Like Props, costume varies across the different sub genres in a thriller. The different costumes depend on the different characters and settings in the film. For example in an office setting a suit may be used for the costume, whereas if the film was set in a high crime area, old worn clothes may be used. Costume is important in the thriller genre because it can tell an audience a lot about a character before they are even fully introduced. Depending on the costume you can make a character seem richer or poor, important or an average citizen and can tell the audience what job they have too. In many crime dramas there is often a police detective, they are usually seen wearing formal clothing so that there position of authority is recognised. Extras in the film are likely to be wearing average clothes that are on either on trend or in fashion, or not, depending on the image that the trailer is trying to create of the characters. Everything that the characters wear and use is specifically chosen and therefore all creates a deeper meaning. In our Trailer we will see that our main character wears expensive well fitting clothes to show the image of wealth as well as happiness. This will further enforce the equilibrium state of the narrative as when we see her later on in the trailer her clothes are ripped and she its stripped back to simply a vest. This suggests also the character's vulnerability and weakness, as all her nice, safe and happy items and props will be taken away from her.
For example, the girl who is kidnapped in taken is seen wearing nice clothes in a relaxed setting before she is taken, suggesting similarly to our trailer, her wealth and happiness, as well as the narrative stage of equilibrium.
Props
Props such as a gun will be used as genre iconography as violence and threat is always present in a thriller genre in order to build tension within the audience, this is imperative in the trailer as we need to be able to create a highly thrilling atmosphere so that the audience want to watch the film. Guns are widely used as the most common murder weapon in this genre of film as they can be used by murderers, police officers, detectives, and other common characters in the thriller genre. Obviously other guns are used in thriller movies but these can vary depending on the character using it, a police officer, for example is likely to use a pistol, an assassin may use a sniper, and a soldier may use a machine gun. It is also relative to the plot line and the characters skills, but a pistol is definitely the most common weapon and is used as an editing technique to help define character. In our trailer, we were considering using a rifle, because this further reinforces the cultural code of British countryside and semantic code of farming (Barthes), also already created by the use of a Land Rover, and so the rifle may reinforce this further as it is associated with shooting in farms and the countryside.
Another common prop that can be used in a number of thriller sub genres is a knife, these are commonly used by the suspect or murderer in a film, not only are they just a prop itself but they can also be used in very intricate ways to create a number of different camera angles and can also build up tension and suspense. When using a knife prop it is likely that fake blood will be needed in order to make it more realistic, this is a very difficult craft to recreate at an amatuer level. Therefore using a knife may have to be done in ways such as evidence left behind by a murderer to help the detective in the case. Also different camera angles can be used when a knife is in a scene, for example a director could use the reflectiveness of the knife in a Hitchcock style shot, or if the director does not want to give anything away about who the murderer is, extreme close ups will not give any features away. However, our trailer is not intending to show what happens after Becki escapes, there will be no murder or police investigation scene shown in our trailer for a knife to be left, and therefore it may not be possible to use a knife in our trailer.