Conventions and common techniques of a psycho thriller

• The techniques that are commonly used are plot lines such as waking up from a medical condition, whether that is a coma or amnesia, a car crash or waking up in an unknown location.
• A convention of a psycho thriller is the adaption and manipulation of the audience through bias narration or a restricted access to the plot.
• Shutter island is a common feature which uses biased narration and a restricted story to manipulate the audience into believing that the main character is someone who isn't who he makes himself to be.
• Another common feature is clover field which uses enigma to creating something which builds tension but never actually showing it directly.
• The setting is a very important element to a Psychological thrillers The two most common locations for a Psychological thriller to be set in is the city and inside a building. E.g. An house jail restaurant. The countryside isn’t as commonly used as it can get confused with a horror film.
• The antagonist normally wears dark clothing, as s the colour black represents death, mystery and suspicion. The protagonist is the opposite to this as they normally dress in brightly coloured clothing.
• Low level lighting is commonly used in Psychological thriller as it creates suspicion and tension. In some films it’s used to create shadows which makes the audience feel fear and tension.
• Mirrors are commonly used in psychological thriller to portray the used of reflections of a characters inner self as well as representing the ‘dark side’ of the character.Props are normally the key aspects in an psychological thriller as they are normally used to create clues that are related to the rest of the film.
• High tension music or eerie sounds are most commonly used in psychological thrillers. Sometimes however; in complete contrast to this silence is used, this makes the audience tense.
• The most common shot types that are used in Psychological thrillers are the mid shot and the close up. These are commonly used because it helps the audience relate to the character as they are able to see the emotion and tension on their faces.