Iconography in a psychological thriller.Joe Sheldon

Iconography• Iconography is the symbolism, imagery and props that appear as

conventional tropes or reoccurring themes of certain movie genres.• They are important within film as they can easily connote to the person

watching what genre the movie is intending to be and can create a certain tone depending upon that.

• Iconography can appear as a location that occurs within the genre, a trope of characters, a commonly used cinematic practice or a prop that is often used across various films.

• To class as iconography, the particular thing must be iconic across the many movies that fit into this classification.

• An easy example of specific iconography is the bat symbol, which appears in every movie throughout the batman superhero genre.

• The following are some classic tropes of psychological thriller/horror films.

Shadow• The use of shadows in psychological thriller movies is important as it

is a reoccurring motif since the popularization of the figure of a shadow as dangerous in Psycho (Dir. Hitchcock, 1960).

• It can connote danger to the audience as it relies on anonymity as its key fear factor. Having a shadow looming over someone is often further symbolic of a character who’s identity is unknown to the audience being a threat to the character.

• Psycho remains the most famous use of this; during the shower murder scene Norman Bates, who at this point is not known by the audience to be the killer, is a silhouetted presence behind the shower curtain before the woman is murdered.

• This connotes that the man behind the shower is a killer and that his threatening identity is yet unknown.

Shadow

Psycho Shower Scene

Confined Spaces• Thriller films intend to put the audience on edge, especially those of the

psychological sub-genre; playing on common fears is a way to achieve this aim.

• A recent study found 2.5% of the US population has claustrophobia, therefore small spaces are a way to capitalize on this. Furthermore, the concept of being trapped puts many on edge, therefore this iconography is effective in creating the feel of a thriller.

• One film that plays upon this fear well is Saw (Dir. Wan, 2004). The two main characters find themselves waking in a small, locked room with a variety of challenges and torture devices. The small space allows to show these in singular shots and emphasize how close the walls are to the characters.

• This connotes to the audience both physically and metaphorically that the characters have no choice but to participate in what Saw has for them to do.

Running Water• Running water is a form of iconography that was also popularised in Psycho. It

is often used to symbolise the running out of life or the flow of blood.• Running water is often connoted as natural and safe; taking it out of this

context and making it sinister therefore pushes the boundaries for the audience of what is tainted and what is not.

• In Psycho, the shower scene uses running water in different ways, however they both result in the same connotation. The scene depicts a woman in a shower, with running water onto her and water falling down a plughole, mixing with her blood.

• The water over her in the shower creates a natural feel, connoting natural springs and waterfalls. It is also an everyday action for the audience, which can put them on edge relating to their general activities. This is why shower murders are particularly effective in psychological movies.

• Furthermore, the water going down the plughole is symbolic of the draining of her life away from her and to an unidentifiable place.