Genre Codes and Conventions

Here I am going to analyse the thriller genre and talk about what codes and conventions it has. There are many types of thriller out there though, some include: action thrillers, conspiracy thrillers and revenge thrillers. For this, I am going to analyse psychological thrillers and how its codes and conventions are seen in the opening sequence because I would want to make this type of thriller for my opening sequence. Psychological thrillers have their own codes and conventions which give a distinct shape, such conventions include the setting, characters, iconography and plot lines.

The psychological thriller settings are usually dark, mysterious, isolated places; abandoned buildings and enclosed spaces are commonly used in psychological thriller films. This is used to make to situation frightening, confusing and enigmatic. Tension is also built up by using locations like these as the unexpected can happen at any time, danger can strike and lives can be in danger.

There are generally two character types in psychological thriller films, good and evil; the good character are found to be victims, police officers, and underdog type characters. The evil characters are commonly psychopaths, serial killers, stalkers or convicts. These characters develop depth over time but in the begging they establish which side they fight for or what role they will take in the film, in the opening sequence there is usually an event that does this, eg. The villain or psychopath makes an attempt and the hero or victims life, or the villain we cause something bad to happen to someone the hero knows.

Iconography is a convention that can play a large role in an opening sequence as clues are often given to suggest what may happen in the film. Iconography is mainly portrayed through the visuals in the film, maybe through certain features of the opening sequence being highlighted. This can also be achieved through the use of camera angles in the opening sequence, as close ups and extreme close ups are very common in thriller opening sequences.

The plot and narrative of psychological thrillers follow scenes of danger and distraction, mystery is often found in the plot of this type of thriller and usually surrounds the main antagonist. This keeps the audience hooked and wanting to find out who the antagonist and/ or what their intentions are. In the opening sequence we commonly see the antagonist make their mark and appear to be in control and winning in the battle of good and evil.

Some films which fulfil these codes and conventions well include:

Psycho
Touch of Evil
The Sixth Sense

From this I can take away all of the codes and conventions talked about and try to apply them successfully to my final film. I believe the most important ones to try and implement though are the setting and the characters, if I am able to get these right in the opening sequence I should be able to keep the audience engaged and wanting more.