Planning - Sub Genre (Psychological Thriller)

Psychological Thriller

The sub-genre within thriller we have decided to choose for our film opening is a Psychological thriller. Popular themes within the sub-genre include: 

Realism: Characters often struggle to figure out whats real or not. 

Perception: Often perception of the world is misperceived due to outside factors within the narrative. 

The world is perceived through the main characters senses which are often distorted.

Mind: The narrative is often explained through the characters mind. They often face psychological battles e.g. they can't figure out what is real or what is imagined. The characters battle their own minds and reach a new level of understanding.

Existence: This could be represented by a characters need to find their purpose or reason for existence. Conflicts that test mental strength often tend to lead to discovering their purpose. 

Identity: Characters doubt who they are and try and discover their true identity. 

Death: Characters either strongly fear death or are tempted by death with a strong fascination with what happens at the end of their lives.

Mis En Scene:

• Shadows and low key lighting - These are used to build suspense and in cases represent the inner darkness of a character.
• Props (Mirrors) -  Mirrors are popular as they are used to reflect a characters inner self or their dark side. Its a doorway into the real depth of a character. 
• Costumes - Most people were casual clothing, or in the scene suggests, smart clothing. Clothing generally represents urban and modern settings.
• Location - Popularly set in modern, urban settings. Generally not in countryside as it could be confused with horror. 

Sound:

• Very eery and tense music - used to build tension and create shock within the audience. 

Camera:

• Quick camera movements - used to build suspense and panic. Makes the audience sympathise with the characters. 

Editing:

• Obtrusive and Montage - Highlights feelings and emotions to build tension and suspense, used mostly in important scenes.
• Flashbacks - Gives insight to the audience to show them what has previously happened. Highlights the past and important events that have happened. Commonly highlights an important message that is relevant within the scene, shows the audience why the character is the way they are.
• Black and White Colouring - enhances the effectiveness of shadows. 
• Slow Motion - Builds suspense 
• Past Pace -  Generally used to conclude a story, displaying all the events which led to the penultimate moment or used to display a character piecing together information to figure out a mystery.