Genre, audiences and institutions

Genre is a relevant concept for audiences because it means that they are able to pick a film that they know they are likely to enjoy. For example, if a consumer is a fan of being scared,  then they are likely to pick a horror. Genre effects film production companies because they are then known for what they specialise in as well as they know what sort of genre they may be better at. Consumers are also then aware what companies they like by what genres they usually create. For example Happy Madison usually creates comedies. It is also useful for film distribution companies as they can make it clear what genre it is as well as they can market it and advertise to the right target audience.

Sub Genres

Despite the fact that the thriller genre as a whole is exceptionally varied (compared to Western films for example where every film looks very similar), within the thriller genre there are a number of sub genres. In these sub genres there is a high degree of similarity. Here are three different film posters for the sub genre of phycological thrillers. The posters are of the films Se7en, Silence of the Lambs and Paranormal Activity.

Similarities and Differences
The most obvious similarity between these three posters is the fact that they all show a pair of eyes/ person in the poster. Especially in the silence of the lambs poster and Seven, the eyes are staring directly at the viewer, haunting them and also intriguing them. This plays a phycological effect on the viewer of the poster which contrasts the themes and sub genre of the film. Whereas in the paranormal activity poster, the characters are not staring at the viewer, but they are staring at the villain of the film, which intrigues the consumer as they may be more interested in what may be happening in the film and therefore be more likely to view it. The movie poster, Se7en, also has the 7 deadly sins placed in the middle, which adds as the metaphorical barrier between the characters which may explain that these characters may have trouble in the film. In addition, in the silence of the lambs poster, a bug with a skull on it is covering the characters face, also explaining to the consumer that this is an abnormal situation, therefore being a phycological thriller. Paranormal Activity also shows an abnormal situation which is a similarity between all three posters however it is the only poster which shows a scene from the film.


List of Sub Genre Thrillers

Action Thriller
Conspiracy Thriller
Crime Thriller
Disaster Thriller
Erotic Thriller
Legal Thriller
Medical Thriller
Phycological Thriller
Political Thriller
Religious Thriller
Spy Thriller
Supernatural Thriller


The most appealing thriller sub genre to me is either Phycological Thriller or Spy Thriller as I believe that making an opening sequence to one of these thrillers would be interesting as well as they are usually the most tense which was one of my aims when the process began. In addition I believe that these kind of thrillers are usually the most exciting and intriguing so that is one of the main reasons why they interest me.

Genre Difference, Repetition and Similarity

The thriller genre can be very different as on the surface, many thrillers can look very different. For example Taken and Gravity. Some key features between the two of them are quite large. For example, the mise-en-scene of Gravity shows the characters floating around in space with bright lighting due to being in space and huge props such as spaceships and astronaut suits. Whereas in Taken, it is all set on earth with guns, violence and much more dialogue compared to Gravity.

Here is a screenshot from Gravity, showing the huge set, suits and CGI that has been used to create this film.

Here is a screenshot from Taken, where there is less special effects, and the mise-en-scene is a lot more naturalistic.

The characters in these films are very different. For example, in Taken, Liam Neeson's character is a lot more straight forward and a 'to the point' kind of guy whereas in Gravity, Sandra Bullocks character is more worried, fearful and weak. In addition the narrative between the two films is also a lot different as the events that take place in Gravity are on a much larger scale for set and how the troubles of being in space has a high risk, whereas in Taken, the risk comes from the characters decisions not natural causes such as the gravity in space.

On the other hand, these two thrillers are also very similar in the fact that they both keep the audience on the edge of their seats and both build tension dramatically due to the narrative structure. Also, the villains in each of these films, the kidnapper for Taken and gravity for Gravity, both fulfil the purpose of a villain which is to cause trouble to the characters in the film.

Introduction to Genre

What is a genre, sub-genre and hybrid genre?

In the film industry, genre is a way of categorising a media text.

A sub-genre is a genre such as a disaster genre which is specific to the type of movie, within the film itself. 

A hybrid genre is a combination of two genres in one film, such as an action-thriller.  

Films that may be in a specific genre may share the fact that they all may make you laugh such as in comedy films. Whereas in a thriller films, they build tension and will keep you gripped. On the other hand, horror films may make you scared and scream.

Final Decision on Thriller Idea

After speculating about how we would film 'Hunt' we decided to change our minds to our second option of a male and a female stuck in a room, drained, with pictures of their family playing through an old TV screen. A gun is shown on the table where both characters soon realise that this is a game of 'Russian Roulette' and one character will die. This is a non-linear narrative as the opening sequence is what will happen to the characters at the end of the full feature, meaning the audience can think about what will happen to these characters whilst grieving and sympathising towards them during the film. Our vision so far is for the set to look similar to the picture below, however a table will be in the middle with a gun centre of that table. We will most likely use extreme close ups at the start of the sequence to show the characters drained eyes and show how tired and scared they are. As well as an establishing shot to show the whole room and where the characters have found themselves which is likely to build tension.

Genre and Thrillers

Blog: Genre entry

What is a genre, sub-genre and hybrid genre?

In the film industry, genre is a way of categorising a media text.

A sub-genre is a genre such as a disaster genre which is specific to the type of movie, within the film itself. 

A hybrid genre is a combination of two genres in one film, such as an action-thriller.  

Why is genre used?

Genre is used to market the film to a target audience and so the consumer is aware with what the film involves, for example thriller fans. 

What are genre conventions ?

Genre conventions are typical techniques that are used in certain genres for example, in a horror movie it may be set in a dark forest. 

Thriller:

What is a thriller genre?

 A thriller is a type of film that continually builds suspense throughout  the feature and keeps you gripped until the end. They are often refereed to as a film that you are constantly on the edge of your seat, where you don’t want too look at the screen but find that your are unable to look away. An example of a thriller may include: Taken, Abduction and The Purge.   

Conventions of a thriller

Typically camera angles, framing, camera movement, miss-en-scene, editing, sound and actor positioning are all common aspects when  creating a thriller and different aspects to think about. For example camera angles and movement all show the status of the character which show if they may be a enemy or a hero. For example, this picture explains how they are intimidating to the audience due the the low angle shot. Also the framing for this shot establishes that he is in a large city but is able to dominate it.  

In this part of Taken, a low camera angle is featured once again to show his dominance but also, non-diegetic music is playing at this point which results in building tension for the audience as he looks for his daughter. This is successful in which it keeps you gripped to the scene and leaves you wondering if a villain is about to come out.  

Sub-genres of thriller?

A sub genre is a genre which is specific to the type of movie. For example a crime thriller is a film such as The Purge. An example of a disaster thriller may include 2012. 

Thriller update, group work

Today we got into our groups and talked about our original thriller ideas and what our favourite parts from each idea consisted of. We came to the conclusion that our favourite was my original idea, Hunt, but thought of extra ideas to add to it. For example, versitile camera shots and the idea of seeing the opening sequence from the intruders persopective whilst using non-diegetic sound such as 'Happy' by Pharrell Williams.

Original Thriller Ideas

Here are my original ideas for a thriller- in order of my favourite ideas-

Hunt

In the film a police officer searching for the intruder to his house, he finds that the intruder was not only the most wanted serial killer in the state, but he is also the most dangerous. Obstacles occur along the way, which prevent him finding the source,  main character dies in end. 

In the first scene we see a officer asleep in his bed. He hears noises coming from the spare room, his daughter is crying. He quickly sits up and grabs a gun, running through the house using a POV shot. He scrambles into his daughters room where he finds his daughter, unharmed. The window is left open with large muddy footsteps on the floor. We pan to his face showing a troubled, worried look. 

The Game

In the film a prostitute is kidnapped from the river side by an unknown river. Nobody listens to her family who repetitively tell the police. Eventually they listen and send out a search party to the area, where little do they know they will be stuck there for a very long time, and they may not make it out alive. 

In the first scene, we see the incident happening down by the river. The prostitute is stumbling down the river side, appeared to be drunk. She passes by some eye witnesses who don’t seem to help her. She falls over and an odd figure comes up to her to help her. We hear a scream and a black out of the camera where the title appears. 

Apollo

In the film a space shuttle has taken off into space,  the space shuttle then loses signal and is lost in the atmosphere. The scientists know that they have enough resources for 3 months to survive. It is then up to the scientists to find them.

In the first scene, we see a non-liner narrative of the astronauts floating in space, presumably dead to the audience but are actually just ill from starvation. This then throw them off the track of the film. It also shows the camera shot as if the camera is floating in space too.

The Chase

In the film a chase between a policeman and a serial killer. He is jailed but manages to escape after many years of planning. 

In the first scene we see running between both the serial killer and the policeman. Camera shots are flicking about, with loud non-diegetic music playing. The music matches the movements where it stops. The serial killer than says ‘ You have lost’ and the camera cuts out. 

This is a brief overview of the ideas and 'Hunt' has been considered to be made for out thriller coursework. 

My group gave me some feedback on what they liked and didn't like about 'Hunt'. 

The positive feedback they gave me included: the use of a POV shot, adhering stereotypes by using a police officer as they are usually seen as 'invincible'. In addition they were a fan of it being set in a house, which leaves ideas open for shooting and building tension as there are many hiding spots and corners in a typical house. However, some negative points of my idea included the fact that the shots I have thought of may be too simple, which can be improved. I have therefore had the idea to use a mix of shots, especially close ups and extreme close ups to create tension by not showing the audience everything that may be visible to the character.  

Through The Eye Analysis

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

 Through The Eye

In the first shot, tension was built by showing an overview of the security office to give the audience an idea of what is in the room. This portrayed through a dimly lit room so the audience was forced to focus on the TV screen. I believe that the film is about 'unseen crime' and how many crimes can easily be missed (such as the one in this clip) so therefore many criminals get away with the crime they have committed.

In this clip, one very effective feature is that the whole two minute clip is filmed in just one shot. Throughout this shot, it slowly pans around the room which builds up tension as you as an audience are anxious to know what is about to happen. This effect is used in many films where the person opens a closet, and the audience expect someone to be there but there isn't, and when the closet is shut the 'ghost' is standing behind them. Therefore this pan was designed to create tension, to a relaxed moment and suddenly to huge shock where the audience don't expect it.

The first shots on the security cameras see innocent people (but the audience don't know that at this point) walk through the street. The audience believe that something bad will happen in these scenes however it does not. The camera then slowly pans around to the right where is starts to slowly zoom in on a security camera. This effect is designed to fool the audience into believing that there is something interesting about to happen on this screen, however nothing happens. Because of this the audience relax  as the camera slowly pans around once more, little do they know the crime will happen on this next camera. Before the camera shows the crime. it follows the security guard up his body, showing a bored and dull expression which isn't interesting for the audience so he is quickly ignored as the camera continues.

The music in this clip also plays a huge part about building up tension. The music is tense and tells the mind of the audience to 'expect' something bad to happen throughout this scene, which it does, however it does not give any clues away to when that may be. The crime isn't scary, however it is a shock to the audience therefore living up to the genre of the piece being a 'thriller'. I believe that the attack of the woman is to set up the rest of the plot of the film as 'unseen crime'. My suggestion of the film being about 'unseen crime' is made more realistic as the criminals were clearly not experts at this as they did not do the crime in a blind spot to the camera which suggests the film will focus more on the unseen part of crime.

Over all this beginning to a thriller builds tension from the beginning due to the build up of music to a let down to a sudden shock as well as the slow panning camera and fooling the audience. Therefore I believe this clip was successful in what it set out to do.