1. Conventions of thriller films
Alyssa Grieveson

2. Mise en scene..
Typically in a thriller movie, you expect the film to be set in a dark and
rural setting, e.g. wooded area, quiet village, or an old mansion in the
middle of a country side.
They use this as the mise en scene because it helps create the feel of
mysterious and tension because you cant see what around the corner
and you don’t have a wide range of sight due to the dark setting.

3. Camera Angles..
In the movies they use a variety of different camera angles, the
conventional camera angles that are used are:
• Tilting- they use the tilting technique because it makes object
appear a lot taller and bigger than they actually are. This causes
fear and intimidation for the characters and the audience as it will
make them feel weak.
• Point of view- they use the point of view shot because it lets the
audience have the perspective of what the character in the movie is
seeing. Also we could see the point of view of the villain so we can
also see the other character from both points of view.
• Mirror shot- The mirror shot is very effective in thriller films
because we get to see what's behind the character. This is a good
shot to create good tension and make the film jumpy as you are
expecting something to suddenly appear in the mirror.

4. Lighting..
For the film they use a lot of dim and dark lighting, this is because this also is
another way in which to cause tension and fear for both the characters in the
movie and the audience.
They also use black and white lighting effects throughout the movie. They do
this because it gives us the sense of safety and danger.
The use of the white light suggests the feel of safety because the audience
and the character can see where they’re going and what is around them. It
also gives the feel of freedom and you no longer feel trapped. We also
associate harmless people with the colour white which also suggests safety.
However we also associate ghosts with the colour white. This is another
reason in why they would use the colour white in a thriller movie.
The use of the black lighting suggests the feel of danger. This is because you
cant see your surroundings properly and it makes the character and the
audience feel trapped. Also with the colour black we associate evil, a ‘dark
side’ and pain with someone wearing black. Therefore the use of black is
useful because we can see the difference between the evil and good
characters judging by the colour of clothing.

5. The Others..
This is a convention of a thriller movie because of the setting
of the house and the fact that you cant see it due to the
misty weather, which makes it more mysterious for the
watchers.
In this scene they have made it more mysterious for
the viewers because they have covered every object
with white sheets, which we typically connect with
ghosts. So we are waiting to discover what will be
revealed under the sheets.
The use of the mirror is a convention in thriller films and this is a
good example of how it is used. It is a good way to use it because
we creates suspense for the audience because as Nicole Kidman’s
character looks at the door behind her in the mirror we except
something to suddenly pop out from behind the door.

6. Another way in which they have used a typical convention
in the others is the use of the foggy weather. This is a
good mise en scene because this also creates tension as
we cant see what is going on around the character and we
are uncertain on whether something is going to suddenly
appear and therefore senses danger.
The use of the character walking up an enclosed and dark stair case
is a good convention and effect because it creates the feel of danger
and being unsafe because they have used the use of light effectively
as it shows us that the outside is the safer place to be. It is also
effective because it creates the feel of mystery as we cant see who
the character is an whether they are evil or not.
This is a good use of lightening because it shows us that the house is
unsafe and the outside is safer because they have made the inside of
the house black which indicates danger but the outside is white which
indicates safety. This is also reflected upon the characters in this shot
and throughout the movie because they are all wearing black, which
tells the viewers that they are dangerous.