How do Locations in thrillers add to the element of mystery and suspense? (Independent Study)

Locations are used in different ways in thrillers to create mystery and suspense. Locations aren't always the same in thrillers because of the style of thriller.

One location used for thrillers is a big city, or capital like New York. These cities are able to entrap their characters and make it feel claustrophobic. This is shown in films like in 'Nightcrawler' where the main actor Louis played by Jake Gyllenhaal is a charming psychopath who forces his way into finding information about accidents using a police scanner. He then films these accidents for TV news programmes. However he becomes sucked into a viscous circle of crime and deliberately changes crime scenes and hides information from the police to make him more powerful and corrupt as a person. The city plays with his power through the use of enclosed spaces where crime is common which allows him to film and investigate more crimes, which consequently makes him richer and more powerful. Furthermore, cities themselves hold mystery and confusion with their dark alleyways and underlying meanings. Louis fits into this because from the outside he is a cameraman trying to film accidents, but underneath he is a creepy villain trying to hide his identity and business from the reach of reality. This shows his mysterious behaviour and how it allows the director to play with him as a character to create suspense.

Furthermore, most of the crime and unnatural behaviour happens at night which allows vivid shadows like in the shot below to be created and connote mystery and evil. Louis's back is cascaded into darkness which reflects his split personality and how he has a dark secret to why he is filming news stories. 

On the other hand, suburban neighbourhoods and small town america are used to create the idea of a perfect world not being as 'perfect' as it's portrayed. The majority of the American audience watching this The traditional clapperboard houses  are a sign of the american dream and how everyone who wants to own some land should live in these pleasant places to have a perfect life with family friends and children. Also, these houses and style of living are a symbol of power and wealth, however in so many thriller films, these themes and portrayals are proved wrong through the use of corruptness and mystery. In the 2014 film 'Gone Girl', their home becomes the main suspect for the killing of Amy. She is surrounded by these lies that she is a maternal, domestic and friendly person and a perfect wife, however she is a psychopath who uses people to make the media feel sorry for her. Through the use of setting, a psychopath would never be suspected in a quiet town which makes it ironic and more shocking when we find out what Amy really is. Furthermore, the idea that the neighbourhood is shown in big long establishing shots emphasises freedom but also consequently the isolation in which these towns are and how there is help close but not close enough. 

Inside the house, the idea of wealth is confirmed though the props and high key lighting. This covers up the idea of anything be wrong and reinforces the idea to the audience that their world is perfect. Again, a long wide shot is used to show the location and the main character, Nick's full body. By positioning the camera like this it emphasises that he is alone and isolated, while being surrounded by a world that seems perfect. It also makes him seem open and innocent which adds mystery to the scene because he is being blamed for his wife's death.

In the film, many different locations are used like California and New York as well as Missouri (A mid-west state) allows the audience the 'normal' standard locations in which most of the audience would live like and the 'typical' American icons; California and New York that audiences around the world know and are 'dream' like places to live and go.