Generic Conventions and Iconography

Generic conventions are, elements which are expected to be in a specific type of genre for example a Romance would be expected to have a love story and heartbreak in it, whereas an action/adventure film would be expected to have a fight scene of some sort and there is always a hero, a villain and a love interest.

For my teaser trailer I am creating a psychological thriller, the generic conventions of a thriller would be to have a soundtrack that created suspense and tension within the film, there are different sub genres such as crime thriller, mystery thriller, psychological thriller and mystery thriller are just some of the sub genres, as I am doing the sub genre, psychological thriller the codes and conventions of this would be that the main characters, the protagonist and antagonist are involved in some sort of conflict, normally mentally and emotionally more than physically. The genre thriller is similar to horror they both use dramatic music to engage the audience, the non-diegetic soundtrack is normally one of the most important elements to thriller or horror films.
The stereotypical thriller genre uses shadows and dark rooms, and the plot usually takes place of a night. Not all thriller films stick to the conventions, Photobooth is one film that doesn't stick to codes and conventions as it is not filmed of a night and mostly takes place during the day, although the film doesn't fit this convention it does fit the convention of mystery. Quick cuts and slow panning is used to create the effect of panic, suspense and creates tension within the audience.

Popular pyschological thrillers are: 

Shutter Island 

Memento

Phonebooth



All three of the posters use the main character on the front, they are all male protaganist characters, none of them are looking towards the camera they are all looking towrads the side, I can relate this and get ideas for my teaser trailer.