Research into conventions - Miss Miller

Conventions

Conventional means conforming or adhering to acceptable standards. In films it means elements that are common in different film genres - patterns that can be used/ used in different films from the same category. In thriller films you would expect conventions like suspense, surprise and shock. In action films you would expect conventions like stunts, big budgets and special effect i.e. CGI. I am going to be using a clip from "The shinning". I have chosen this film to analyse because it has clear thriller conventions in it.

The first convention I notice in the clip is suspense when the antagonist (Johnny) is walking towards the bathroom door. We straight away know Johnny is looking for his wife and that his intensions are to harm her. We know this just by looking at his body language and his facial expressions. He is crouched over like a bear and his face is twisted with anger. This sharp sound in the background is also a indicator that something bad is about to happen. All of these techniques link to suspense. Overall this is a common technique to make the audience on edge and wary that they are watching a thriller film.

The second convention I noticed was the clear indication of killers and victims. This convention is visible in the scene when the man is trying to break into the bathroom. As the audience we can clearly see that the woman in the bathroom screaming is the victim and the man on the outside trying to get in is the killer. We know that the woman is the victim because she is crouched over in the corner of the bathroom screaming for her husband to leave her alone. The man is the obvious killer because he is holding a axe and his facial expressions indicate that he is experiencing anger and fury. Overall this convention helps the audience understand the film more because they can tell who they should feel sorry for and who they should be wary off.

The third convention I noticed was surprise. We are  surprised when the woman strikes the man with the knife as he is trying to enter the bathroom. We are surprised because the woman is the victim and the victim in most thriller films are usual helpless and too scared to try and resist against the killer. This makes the audience feel differently for the woman because she isn't a common victim and the audience then feel like she might be able to survive.

A clear convention in this film is the eerie location. Most thriller films are usually set in a scary location but this film is by far the most scary. Its set in an old fashioned hotel placed in the middle of nowhere. Its only surroundings are some lonely mountains and a vast forest. Surely the characters must have had second thoughts before moving there for the winter. The location of thriller films is usually the main way to scare the audience. The blare witch project and the strangers are good examples of this. Overall the location of the shinning makes the audience wary of the characters surroundings and it also creates suspense for jumpy scenes.

Iconography is a convention used in this film. The antagonist (Johnny) is always holding a weapon in the chase scenes. This clearly indicates to the audience that he is the most powerful character and also that he is the aggressor. This  makes the audience wary of the character because he makes all the other characters look venerable because he has a weapon. Normally in every thriller film, the main villain or antagonist usually has a weapon to make them look powerful and threatening.

The clip I analysed was successful in creating a conventional sequence because it made the audience be on the edge lf their seats the whole time and it also portrayed a typical thriller film. It also had a great deal of suspense, surprise, shock and tension which are all key in a thriller film.
 From looking at this thriller sequence I will definitely use conventions like location and sound in my thriller sequence because they are key to making the audience scared and they are also key for creating suspense.