2. Themes
•
Psychological thrillers frequently focus on a
characters mind by regularly having a first person
narrative, allowing the audience further insight to
the mind of their antagonist.
•
The idea of what is real and what is not is
commonly used in psychological thrillers such as
Shutter Island and Black Swan. This compels the
audience to pay attention and interests them as it
forces them into thinking so that when they
decipher the story they feel a sense of
achievement. However, in some films, many
viewers are left confused rather than gratified,
such as Inception.

3. Themes
•
•
•

Mind – The mind is explored mainly via the
first person narrative, revealing inner conflict
and the characters emotional state.
Identity – Characters often doubt who they
are or what purpose they are serving, and so
set out to discover themselves
Perception – Often a characters perception of
the world is revealed to be different to that
of others with a more sound state of mind
Death – Characters often have a fear and or
fascination with death and the dead

4. 
Elements Used Psycological Thrillers
- Mystery
- Drama
- Reality
- Perception
- Mind
- Identity
- Death
Conventions of a Psycological Thriller
- Time disorientation (flashbacks, premontions, dreams etc)
- Music (Mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds,
there may even be no music at times)
- Fast-paced edits
- Frequent changes of the camera angle

5. Quick cuts, montage editing and alteration of
shot sizes and camera angles, as well as effective
use of incidental music all add to making an
amazing thriller.
• Mirrors and stairs are a convention of thriller
movies, lighting and especially the use of shadow
can have an immense impact. Through the use of
non linear narrative, the audience are sometimes
made to feel sorry for the protagonist as they’re
shown part of a characters past through the use
of flashbacks. Psychological thrillers use this as it
plays with the target audiences mind and makes
them think about the action taking place.
•

6. Codes and Conventions
•
Low key lighting is often used in psychological thrillers to
create a dark, tense atmosphere.
Shutter Island
Black Swan
Se7en

7. •
They are mostly set in modern urban locations, with lots of
people around. This is an effective technique because it makes
the audience wonder where the story/danger is going to come
from.
The Machinist
Side Effects
• The score used in psychological thrillers is usually low pitched
and
ominous with a few high key notes here and there usually without
any clear rhythm, structure or melody. Atmospheric sounds and sound
effects are used to create an eerie sound and build tension.
• Camera movement and editing is often fast pace, this is done to
build tension and panic amongst the audience to reflect what is
happening on screen.

8. •
Enigma is used frequently in thrillers in order to capture the
audience’s attention. A question or dilemma that the target
audience can relate to is introduced and then played around with
and resolved or left unresolved. To catch the audience’s attention
and entice them, directors may use sub genres to suit the
intended target audiences taste. For example, horror thriller,
psychological thriller, comedy thriller and etc. Thrillers regularly
coincide with mystery stories, but are differentiated by the
structure of their plots. Thrillers take place on a much grander
scale - the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass
murder (such as ‘Se7en’), terrorism (such as ‘Unthinkable’),
assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Jeopardy and
violent confrontations are conventional plot elements. A thriller
climaxes when the hero finally defeats the antagonist, saving
others lives and his own.

9. 



Mirrors –
are used to portray the use of reflection of a characters inner self, as
well as representing ‘the dark side’ of some characters.
Shutter Island










Shadows & low key lighting –
are used as a convention of a thriller film they are both used to add tension in a
scene, and to represent the inner darkness within the characters.
Quick cuts, obtrusive & montage editing –
are all frequently used in psychological thrillers to highlight the feelings of suspense
and tension, mainly used during important scenes
e.g the opening sequence of ‘Se7en’ (1995)
Flashbacks –
is a typical convention of a thriller because it can show what has happened
previously, to give the audience an insight into the characters past,
e.g the film ‘Memento’ (2000)
Tension music –
used to set the mood and create suspense or shock the audience
for example the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’ (1960)

10. Typical Characters
•

•
•
•
•
•

Convicts, criminals, stalkers
e.g. ‘one hour photo’ (2002),
Assassins
e.g. ‘JFK’ (1991),
Innocent victims, prison inmates, menaced women
e.g. ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’ (1991),
Characters with dark past
e.g. ‘Silence Of The Lambs’ (1991),
Psychotic individuals
e.g. ‘The Shining’ (1980),
Terrorists, police,FBI, people involved in twisted
relationships
e.g. ‘The Fear’ (1996)

11. •
The colours used in psychological thrillers are
predominantly red, black and white. They have
connotations of danger, violence, blood, evil and
mystery. Low-key lighting is often used on the main
subjects to create enigma and mystery. The background
is often dark to emphasise this. It also helps to create
an unsettling atmosphere and further build tension.