Thursday 13 January 2011

Convention of Psychological Thrillers

Psychological thrillers usually have a central theme of identity:
  • The main character may have a mistaken identity
  • Characters identity has been stolen
  • Character has lost his/ her identity (often due to amnesia)
  • May have a dual identity e.g. Schizophrenic 
  • 'Dopplegangers' (exact copies of charcters) may be present

Perception- often the narrative is shown from the perspective of multiple characters.

Reality- Confusion between what is+isn't real. The main characters idea of reality is different to the norm established within the film.

Memory- the torture of an individual by traumatic memory. The traumatic search for a lost memory.

Stream of consciousness- The viewer is invited to identify with the psyche of a particular character.

Unreliable narrator- The person telling us the story is discovered to be untrustworthy. This unnerves the viewer.

Flashbacks are a commonly used in psycological thrillers. Rewinding and fast forwarding of events. 
Non-linear narrative/ editing is used to show this.

Imagery- The eye is regularly used as a visual motif in psychological thrillers.

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