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Finally it is common for more traditional thrillers to begin with an equilibrium and to follow the three act structure. However recently films have challenged this convention by opening with a disequilibrium, films such as ‘Brick’. We used ‘Brick’ as inspiration as we also started our thriller with a disequilibrium of the ‘witness’ running away from the estate. The rest of the opening scene is then non-linear as we have flash backs to the estate scene. By having a non-chronological structure we are challenging the more traditional convention of thriller films structure.  We decided to do this to make our thriller video different from the norm and to keep the audience focused as they have to work out what’s happening, they aren’t just told. For this we took motivation after analysing Memento which is hugely non-chronological in its narrative, and hold the attention of the audience throughout.

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We noticed in most thriller films a key convention is fast paced editing, to keep the suspense at a high level. However we have decided to challenge this convention and use a mix of fast pace and slow pace editing in our thriller. The slow pace editing is mostly during the café scene and gives the audience time to think about what is happening. This links well with ours being a psychological thriller, yet still breaks the common conventions associated to thriller. It also allows us to control the tension and way the audience feel and react. By challenging the common convention our thriller stands out from other thriller film, this can be beneficial as it could gain the film more recognition.

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6.Claude Levi Strauss - Binary Opposites 

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6.Claude Levi Strauss - Binary Opposites 

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Claude Levi Strauss is a theorist who came up with the convention of binary opposites. In our research we found out that it’s common for there to be binary opposites in thrillers, light vs. dark and good vs. bad. We have developed this convention for our own thriller as we not only include the common binary opposite of good vs. bad, but we have included friend vs. enemy. As the two main characters, the ‘witness’ and ‘killer’, were good friends before the event. And we are challenging the strength of their friendship and how far each character will go. The audience will be shocked how the ’killer’ is able to turn on his friends, this change in character will keep them guessing what will happen next and build tension.

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Bothlocations link into the idea of the stereotype that people in poverty don’t take care of their environments or socialise in places that are degraded. As the Estate has got pot holes in the road, chipped paving, damaged walls and vandalised garages. The café is just as harsh, with dim lighting and a basic interior. These locations link to the target audience we aimed the film at and also thriller convention, as the area itself is dark and atmospheric typical of thriller settings. Inspiration for the location came from the ‘This Is England’ and ‘Essex Boys’, as we have a lot of lower quality urban settings.

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Another way we hid the ‘killers’ identity from the audience was with the use of balaclavas in the ‘Estate scene’.  The group thought a lot about how we could make the ‘Estate scene’ more threatening with the mob attacking the victim, without making it too cheesy or breaking completely from the thriller conventions. We decided on masking the mob with balaclavas, this way their identity is totally hidden. We felt this was an appropriate clothing prop that still fitted into the thriller convention, as now the ‘victim’ and ‘witness’ are against an unknown entity. This would be enigmatic and suspenseful for the audience.  We also used metal poles, used during the beating up of the ‘victim’. We decided to use a metal pole and crow bar to give the mob a more threatening appearance. This decision was made after analysing ‘Essex Boys’ a gritty thriller set in Essex, where in one scene a character brutally attacks a man with a chair leg. Violence is a key convention in many thriller films, by including it in our own we are using and developing the convention. We are developing the convention by mixing the sub-genre convention and taking it out of the action thriller and putting it in our psychological thriller.

The overall clothing of the characters fits in with the location and also thriller convention, we took inspiration from ‘Essex Boys’ who present the characters in the clothing of the location (Essex).  The dark clothing the mob wear works with the sense of the mob being mysterious and their action being bad. Yet it also fits in to them being working class youths, lower down in the social hierarchy as they are wearing torn jeans, sports clothing, hoodies. This clothing is generally associated to young ASBO men and chavs, people that society generally gives a wide birth to and dissociates from.

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The use of lighting is another conventional micro-element when making the thriller film. In our research the group and I discovered that most thrillers limit the use of lighting on certain characters if not all to create an enigmatic atmosphere.We decided to use the Film Noir style of chiaroscuro lighting on some of the scenes, mainly the cafe, to create a sense of mystery around the 'killer'. We choice this method of lighting after analysing The Third Man, a Film Noir thriller from 1949. We developed this approach by having extreme close up shots of the 'killers' facial features, eyes, mouth, jawline. We did this to build tension and to highlight to the audience that there is something significant about this character and how he is reacting. By creating mystery around the character is typical of thriller film conventions, as not knowning build tension. This can be seen in Memento which has a number of mysterious character which leaves the audience unsure of what is going to happen next

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The research taught us that tension can be built in so many different ways. A big way to build tension is with the use of sound.The thriller Psycho is hugely famous for its shower scene and the way director Alfred Hitchcock used music and sound to build the tension. In our thriller we used this convention and included a number of non-diegetic sounds to add to the suspense and tension of the opening scene , The obvious sounds that builds tension is the eerie sound scape that stops and starts throughout the thriller, as well as the emphasised heartbeat and heavy breathing. By emphasising these sounds we are making the audience more aware of the of the state of shock and panic the 'witness' is in. As a group we also decided to emphasis other sounds in the thriller to, we did this so the audience would notice these sounds, such as the door closing in the cafe. The sound is key as it symbolises how the 'witness' is now trapped by the mob. Although we re-recorded the voices of the film to make what was being said clearer, we still use a lot of the original cafe sounds in the film. By having this natural diegetic sound it gave the the film a sense of authenticity that may be considered to break some thriller conventions. As some thriller films try to challenge reality, such as The Sixth Sense. Another aspect of our use of sound that breaks thriller conventions is the use of a considerable amount of sounds, both diegetic and non-diegetic, that is used. As it is typical of thrillers to be minimalistic with sound to build tension, films like; The Third Man (1949) and Se7en (1995) both do this.

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From our research the group and I learn the typical codes and conventions associated to the genre of thriller films. To understand these conventions we analysed real media examples of thriller films, and looked into the sub-genres within the thriller genre. As well as the directors who all have their own particular techniques and takes on how to make a thriller film successful. A key feature learnt from the research was that all the devices used were to build or control tension.