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.