Codes and Conventions of Psychological Thriller:

A psychological thriller is a sub-genre of thriller and it deals of attention on the characters. Many psychological thrillers overlap with horror genre, mainly psychological horror. In a psychological thriller the characters are often exposed to danger on a mental level as opposed to a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their enemies but are reliant on their mental resources by battling for equilibrium in the characters own mind. Furthermore in psychological thrillers the iconography is very important as it helps the audience categorizes the film as a thriller and not as a horror, it also makes people think what could be done with that certain prop and what could it lead to. Location is a very important element of a thriller, in the majority of scenes they are set in modern places & urban cities, the countryside is not often used as it could be confused with horror.

Themes: Death Reality Identity Existence Purpose

Props: Newspaper Scissors Board filled with pictures Conventions of a psychological thriller: Low level lighting: Shadows to create tension Dark Lighting Quick edits and changes in camera angle: increase the feeling of fear and shock. Often used during significant scenes. Mirrors: are used to portray the use of reflection of a character inner self, as well as representing the dark side of some characters. Music: Hight tension, eerie, silence, traumatic. Flashbacks: Time disorientation confusing the audience or showing the past to give and insight into why the characters are the way they are.

 Black and white colouring: increase effectiveness of shadows. Font/Colour of title: may be written in a certain way to emphasise the theme of the film. Directors of thrillers: Alfred Hitchcock: also known as master of suspense.

David Lynch: a surrealist director whose mysteries are usually puzzles of the mind.

 Martin Scorsese: director of The departed and Shutter Island

Characters for this genre: Bruce Willis Samuel L. Jackson Robin Wright Hugh Jackman Christian Bale Michael Caine Piper Perabo Scarlett Johansson Edward Norton Brad Pitt Morgan Freeman