Psychological Thriller: Research into the genre.

To help us get an idea of what is expected in a Psychological Thriller, we looked at a selection of films and opeings of the genre. We wrote down our findings in this table, showing the stereotypical traits which make up a Psychological Thriller. These included the typical themes, characters, plot, settings, narrative and iconography found in the genre.

WHAT WE FOUND.

• We found that the typical Stock Settings of a pschological thriller usually involve quite personal places to the main character, such as their homes (particularly their bedrooms), schools, a therapists/councillors’ office and their own private place (a field or deserted house).
• We also found out that the main character was most likely to be a teeager or a child with a strange mental ability or disability, and that their parents didn't understand them, hence the need for a councillor or therapist. A police man or detecive was almost always involved as a consequence of the main character committing a crime which either harms themselves or others. The last key characters we found were romantic interests and a 'special' friend (a friend that was either really close and knew all of their secrets, or an imaginary friend.)
• The typical Themes of a Psychological Thriller tend to involve a murder or crime, a serious case of mental instability, the contrast of death and existance, and various perceptions of life and situations.
• The Narrative usually involves features such as flash backs, voice overs and strong binary opposites such as Good Vs Evil and Light Vs Dark
• We found that the stereotypical iconography of a Psychlogical Thriller includes a lot of dark, mysterious objects; real and surreal (dreams/nightmares, devils/demons, writing on walls that only the protagonist can see), churches and crosses and nature which has rotted (hanging trees, dead flowers ect).



Our table of the codes and conventions of a Psychological Thriller.
 

 To summerise our findings in a creative manner, we decided to present them in the form of a booklet, which will allow easy access to our information whilst also being entertaining to read.


Our booklet summerising the codes and conventions.