Thriller iconography research

Iconography means symbolic representations, which often have a conventional meaning attached to an image or object. Thrillers have many different types of iconography within them. Iconography in a film is important as it represents the genre of it and can show messages to the audience. The typical iconography are as followed:

Knives:

Knives are a typical symbol associated with thrillers as they have connotations of blood,death,murder and pain. Knives are often used to show either someone being murdered or a protagonist using it as a means to defend themselves, so is a common device to keep the audience engaged.

Confined Spaces:
The use of space in thrillers can be used to evoke the sense of entrapment within an audience. Being in a confined space often leads to the protagonist breathing heavily and start to panic to inform the audience of there fear. These confined spaces are used to make the protagonist seem vulnerable and weak and may even have them fear this small space.

Street lights:
Street lights are used at night in thrillers as to emphasise and focus
on the protagonist and to the fact that the scene is enveloped in darkness apart from the street light. This can be used as sort of a safe place or haven for the protagonist as the light usually connotes safety and hope whereas the darkness would generally lead to there death. This can also accentuate the fact that the character is alone in the dark creating a sense of fear and tension.

Shadows:
Shadows are another type of iconography used in Thrillers. The silhouettes of dark figures is what gives thrillers its enigma and mystery aspect as the audience cannot directly see who the characters is or what there motivations are. This can be used to build up fear within a scene as it gives a sense of fear of the unknown for the audience. A character with a dark silhouette or shadow typically is the antagonist as it gives them a brooding and mysterious look and may not be revealed until later on in the film.