Research into conventions of a thriller genre - Miss Miller

In this post I will be discussing conventions of a thriller in the film  'Sleeping with the enemy'. This means I will look at the features that are included in this film, that are also typically seen in thrillers.

 

In the above clip it show's a close up of the criminal watching the victim. In this specific moment, non diagetic sound is used.This particular piece of music is consistently played throughout the thriller whenever something bad is going to happen, and there for provokes the audience to feel a sense of foreboding. This is conventional to a thriller because it shows a theme of consistency and makes you associate the tense music with the film and creates the idea for people to openly be aware of the film and spark recognition if they hear it else where.

 Another feature that is frequently used and seen as conventional to a thriller film is iconography. In this case it is not yet a weapon that is used as iconography... but the layout of the tails because it represents how the criminal liked them and reinforces the theme of thriller. It makes the audience feel the same as what the victim is feeling because the non diagetic music is played again. Also the fact the there is a close up of the iconography makes the audience really focus on what's going on and the importance of what's could possible be about to unfold within the scene.

Also, low key lighting is famously used within thrillers. In the above clip, a lot of low key lighting is used in order to sustain the sense of shock, surprise and suspense. By using this lighting, it  shows a lot shadows and keeps objects and things masked creating unknown identity. This builds tension to the audience because it creates a sense of unknown and is therefore conventional to a thriller film because it makes the audience have parallel emotions to the character.

 

Another feature that is typically seen in thriller movies are handheld camera views. This is used to create jerky and unsteady images to produce a sense of chaos within the scene. The intention of this is to give a slight idea as to how the character is feeling -unnerved and scared. This is conventional to a thriller because it some how involves the audience to want to help because clearly the victim is feeling like there is no escape from the situation, therefore giving a reality check and making the audience feel how she is, which is fearful because there is no way of helping her.