Thriller/Mystery Genre - Film Language

Film Language

There are many elements of film language used in all genres of film, but in thrillers the following aspects of film language are most common.

Camera

• Camera shots - wide shot (showing off the isolation of a setting), medium shot (drawing attention to a character's body language and costume), point-of-view shot (placing the audience with the protagonist or making it seem as if the protagonist is being watched), close up (to draw attention to important props or to show a character's, often fearful, emotions)   
• Camera angles - low angle (making characters seem menacing and threatening), high angle (reinforcing a character's vulnerability), bird's-eye-view (typically used to suggest a character is being manipulated or controlled by external forces)
• Camera movement - pan (to show the vastness of a location), tracking shot (to make it appear as if a character is being followed)   
• Camera focus - deep focus (allowing audiences to see danger developing in the background), shallow focus (drawing the audience's attention to a significant prop or character), rack focus (used to quickly reveal something to the audience and cause a jump scare)

Mise-en-Scene

• Setting (isolated or claustrophobic locations)
• Costume and make-up (varies, depending on the narrative or type of thriller)
• Props (weapons or technologically advanced devices)
• Figure behaviour (often erratic and nervous, though villain's are frequently emotionless)  
• Lighting - low-key lighting (creates a threatening, unsettling tone), side lighting (can indicate a character's duplicity), back lighting (to create a silhouette and make characters look sinister and threatening, whilst also hiding their identity)

Sound

• Ambient sound (background noises to create realism, unsettling sounds)
• Diegetic sound (dialogue and pleonastic sound effects to make the audience jump)
• Non-diegetic sound (sinister music)
• Contrapuntal sound (often music that doesn't match the images, creating a jarring effect)
• Narrator/voiceover (often the main character explaining important backstory, though in thrillers this is commonly an omniscient narrator)
• Silence (frequently used in the genre to unsettle the audience)

Editing

Editing transitions

• Cut (common in all genres)
• Fade in/fade out (common in thrillers to create suspense or to indicate someone passing out)
• Dissolve (dreamlike, drugged, passing of time)

Pace of editing

• Fast cutting/short takes (creates intensity, reflects panic)
• Slow cutting/long takes (creates suspense, tension and anticipation)
• Slow motion (emphasises something to the audience, shows a character's reaction)

Other editing techniques

• Graphic match/match cut (links characters, objects or ideas together)
• Jump cut (reflects panic and chaos)
• Superimposition (links ideas or characters)
• Parallel editing/crosscutting (used to create suspense and tension)
• Montage (used to reveal something about a character)
• Flashback (often most of the narrative of a thriller will use this technique)
• Ellipsis (deliberately withholds narrative information

Continuity editing

• 180 degree rule (axis of action) (broken frequently in thrillers to disorientate the viewer or reflect a character's disorientation)
• Shot-reverse-shot (conversations)