Research into Psychological Thriller Genre:

Whilst discussing with my group which genre to classify our short film we finalised the choice of Thriller as our intention within scenes is to create suspense and fear through violence. However when researching into Thriller as a genre and its conventions I realised it lacks many similar aspects to other films within the Thriller genre.
This discovery caused me to research into genre hybrids, specifically the Psychological Thriller genre.

Psychological thrillers rely on the fear of the unknown, mystery and several events building to a plot climax. This genre of film relies on character mental instability to provide context.

Psychological thriller conventions

Setting:
The setting during a psychological thriller would provide the audience with a sense of realism, for example a town or suburban location. Through the average setting the sense of fear is heightened within the audience as the illusion that the violent events within the film could happen anywhere is created. For example the film 'Donnie Darko' (2001) takes place in a mundane location.

The setting of Donnie Darko.

Costume:
Continuing with the impression of realism the protagonist is often represented wearing ordinary clothing to create realism surrounding the plot. For example character Clarice Starling's costume within 'Silence of the Lambs' (1991) appears bland and everyday whereas her determined character and events she partakes in juxtaposes this.

Clarice Starling's costume during 'Silence of the Lambs'.

Lighting:
Low key lighting is frequently used to create an audience response of fear. The use of shadows also creates tension throughout films defined with the psychological fear genre through targeting the audiences fear of the unknown. 'The Shining' (1980) uses low key lighting within specifically violent scenes to form an emotional response from the audience.

Low key lighting used within The Shining.

Sound:
High pitched eerie music often accompanies the psychological thriller genre to provide a sense of unease and warn the audience of disruption within the films narrative.

After further research into the Psychological Thriller genre hybrid I concluded that it would be the genre used to identify our film. Our film fits with the thriller genre through a continued use of violent scenes such as the protagonist Lily murdering her boyfriend. The character context of Lily's mental state causing her to see visions of characters deaths defines the films genre as Psychological Thriller.