Analysis of opening sequences - Pulp Fiction

Analysis of thriller openings

Pulp Fiction  Quentin Tarantino - 1994
Pulp Fiction is an iconic thriller film which incorporates violence in a comedic way which is illustrated through the interpretation of typical thriller film conventions. The film follows the journey of two hit men who are sent by their employer, a mob boss, to collect a suitcase that has been stolen. Their boss also requires one of his hitmen to take his wife out whilst he is out of town. The film consists of a series of bizarre events. 

The opening begins with a fade up to black which displays a definition of the word 'pulp', the definition is central on the screen with a white serif font illustrating to the audience that one of the two definitions will be relevant to the further narrative and is significant to the film as a whole. As the definition is shown to be taken from an American source it is evident that this is the location of the film. This shot dissolves into a mid two shot illustrating a couple sat in a diner which is stereotypical of American pop culture. 

The location that is utilised in the opening is not regularly associated with thriller films, therefore suggesting  to the audience that the thriller will not be conventional. The couple converse in the scene in a continuous edit of the stable two shot. The male protagonist is British which is identified his accent and dialogue, his costume also suggests he is not from the area as he is wearing a Hawaiian style shirt that is suitable for hot climates and commonly associated with holidays. 

His dialogue contrasts to his costume and body language, he smokes a cigarette in a relaxed position with open posture which is not typically paired with a headstrong character. As his dialogue includes various swear words and topics that he would not discuss with strangers it is obvious that the couple are friends and comfortable with one another resulting in  a scene with no tension.

A close-up, high angle, point of view shot is then used to depict the waitress who has prevented their conversation to develop. This suggests that the conversation is private and should not be heard by others as it would reveal the crime the couple intend to commit. It is odd and therefore comical to the audience that the couple are discussing a matter like this in a public place where anybody could hear the couple's plans for crime. Tension is created through the female protagonist's reaction to the waitress as she dramatically thanks her for the coffee and her services, this could suggest she is not mentally stable and can convince others she is an ordinary, harmless individual. This shot illustrates the woman is attempting to hide her previous topic of conversation from the waitress and her possible mental instability is reinforced by the quantity of sugar she consumes in her coffee and her body language which appears workout at the time. 

Once the waitress has left the couple's table their conversation resumes now tackling the subject of robberies which the male protagonist appears to be well informed and passionate about. This is made evident to the audience through his change of position which was laid back previously but advances to him leaning forward whilst the female holds his gaze thus illustrating their interest in the topic and the privacy they require for their dialogue. A shot-revers-shot edit is used alongside an over the shoulder shot of the male protagonist developing his points regarding robber. 

This then returns back to the original two shot format before establishing another shot-reverse-shot sequence which then incorporates mid-shots of the protagonists reinforcing the importance of the dialogue in the sequence which gives some background on the crimes the protagonists have committed before. These shots also show more of the diner location suggesting to the audience that the diner has few customers who are extremely ordinary and seem to be insignificant to the narrative as the depth of field used is shallow and does not show the other customers clearly.

The dialogue confirms to the audience that the couple are a team who regularly commit crimes together, the male protagonist describes his theory regarding crimes the couple could commit 'it would be easier than what we been doing.' This conversation's importance is emphasised through the dialogue and camera work allowing the audience to assume the couple's crime sprees will be a significant part of the narrative. 

Various aspects of the scene suggest the female protagonist has an innocent aspect to her personality and is not as cold as he partner. Her caring side is made evident through her dialogue when questioning the male's story during the shot-reverse-shot sequence (1.10-2.00) as she asks 'did they hurt the little girl?'. Her innocence is also reinforced as she states she's 'not going to kill anybody.' Her body languages become timid and innocent as she leans her head onto the table. The dialogue foreshadows her role later in the narrative and the line allows the audience to make their assumptions about the woman and her actions. 

The next scene incorporates the first non-static shot as a mid-shot of the man, a zoom is used as the male protagonist begins to discuss killing someone when in a situation when this would required. The zoom illustrates the significance of this statement and suggests this will be incorporated in the further narrative. The ignorance of the man and his criminal nature is reinforced when he discuss places the couple could rob stating 'too many foreign' that run the shops. This allows the audience to understand the negative portrayal of the male protagonist and how his personality will effect the narrative. The lighting is also darker on the man, though this lightning appears to be natural and effected by the blinds in the dinner the lighting suggests the male protagonist is also dark in personality especially when compared to the female who seems somewhat innocent.

The shot returns to the over-the-shoulder format as the female suggests the couple take 'day jobs' in order to depict his dismissal of this suggestion the male protagonist shouts for more coffee. The man addresses the waitress in an aggressive manner contrasting to the female which again reinforces the difference in their personalities and social skills. The narrative progresses with the couple pondering the idea of robbing the 'coffee shop', this scene incorporates various shot-reverse-shots of the protagonists with mid-shots that are both central and off centre.

The couple's plan becomes more significant as they lower their voices when deciding if 'this coffee shop' is their next target, they use their experience to conclude that the diner is 'not expecting to get robbed'and the male protagonist explores old tactics praising the female for her contribution in past crimes. The scene increases the anxiety of the audience as they become more aware of what is to follow, the soft incidental music playing in the diner increases in tempo as the couple becomes closer to each other. 

As the couple agree on a plan the male protagonist reaches for his weapon and places it onto the table, this is seen in a close-up shot of the gun drawing the audience's attention to the weapon showing that the robbery is underway and that the male is taking the lead. The male then devises the roles before the two become the closest they have been with the first romantic gesture seen in the shots. As the pace of the scene increases a close-up is used to show the couple kiss each other over the table before announcing their love for each other. This shows their softer side and confirms their relationship along with dialogue using the nicknames 'honey bunny' and 'pumpkin'. 

The scene then ends with the male protagonist who stands up in the booth declaring the robbery whilst holding his gun. A tilt is used during a long two shot as the female unexpectedly stands up and takes control at the front of the shot,pulling out a gun never seen before shouting at the public in the diner 'I'll execute every motherfucking last one of you'. This dialogue, camera work and editing illustrate the complete contrast of her innocent personality depicted shortly before this scene where she claims 'I'm not going to kill anybody'. This illustrates her dual personality and mental instability which was hinted before, the unexpected turn allows the audience to question the narrative that will follow and explicitly shows the film will have many unexpected aspects. 

At this point, the iconic music begins during a freeze frame of the couple as the titles begin to roll as seen below in the title sequence :

https://youtu.be/LI1yt38A9-E

The titles begin as the last scene is freeze-framed in an orange serif font with the name of the production company. These titles then continue on a plain black background still in an orange font with some logos of production companies. The director's name then appears before the music increases slightly in tempo as the film's title 'Pulp Fiction' scrolls up the black screen. The orange tones stand out from the black background creating a huge contrast. The title uses the largest font so far and freezes on the screen as the title reaches the centre. 

The title then begins to fade in a reverse zoom style as the actor's names appear onscreen over the orange title in a white sans-serif font. The actor's names appear one by one and are clearly the focal point of the screen as they are central and separated from the other colours on screen.

The next piece of text says 'co-starring' again in an orange font, this appears once the film's title has disappearing into the black screen completely. The use of scrolling titles displaying the names of minor actors in the film is unconventional and illustrates the entire atmosphere of the film that does not utilise the typical conventions of thriller films. 

The music increases in speed and pitch as the titles introduce groups of names as they are not as important and are not households names that the audience will recognise. The music then becomes distorted like someone is interfering with the waves or is changing a radio station. Another track is then heard as the titles finish in a credit style, which remains until the ends of the credits and ends with a fade.  

The titles read :

Miramax Films presents

A Band Apart

and Jersey Films Productions

a film by Quentin Tarantino

Pulp Ficition

(Actors) John Travolta

Samuel L. Jackson

Uma Thurman

Harvey Keitel

Tim Roth

Amanda Plummer

Maria de Medeiros

Ving Rhames

Eric Stoltz

Rosanna Arquette

Christopher Walken

and Bruce Willis

co-starring

Paul Calderon

Bronagh Gallagher

Peter Greene

Stephen Hibbert

Angela Jones

Phil LaMarr

Robert Ruth

Julia Sweeney

Quentin Tarantino

Frank Whaley

Duana Whitaker

Casting by Ronnie Yeskel C.S.A (and) Gary M. Zuckerbrod C.S.A

Music Supervisor Karyn Rachtman

Costume Designer Betsy Heimann

Production Designer David Wasco

Editor Sally Menke

Director of Photography Andrzej Sekula

Co-Executive Producers Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein (and) Richard N. Gladstein

Executive Producers Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg (and) Stacy Sher

Stories by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary

Produced by Lawrence Bender

Clip Used:

Analysis of thriller openings - Fargo

Analysis of thriller openings

Fargo Coen Brothers - 1996

Fargo is a thriller that does not adhere to the stereotypical set-up of thriller films, this is due to the film style of the Coen brothers and the development of the conventions found in thriller films. Throughout the opening of the film, it is not obvious that the film belongs to the thriller genre, the use of the enigma code allows the audience to question how this will affect the film's narrative. 

The opening sequence begins with the production company details which is a typical convention of opening sequences however this then fades to a black screen that features a short paragraph explaining to the audience that the plot is based on a true story and informs the audience that some characters involved have died. By using this extract in the opening the audience is already questioning what the narrative consists of as it is established the film will have a chilling atmosphere. 

The paragraph also establishes the location of the narrative and the year in which it is set. The screen is black and has a white sans-serif font giving a dramatic reverse block effect, this is accompanied with medieval style music with a dark tone and no percussion. The tension between the audio and visuals is evident throughout the whole opening sequence and is introduced during the first screen. This tension automatically establishes questions for the audience as the mood created is explicitly intriguing, dark and mysterious setting up the tone for the narrative. 

                    

The screen then fades up from black to a white-grey coloured screen with the beginning titles over the top in a black sans-serif font. The editing used during the opening titles are dissolve transitions before a straight cut continues the titles to a highly exposed long shot of an isolated bird flying around the sky. The music over the background of these shots is the same as the medieval style music used in the previous screen, as the music is drawn out it is clear the opening of the film will explore little aspects of the plot. As the black font on white, screen is juxtaposing and dreary, drawn out music that builds in tempo is used it is obvious to the audience mystery and suspense will be significant aspects of the narrative. 

This shot is then layered over another washed out scene that illustrates a car exiting the location, the headlights of the car are clearly seen as the car disappears through the snow. Diegetic, ambient sound is used of birds squawking to illustrate the empty location and desolate city. The colours used are harsh and unforgiving giving little information regarding the narrative, the medieval music increases slightly in volume until it reaches a pause as a straight cut is used to introduce the next shot and new music. These shots do not explain any part of the narrative to the audience which creates tension and suspense whilst developing interest, for the audience who want to find out more. 

The shot then switches to a long shot of the car approaching, the shot is clearer aesthetically and gives more information regarding the narrative. Along with this, the music develops into a much more percussive track still including medieval undertones, the music has a massive orchestral tone with bell ringing giving a mysterious and somewhat triumphant ambiance. The shot follows the car that is towing another vehicle, this then turns the shot into a close-up of the car as the shot is static but the subject is moving. In terms of mise-en-scene the low-key lighting, desolate location ,that appears miserable in weather and atmosphere, and the car that seems to be beaten up interests the audience as there is no clear narrative established in the shot, therefore the audience begins to question what importance the car has in the narrative.  

Following this, the title of the film appears in a black sans-serif font on an off-white coloured background, the title is placed directly in the centre of the screen illustrating the importance of the title which the audience begin to question as they do not know how the title relates to the film's narrative. This title then dissolves into a mid shot pan that follows the next step of the car's journey, the car is continuing to be towed through the location. The lighting is somewhat brighter in these scenes which are edited using straight cuts. The music increases in tempo and volume as the scene progresses into a longshot that illustrates the car disappearing into the distance. 

The music begins to acquire a Western style that would be commonly heard during a stand off in Western film, the music ends with an elongated drum roll. As the scene transitions into a fade to black the music begins to fade with the drumroll into the next scene. As the colours have not changed from the monochromatic tones and greyscale visuals tension is evident throughout the opening titles, the audience is made aware of the atmosphere of the film and the importance of the dreary location in the narrative. Though no aspects of the narrative are made clear through the opening so far the audience are gripped at the mystery and want to find out the significance of the opening. 
             

The next scene in the opening introduces the city and changes the atmosphere of the film automatically through the use of colourful  brightly lit neon lights and various warm street lights. The shot is static and shows the car seen previously driving through the snow littered city. The sound in this scene is ambient including the sound of the car driving through the snow, the sound then merges into the music that is heard in the bar, it begins quietly as non-diegetic sound before a straight cut shows the protagonist enter the bar. This long shot depicts the protagonist entering the bar, the audience assumes the character was driving the car which was in the previous scene. The bar is full of mainly middle-aged men drinking and playing snooker, the bar has a dark interior and low-key lighting is used to illustrate the stiff and somewhat mysterious atmosphere.

The incidental music increases in volume, the music is a country style creating an informal vibe, there is little tension in the scene as straight cuts are used to explore the bar and customers seen there. A mid shot illustrates the protagonist locating the people who he is meeting at the bar, his expression is apprehensive before continuous editing is used to illustrate the meeting he attends at the bar. His associates have contrasting expressions as they watch him approach illustrating their frustration at the protagonist, it is evident during this shot that they have the power in the situation creating tension throughout.

Various close ups in a shot-reverse-shot format are used to illustrate the conversation between the protagonist and their associates. There is a low angle point of view shot of the protagonist taken from the point of view of one of the seated characters, the shot illustrates the protagonist's expression when being addressed by the other characters exemplifying his weak and timid personality. In terms of costume, the protagonist is wearing a suit suggesting he dresses formally for working possibly hinting he is from a business orientated occupation and is of a usual working background. 

Contrasting to this, the other characters who are seen with the protagonist are wearing costumes that consist of jumpers which are casual and weather appropriate for the location of the film. The costumes suggest that they are not employed in a similar way to the protagonist inferring they are from a different social class or have a questionable employer. It is already obvious to the audience that the protagonist does not have the power in the meeting however, this is also reinforced by the use of dialogue in the scene. 'Shep said you'd be here for seven thirty, what gives man?' Carl addresses Jerry directly and interrupts him multiple times, the tone of his address is imperative and harsh, the colloquial dialect shows that the meeting is informal and that Carl does not regard Jerry as an important figure who is above him. 

Jerry apologises to Carl when it is discovered he mixed up the time he would meet Carl, 'I'm sure sorry.' the dialogue used illustrates Jerry's naivety and apprehension. The tension in this scene is made evident through the dialogue and positioning of the characters which is shown through camera shots and angles.

An over the shoulder long shot illustrates the table the characters are sat at and the tension between them. There are many empty bottles on the table suggesting that Carl and his associate do not take the meeting seriously and are attempting to intimidate Jerry by asserting their strength and masculinity through alcohol. The shot suggests Carl believes Jerry to be a liability and his long pauses in between shot-reverse-shot edits and dialogue illustrates his impatience. The edits are continuous shot-reverse-shots of an average pace that begin to speed up suggesting the tension between the characters increases suggesting to the audience that there will be friction between these characters further into the narrative as they carry out their plan. 

Titles Read:
Polygram Filmed Entertainment presents
In association with Working Title Films 
Frances McDormand 
William H. Macy 
Steve Buscemi 
Harve Presnell 
Peter Stormare 
FARGO 



Clip used :

Analysis of thriller openings - Se7en

Analysis of thriller openings

Many thriller films aim to produce an opening sequence that allows the audience an insight into the film whilst establishing tension and suspense introducing the audience to the mood of the film. These openings are made effective using the conventions as explored in my last post, these conventions use camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene to create openings that are visually arresting and create intrigue for the audience. This is seen in the following opening scenes from various thriller films :

Se7en David Fincher - 1995

Se7en is an American psychological thriller that was directed by David Fincher in 1995 and is seen as one of the best thriller films ever produced. The film features Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, two detectives who live in New York and follows them on their investigation of a series of elaborate murders committed by a serial killer who uses victims to represent the 7 deadly sins. 

The opening sequence of Se7en begins with the protagonist Detective Somerset, the establishing shot illustrates Somerset laying out his clothing in an organised manner suggesting to the audience that his character is incredibly fastidious,complex yet intelligent. The shot includes ambient sounds that illustrate the busy life in New York, the aural mix is placed at the front of all audio illustrating  everyday life in New York and the invasive grim lifestyles experienced in the city. There is a long shot presenting Somerset and his bedroom as he is laying in his bed, the room is well organised and obviously belongs to one resident, there is little use of colour in the room's interior.

This suggests that Somerset lives a comfortable, independent, structured lifestyle and allows the audience to become familiar with Somerset and his personality.The lighting is low-key suggesting to the audience the scene is during the late hours, the lighting is gritty mirroring the atmosphere of Somerset's neighbourhood that can be heard during the scene. Ambient sound is used at the front of the scene, the sound includes sirens, dogs barking and voices of people outside Somerset's home,however, the dialogue is inaudible. 

Rain can also be heard outside emphasising the dreary city and empty bland lifestyle of the protagonist. Straight cuts are used during the scene with a close up of Somerset who prepares for bed by removing his glasses and turning on a metronome found at his bedside. Whilst the metronome is heard, emphasising the use of ambient sounds, a tracking zoom and shot-reverse-shot of the metronome is used to illustrate Somerset and depict his mysterious, self-contained personality thus creating intrigue and tension. The scene then cuts to black and the metronome stops before the titles begin. 

The titles then begin with a series of shots that illustrate various objects, they illustrate psychological criminals and are extremely grotesque. The titles utilise the semantic field to suggest that extreme crime and psychotic actions could be a strong theme found in the film. All of the clips and images are jarring and are edited at a fast pace using straight cuts, superimposed edits, inserts and cross cuts. The clips are interrupted by cuts to black screens which have titles appear over the top creating a reverse block effect, the white sans-serif font appears to look like messy handwriting and is sometimes inserted over the clips of horrific items relating to the crimes in the film. The shots of the objects are mainly close-ups which also introduce the hands of the antagonist suggesting they are preparing their series of crimes, the tension created in these clips allows the audience to question the importance of the antagonist and their plans of crime in the narrative.

                                    

Over the top of the clips, non-diegetic music is utilised consisting of low pitch percussion which has little rhythmic quality, this mirrors the lack of rhythm in the placement of the titles suggesting to the audience that the narrative will include unexpected twists and could mirror a lack of mental stability of the antagonist. The entire presentation of the credits is disorientated and somewhat surreal, the incidental music emphasises this and an increase in tempo and pitch creates a scream-like sound which creates an unnerving atmosphere and supplies the audience with questions regarding the significance of fear in the narrative.

During the sequence,low-key lighting is used throughout, one shot where this is evident is one of the antagonist sewing pieces of paper together, the low-key lighting is a typical convention found in thriller films and is utilised well in the shot. This shot leads into a close-up of a book which features images of the deceased and pages of notes suggesting the antagonist is infatuated with monitoring certain people, this shot along with a tracking shot of various folders suggests that the narrative consists of the antagonist studying victims and makes the audience question the significance of the antagonists files and planning. 

                                      

Disturbing images are carried on as the titles continue over the sequence, one of these consists of a close-up illustrating the antagonist cutting themselves with a razor blade. The abnormal images emphasise the obvious lack of mental stability found within the character which increases the anxiety of the audience and the suspense regarding the unknown. The close-ups of the strange objects reflect the lack of an ordinary lifestyle of the antagonist as the workspace and objects are all dirty, rusting and unhygienic. 

This reinforces the psychotic undertones of the narrative and sets up  expectations for the audience regarding the antagonist's approach to crime and their personality. Along with the non-continuous editing and music that fluctuates in pitch, the shots of the character creating their abnormal resources increases the suspense in the scene and intrigue of the audience regarding the narrative of the film. This is unique to most opening sequences as there are no clear indications or explinations of the film's plot but allows for interperetation and assumptions regarding the plot. 

All factors explored create the abnormal, psychotic atmosphere of the opening sequence, the fast pace of the cuts reinforces the unclear suggestions of narrative as the shots are not long enough for the audience to work out what part each object plays in the narrative. The tension is consistently high throughout the entire opening sequence allowing the audience to grasp the mood of the film and various aspects of narrative that influence their expectations and assumptions of the plot that follows. 

                                       

The titles read :

Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Roundtree, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Julie Araskog, Mark Boone Junior, John Cassini, Reginald E. Cathey, Peter Crombie, Hawthorne Jones, Michael Moussee, Leland Orser, Richard Partnow, Richard Schiff, Pamala Tyson

Casting by- Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Borden

Music by- Howard Shore

Costume designer- Michael Kaplan

Editor- Richard Francis-Bruce

Production designer- Arthur Max

Director of photography- Darius Khondji

Co-producers- Stephen Brown, Nana Greenwald, Sanford Panitch

Co-executive producers- Lynn Harris, Richard Saperstein 

Executive producers- Gianni Nunnari, Dan Kolsurd, Anne Kapelsun 

Written by- Andrew Kevin Walker

Producers- Arnold Kopelson, Phyllis Carlyle

Director- David Fincher

Clip used :

Conventions of form - Opening Sequence

The conventions of thriller film opening sequences

There are various conventions found in the opening sequence of thriller films, these conventions are used to create tension and begin establishing the characters and genre of the film. The opening sequences also begin to illustrate the plot and atmosphere of the film to the audience. The opening sequences of thriller films will consist of some or all of the conventions as explored below :

Titles
The first convention of thriller film openings are titles, most thriller film openings include titles in some form. The titles generally consist of the film's name, director, prominent actors and  studios/production companies. Titles are used to inform the audience of the production team allowing them to establish the genre of the film and grasp a sense of familiarity if they are aware of the director/actor's style. The use of titles also builds suspense and creates an atmosphere through the positioning ,editing and style of the text.

Establishing shots
Another convention is the planning of the landscape and establishing shot of locations. The use of location shots in the opening sequences sets the scene for the audience allowing them to familiarise themselves with the setting of the film and establish their expectations of the film's main plot. 

Sound
Voice overs and narrations are also used in thriller opening sequences, this is a simple yet effective way to involve the audience especially through direct address. This technique is used to provide the audience with background information regarding the action, plot and characters found in the film. This insight provides answers to vital aspects of the film creating an interesting plot that is not too complex for the audience to interpret.

Moving on from this a soundtrack will be placed over the opening sequence to illustrate the tone and atmosphere of the action presented to the audience. Various uses of music, sound effects and ambient sound are found in the opening sequences of thriller films to help depict the location of the film, emotions of the characters and action that has begins to take place. 

Narrative
Action and chase scenes are also common in opening sequences of thriller films, these scenes are used as they are fast paced which grabs the audience's attention straight away creating a sense of intrigue as the action is established from the beginning of the thriller creating questions from the offset. 

Narrative context is common in thriller film openings as the vital background information is filled in for the audience allowing the remaining scenes of the film to be focused on the action and main plot of the film. A montage that includes a series of shots of the protagonist is a common edit used to add narrative context to thriller opening sequences. This increases the level of audience engagement as they begin to explore the protagonist of the film possibly identifying key aspects of their lives that will be utilised in the rest of the film. 

Mise-en-scene
Lighting and colours are also utilised in the opening sequences of thriller films as this exemplifies the ambience of the film location, character emotions and themes of the film. An example of this is the use of lighting in the opening sequence of 'Fargo'. The start of the opening sequence has no colour when the location of the film is shown, focusing on the mundane monochromatic pallet before neon signs invite colour to the next scene illustrating the contrast of the locations and atmosphere of the scene. 

Thriller Genre- Conventions

What is a thriller film ?

A thriller film establishes a suspenseful plot that includes heightened emotions of anxiety,revelation,anticipation and impulse. Thriller plots commonly attempt to keep the audience's full attention throughout as the plot reaches a climax this is commonly driven by a mission the protagonist must complete as they are set against a mystery,problem or need to escape. Thrillers are somewhat similar to films of the horror and action-adventure genres, thrillers have more psychological elements in the plot causing the audience to stay 'on the edge of their seats' when questioning their assumptions and expectations. 
 

Conventions of thriller films 

Thriller films have man conventions making the films easily recognizable to the thriller genre whilst enhancing the plot to ensure the film meets the desire to keep the audience guessing throughout the plot. These conventions will be explored further below:

Location 

One convention involves the location of the film, the location is commonly urban like a city. This location is common in thriller films as it is gritty, contemporary and allows for various shots of other parts of the city. To go with the location low key lighting is found in the urban locations to create a moody atmosphere that echoes the plot and suspense driven story.  

Narrative

Another convention of the genre involves the plot of the film generally,thriller films follow Todorov's narrative theory, this consists of equilibrium, disruption , recognition, reparation and new equilibrium. The story commonly incorporates a protagonist and their struggle that interrupts everyday life which is sometimes resolved in the end of the film. The disequilibrium of the film is commonly due to a mission that must be completed or a crime that has taken place like a murder that must be solved. 

Characters

Moving on from this the two main characters ,protagonist and antagonist, will have various qualities making them easily recognisable as the hero or villain of the film. The film's protagonistt is likely to be an current or ex agent/spy, an average member in the public who could find themselves in 'the wrong man's shoes' or become the hunted after being the hunter. Contrastingly the antagonsit of the film is likely to have mental health issues, be a known psycopath, have strong anti-government views or have a prejudice mindset regarding political or religious views/beliefs. 

Props

Following this, most thriller films explore various aspects of weaponry and espionage to enhance the plot and certain scenes. One example of this a fight scene, these scenes enhance the action and fear aspects of the narrative enigma. Fight scenes commonly include weapons like guns or members of the government like spies and agents. 

Plot

To continue, another convention that is common in the genre is social realism. Though there can be supernatural elements in thriller plots many inlclude aspects of social realism and illustrate the challenge an innocent memeber of the public many face. Social realism plays a large part in thriller plots as it creates an unusual situation for the protaganist creating suspense and anxiety for the audience.

Sound

Leading on from this,thriller films will inlude many ambient sounds and an interesting soundtrack to create atmosphere. There will be multiple uses of incidental music of a low tone which is generally edgy and reflects the emotional and physical state of the protaganist and antagonist. There will also be a significant use of sound effects and ambient sound to enhance to atmosphere of the film and the location. 

Mise-en-scene 

One more convention is the recognisible costumes and make-up of protaganists and antagonists. The protaganist in thriller films is commonly good looking and wear dark coloured clothing that reflects their place in society and individual personality. Some will wear suits to depict their occupation whereas others will wear casual clothing. Contrastingly, antagonists and generally ugly and have visible scars, diformities and wear utilitarian clothing or strange unifroms. 

Camera and Editing

Camera and editing conventions are used in addition to those already mentioned, various shots are used in certain scenes that are common to thriller films. An example of this is close-up shots of protaganists when they are anxious or in danger whereas mid and long shots are used with action match editing to illustrate fight scenes or shot-reverse-shot editing alongside over the shoulder camera work to exemplify a conversation between the protaganist and antagonist.

Though all of these conventions are different and are seen in some thrillers but not at all incorpirated in others all thriller films provide the audience with adrenaline keeping their engagment with the film. This is also achieved with the use of disturbing shots that ensure the audeince feel uneasy but not too shocked as the plot is still realistic. These conventions, camera work, editing, sound and mise en scene all add versimilitude of the narrative allowing the audience to easily grasp the plot and become engaged with the  mystery of the thriller.