Do films follow rules?

Some film makers will claim 'there are no rules' or that' rules are there to be broken'. However, most would agree that there are certain conventions that main stream films obsrve in order for them to be acceptable to the mass audience.

In our class discussion we discussed what conventions would make a successful thriller, this is what we came up with:

• young nieve protagonist
• resourceful
• suspense
• villain with a shady past
• high tech gadgets
• mysterious phone call
• fast paced
• reason for conflict
• weapons
• flash backs
• hero wins
• cant kill children
• hero falls in love
• mystery to be resolved (enigma)
• curious character
• double agent
• maguffin
• the antagonist is more powerful in the beginning