Codes And Conventions Of A Psychological Thriller.

General.
A psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide range of thriller genres with a great deal of attention on the characters. Apart from the drama and mystery, many psychological thrillers overlap with the 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.

Technical Codes.
Mirrors - are used to portray the use of reflection of a characters inner self, as well as representing the dark side of some characters.

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. 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 Hitchcocks film Psycho (1960)

Typical Characters In A Psychological Thriller.

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)

Typical Mise-en-scene In A Psychological Thriller.

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.