Genres are the category that films fall in to, for example: Thriller, horror, comedy, romance and action etc. Genres also dependent on various factors example; story lines. Genres are really important because it gives the audiences wider range of what they would like to watch. It’s important for the audiences to know the type of genre they are watching in terms of age, young ones maybe not be able to watch certain genres for example, Horror/Thriller and romance it might have violent scenes and sex scenes. Genres can also describe the film you’re watching and it helps the audiences as they will know what to expect. It is important for the directors to know the genre because they will need to think about the codes and conventions of the thrillers and how they will appeal to an audience.
What is a thriller? Definition.
A genre that creates a chilling feeling amongst the audience also a sense of suspense and tension is created and the narrative can be difficult to follow depending on the sub-genre.
One example of a thriller is Insidious; it’s about a young family that makes the horrifying discovery the body that the boy has become a magnet for malevolent entities, although his consciousness is trapped in the dark.
The reason why I think it’s a thriller is because its full of suspense , dramatic irony and lots of tension being created by fast movements,different types of shot/angles, mystery characters ,the lighting is low key lighting ,shadows are being used ,also the sound created e.g. footsteps/music used. The audience can also get involved as in some scenes they might know something that the characters don't know. There’s also surprises and twists, in the movie where mysterious things happen, one minute their son is exploring the attic, he falls from the ladder and hits the head on the floor.On the next morning, he does not wake up and stays in coma and the doctors can’t seem to figure out what the problem is. The mum is so sure that the house is haunted after seeing things like shadow sand hearing noises, however when she tries to tell her husband, he don't believe her. Demons and ghost are involved which makes it even more interesting and scary!
Sub-Genre of thrillers.
Thrillers are often hybrids with other genres; there are crime thrillers, action thrillers even romance comedy thrillers and psychological. Another Genre that’s related to thriller is Horror!
Common Themes- codes and conventions of a thriller
In most thrillers, there are common themes that come up mostly, some come up most than others but here are list of common themes that come up: Revenge where the antagonist might seek revenge on the protagonist on a sly. Another theme is psychological where a character murders someone due to their mental/psychical issues.There’s spiritual and curse thrillers, where demons and evil spirits are involved. There's also many more such as;violence, family, drugs ,money and hostages etc.
Audience response to thrillers
Thrillers are meant to scare the audiences, get them jumpy give them a long lasting goose bumps. Although some might be use to seeing thriller movies and already known what to expect from it. In a way i believe that the audiences take part in thrillers because they are just unaware of what’s going happen just as much as the characters are however the audience might know something that the characters don’t, this is where dramatic irony is used! for example if the antagonist is behind the protagonist about to stab him/her the audience would be yelling out "she/his behind you".When watching a thriller there might be a lot of screaming when something unexpectedly happens. Thrillers are also exciting to watch, its different from all the other genres that’s why people love watching thrillers even nowadays young people watch it even though its not even targeted at them.
Conclusion - how has it helped your understanding of thrillers and the coursework requirements?
This helped me lot because i know what to expect from thrillers, personally I don’t watch thrillers so my understanding of thrillers has increased. As part of my course work I will need to make my own trailer of a thriller so this gives me some sort of an idea of what it should look like but using my own ideas. It also helps me with the type of effects they use e.g. the creepy door/music or the fast movements and shot types, the dull colours and the setting; all these are things i need to think about when creating my own trailer and when analyzing a thriller film.In my own trailer of a thriller the types of conventions that i may want to use is the lighting; low key lighting this is because sets the scene and the audience will instantly know the genre.
Yasmin, some good points are mentioned here and a good understanding of the codes and conventions of general thrillers. You also provide some good existing examples to support your work.
ReplyDeleteTo improve the post;
-Mention in your introduction that it is also important to know about genres because as a directer, you will know what conventions to use to appeal to an audience.
-Also, try and think of more general themes that occur in thrillers.
-Insidious analysis, mention conventions such as lighting and characters.
-Conclusion - mention what types of conventions you will need to use, and what response you now know you need to create form your audience.
-Think about the overall layout of the work as it is quite hard to read some of it.
Good. Changes are made and a lot more detail in the post.
ReplyDeleteTo improve;
-try and define the thriller genre with more depth
- think about more conventional themes such as violence, drugs, money, hostages etc.
-in your exampeles of sub-genres, state what these are
Well done Yasmin, this is a relaly good post which demonstrates your initial ideas and your research on thrillers. Changes have been made well.
ReplyDelete