Research: What is a Thriller- Ms Begum

What is a Genre?:
a Genre is a category that a film will fall into, the genre is important as it helps the audience to get an idea of what there about to watch e.g. someone watching a film with a horror genre will expect to see scary/gruesome scenes. There are many different types of genre e.g. horror, thriller, Sci-Fi, Romance, comedy, fantasy etc.

What is a thriller?:
A thriller is a film that gives the viewer a nerve-racking feeling; very different to a horror movie as a thriller always has the viewer scared to see what will happen next, frightened when they see a dark corner or a misty window. By leaving the viewer in suspense the thriller is able to build up tension through low key lighting and high pitched sounds within dramatic scenes where simple loud sounds are able to frighten the audience. The narrative of a thriller can be hard to follow depending on the sub-genre

All thriller films have a protagonist ( a hero/ victim antagonist (a villain(s)). The antagonist is usually plotting something deadly or trying to kill the protagonist who is either the hero or a victim.
 

Examples of a thriller film?: 
The Dark Knight is said to be an action-thriller simply because it is filled with gun and fighting scenes and it has the ability to keep the viewer in suspense in order to build tension. Batman the Protagonist in this film is the well known dark night who protects the streets In Gotham City, where the Joker and his accomplices rob a mob-owned bank. After orchestrating their deaths, he escapes alone. Batman and Lieutenant Jim Gordon decide to form an alliance with the new district attorney Harvey Dent, who is also dating batman's newly found love Rachel Dawes, their plan is to take on the Mafia.

                                          

sinister is also another great thriller movie; it is what we call a horror/thriller movie. In this film we see a writer who creates books about murders that have not been solved; however this time the writer and his family move into the house of where a murder happened and a supernatural demon which feeds on the souls of children has come along to make sure they have the time of their lives!

                                      
                                                                              
Sub Genres of a thriller and Examples?:
Sub-genres give you a better idea of what to expect from a film e.g. a thriller film could have the sub-genres of a horror thriller where in this film all conflict are more physical/ gruesome rather than mental.
Another example of a thriller sub-genre is  a Supernatural Thriller where in this sub-genre other world elements are introduced, usually as an Antagonist’s evil force. Some characters may have physical abilities which are out of the ordinary; some other supernatural elements may be present.


Notes:

Codes and convention :
The most common features that you'd expect to be in a thriller or any film it is used only to appeal to the target audience for example, the lighting or the sound.

1. Examples of Codes and conventions used in thrillers are:The use of mirrors-Mirrors are used as a convention of a thriller film through the use of reflection. For example a mirror can reflect the darkness within someone e.g. an inner soul. An example of this is in Spiderman where Norman Osbourne (The Green Goblin) talks to his inner self in the mirror 49 seconds into the clip below.                                                                          
2. Shadows are related to the use of low key lighting, they are used to represent someones inner darkness, they can also be used to add tension or create suspense among the audience.
3. A thrillers use of flashbacks create a sense of time and space disorientation within a thriller. Even though it can confuse the audience it can also help them to find out what happened in the past to give the audience an insight into characters past. A film that has done this is Batman the dark knight rises, where we see a flashback on Bruce wayne (batman) as a child right after his parents were killed.

                                                            

               

target audience :
This is the rating that the BBFC believe to be suitable for the film being shown to an audience for example: 'High school musical' is rated at U and 'Sinister' is rated at 15 as a lot of the gory scenes have been watered down or cut from the film so that it is suitable for younger ages.
Common themes and Examples?:
Movie themes are the story lines or subject that will be seen in the actual movie. There are many different themes however; common movie themes that we see today are of revenge, sin, action, murder, exorcisms etc.

                                                 
Response from the audience:
Most thriller films are always  able to build and preserve tension among the audience. Thrillers often leave you wondering what’s going to happen next as they are all so unpredictable. They usually use soundtracks throughout the film and then add a loud/sudden noise every once in a while to again build up any lost tension. 
Conclusion:
The introduction to the media course has given me a better understanding of how the course will operate and what each lesson will be like; also  being able to discuss what makes a thriller and what makes a horror i am able to understand the difference between the two. In addition myself and others will soon be creating an opening trailer of a thriller and watching a few related adverts has helped us to start thinking of how we want our 3 minute thriller to turn out and how we can stick to creating a thriller rather than a horror as the two are easily mixed up.

I believe meeting the coursework requirements will be hard which is why I must stay on top of my coursework and not fall behind, to achieve this I will need to keep all my work up-to-date and give 100% effort on all tasks I do.