too much other wise it would fall into the action movie genre)
-a mystery
-Characters- dis-empowered protagonist, damsel in distress, psychologically disturbed characters
-Narrative- a complex narrative, paradoxical narrative, complicated Todorov curve- false paths for the characters to take.

I then carried out further research to find out additional thriller conventions.
http://www.slideshare.net/CharlotteEmmaVicki/codes-and-conventions-of-thrillers
This slide share created by 3 girls studying media at a different school introduced me to...
Major Props- Such as mirrors which are supposed to reflect someones 'inner sole' which can show peoples inner darkness
Shadows and Low Key Lighting- Represent the darkness within the narrative and creates a sense of comfort and eeriness.
Obtrusive Editing- frequently used within thrillers to accentuate feelings of suspense and tension, its often used within an important scene or a scene which is especially 'thrilling' sometimes creating a sense of disorientation of time and space by using montage editing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/
After discussing an researching the conventions of thriller movies, we then watched The Usual Suspects a 1995 thriller directed by Bryan Singer, to apply the conventions and see who they are used to create tension and suspense.
The movie introduced me into a major theme of thrillers which is crime and weapons, other conventions within the film which made the film a thriller where the graphic props of dead bodies, and harsh weapons and also the music used helped create the suspense and the eerie atmosphere.