The codes and conventions of a for a murder mystery/ thriller are;
- Low key lighting
- Quick edits and cuts
- Shadows
- Tense music
- Changes in camera angles
- Diegetic sound
- Montage of shots
Murder mystery/ thrillers are set where ever the murder took place, for example in their home or down an alleyway, and in houses or areas where leads to help solve the crime are. There is also usually an office where the detective(s) trying to find the murder work.
The costumes of the protagonist in horror/ thriller films are usually quite smart as they are a detective, wearing a shirt and maybe a suit to look professional and well informed to solve the crime.
Murder mystery/ thriller films usually follows the Vladomir Propp Theory with the characters involved in it. There is the hero who would normally be the detective trying to find who he murder was and solve the crime. There has to be a villain who is the murderer for the story line. There would be someone who has information about the murder, who is known as the donor. The character that is murdered typically has a dark secret that later gets found out after their death and is involved in some dangerous business or something dodgy that they shouldn't have been doing.
Sometimes the lighting is quite dull as the story line for this genre is based around a sad and serious event that took place, so the lighting would further reinforce this. However, not all murder mystery films are like that and have slightly lighter lighting at points as there are other things going on through out the main story, for example following the life of the detective in charge of the case.
Sometimes the lighting is quite dull as the story line for this genre is based around a sad and serious event that took place, so the lighting would further reinforce this. However, not all murder mystery films are like that and have slightly lighter lighting at points as there are other things going on through out the main story, for example following the life of the detective in charge of the case.
I think you're right in that these kinds of stories do tend to have fairly rigid character types. The hero can often be quite nuanced though. In fact, in quite a lot of these dramas, the hero is flawed in some way and it is often their unique take on life that allows them insight into the mind of the criminal. Sherlock Holmes, Luther, Will Graham are ones that immediately spring to mind- good people with a dark side!
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