RESEARCH INTO INCONOGRAPHY AND SETTINGS

ICONOGRAPHY

Knives
One of the most typical symbols of the thriller theme genre is knives, this is because have negative connotations such as pain, brutality and death. An example of this would be in Hitchcocks famous film 'Psycho'. Knives are used as iconography to show that someone is about to be killed and keeps the audience engaged, this creates tension to hold the audiences attention.

Shadows
Shadows and silhouettes are a huge source of mystery for thriller films. Shadows are a common piece of iconography associated with this genre as they build up fear and tension, they imply the protagonist is being watched. The protagonist is not aware to this but can sense that something is wrong.  They often induce fear for the audience as well as giving them clues and they ask suspense. A character with a silouhette is like the to be the antagonist, which usually isnt revealed until the end of the film. 

Confined spaces
These are used to make the audience feel like they are trapped too which creates a feel of tension. Being in a confined space leads to heavy breathing to inform they are trapped and cant escape which often leads to heir struggle as they try and escape.

Running water

Running water is associated with death as it suggests the draining of life or it also sometimes represents the dripping of blood and suggests danger. 

Street lamps

 These are used to keep the focus on the protagonist and shows the audience how they are surrounded by darkness. This shows that they are alone in the dark and creates fear for the audience as they don't know what might be out there in the dark and creates a tense atmosphere.

 Bars on windows and fences
This iconography is used to show imprisonment and isolation. Fences with barbwire on suggest the characters have no way of getting out which shows they are detatched from the outside world.


Setting

Cities
Thrillers often take place in cities which brings the drama closer to home, this gives a sense of reality for the audience.

Woods
Woods are often associated with thrillers as they create a sense of suspense and being lost as the characters try their best to find out how to escape. Woods are isolated too by trees and branches which creates a sense of vunerability and it seems unlikely that the character will escape. The darkness in the woods also hides any danger coming towards the protagonist.

In this youtube video of thriller films, 'Changeling' is one of the films which is filmed in the city as one of the most common settings a thriller film uses. 'The girl with the Dragon tattoo is also filmed in the city with elements filmed in the woods which is also often used as a filming location. 

Iconography such as entrapment is used here. The male shown on the open titles is in a box and the title suggests he has been buried underground in a coffin. This leads the audience to believe that it is possible that the plot of the film could be for the boy to escape. 

Heavy breathing from inside the coffin can be heard which is in response to being trapped. Text on screen shows that he has 90 minutes of oxygen meaning that in the film a time frame is used and he only had a certain amount of time to escape before his oxygen will run out and will die, this creates tension and holds the audiences attention. A time frame is common in most thriller films. 



THEMES

Some typical themes of the thriller genre are: terrorism, kidnap, political conspiracy, crime, supernatural events, spies, chase, assasination and suspense. Themes such as these enable the film to have structure, in the end the aim is to have suceeded in their challenge. For example in Taken Bryans daughter has been kidnapped and so the aim of the film to for him to have rescued his daughter.