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The conventions of a thriller

Features that make up a thriller:

Maguffin
Villain
Red herring
Hero
Fast paced
Complex characters
Sub genres
Enigma (problem to be solved)
Suspense
Location - mainly based in cities
Attractive women
Male protagonist
Antagonist
Pursuit
Plot twists
Deadlines
Tension building music

Chuck Jones and 'The Rules'

The Rules Chuck Jones uses to produce 'Road Runner' cartoons are similar of those followed when producing a thriller:

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going "meep, meep."

2. No outside force can harm the Coyote -- only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products. Trains and trucks were the exception from time to time.

3. The Coyote could stop anytime -- if he were not a fanatic.4. No dialogue ever, except "meep, meep" and yowling in pain.

5. The Road Runner must stay on the road -- for no other reason than that he's a roadrunner.

6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters -- the southwest American desert.

7. All tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.

8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy.

9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.

10. The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote.

11. The Coyote is not allowed to catch or eat the Road Runner.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock (13th August 1899 - 29th April 1980)  was an English film director and famously known for his eccentric thrillers. His creative mind conjured many of the thrillers I have studied and he truly was a very influential director, he liked using graphic matches and was a big fan of including a macguffin in each of his thrillers - this would often be a story of romance.
Where it came to romance, Hitchcock was very fond of using blonde women in his films, here we can see an influence on the more modern thrillers that we see more recently, such as James Bond. Hitchcock was a ver quirky man which helped reflect the thrillers he produced.
A quote from Hitchcock -Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs.

Opening to 'Vertigo'

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo's opening is somewhat distorting and very hypnotising. During the credits at the beginning of the film we see one long shot of a girls face, we then zoom into her lips and read one of the names of the characters in the film. We then move up to her eyes which flicker from left to right, making her seem as if she's frightened and looking around for something - we then read another name. Then, we zoom into just one of her eyes, which are very dark and look terrified, her eyes then widen and a graphic match is introduced which fades into a hypnotic shape. The shape is rotating around and around, confusing us. The colours change bewildering us further and the same backing music drones throughout the intro getting louder and quieter in parts.

The opening to 'Zodiac'

In the opening of Zodiac, we see a slow tracking camera rolling through a dark street, with quite a few people around and lots of fireworks going off. The shot comes from inside a moving vehicle, in which we discover a girl is driving. The slow, long shot makes us wonder whats happening, we are left slightly confused and want to know more. A young man gets into the car with what looks like, his girlfriend, or perhaps a woman he's seeing. She suggests the go somewhere quiet. This instantly makes us wonder if she's up to something, however later on we discover she becomes victimised.
A red herring comes along as the couple are alone in the car, they shoot at the car before shouting abusive language at them but soon drive off. We wonder if they are going to harm the couple but they don't. Later a blacked out car comes along. It pulls up beside their car, turns is light off and sits there. This adds mystery. We see cuts from the couples faces looking at the car, to the car itself, not much dialogue is included here. The boy suggests getting out before the girl hastily tells him to remain where he is. The car drives off and we think the couple are okay. The boy asks questions about who was in the car, but the girl won't give a certain answer - then we hear a screeching as the car turns around. At this point a haunting feeling dawns upon the viewer, the headlights of the car come towards us. When the car pulls up a man steps out with a bright torch, the torch is shinning brightly on the couples face, giving us one last good look at them, the boy exclaims "you scared us!" right before he is shot, blood splatters over the girls arms right before she is too shot - we see this all in lots of quick cuts building a lot of tension. The man walks away - much like the car he was in drove away - then comes back - again like the car, before shooting the boy again repeatedly as he tries to stand and regain strength inside the car. The going away and coming back element, slightly confuses us and leaves a somewhat distorted feel to the film.

Conventions of a thriller

Central to plot - this is the main idea of the film - it includes to good guys, the bad guys, red herrings, macguffins and the theme of the film.
Sub genres - With the umbrella genre being thriller, all the categories that fall underneath include political thrillers, historical thrillers, action thrillers, sci fi thrillers and many more.
Characters on a dangerous mission - This is where escape usually seems impossible but is often pulled off, intensifying the film.
Edge of the seat tension - Climax, suspense, pursuits, deadlines, timing etc.
Complex characters - Troubled, multi faceted, morally complex.
Society - Seen as dark and corrupt - this helps to set the scene.