Generic Conventions

Generic Conventions

Generic Conventions are what the audience expects to see in a thriller. So in a thriller the generic conventions are such as sound, which may be drumming music, creaking doors and bad weather conditions. These are sound, the location, the characters and the storyline. It is generally based around the expectations of that genre, what we would typically see within it. 

The Sound

Sound influences the thriller a lot, because it causes tension, sudden sound, which may affraight the audience or just strengthen the nice ambient. The sound can make every scene into anything the director wants it to be, such as scary, exciting or sad. But it is used especially to used to produce tension and suspense.  

The location 

The locations always depends on the genre of the thriller. Thrillers take place mostly in ordinary suburbs and cities, although sometimes they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or the high seas. If you take a horror thriller, it would nearly always be in a dark, unpredictable, isolated environment, such as in an abandoned building. This isn't always case, the location can be dependant on what the director wants in the atmosphere of the scene, but they usually follow this aspect for this particular case.

The storyline

Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces – the threat is sometimes abstract or unseen. An atmosphere of creepy menace and sudden violence, such as crime and murder, characterise thrillers. Thrillers often present the world and society as dark, corrupt and dangerous. But in Hollywood they usually feature upbeat endings in which evil is overcome. The tension usually arises when the character(s) is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation.

Characters

Characters include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, characters with deep dark pasts, psychotic individuals, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends and more. The themes frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy or romantic triangles leading to murder.

Heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. The protagonists are frequently ordinary citizens unaccustomed to danger, although commonly in crime thrillers, they may also be "hard men" accustomed to danger such as police officers and detectives. While protagonists of thrillers have traditionally been men, women lead characters are increasingly common. In psychological thrillers, the protagonists are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with the antagonist or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. The suspense often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.