Research into Sub-Genres

Action thriller – This sub-genre features a race against time which includes violence, explosions, guns and a main hero. Examples of action thrillers are The Terminator and James Bond. Action thrillers may have elements of mystery and crime.

Conspiracy thriller – This sub-genre includes a hero or heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies who only he/she recognizes.

Crime thriller - This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspense and tension. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses.

Disaster thriller - In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster. 

Detective-Mystery- This sub-genre is considered a sub-genre of crime, suspense or thriller films that focus on an unsolved crime. This can be a murder or a disappearance which includes a central character – typically the hero- a detective. In this genre the detective meets adventures and challenges to solve the mystery.

Drama thriller – This sub-genre consists of the elements of a thriller and drama which is usually slower paced. It involves character development along with plot twists.

Film-noir- Some may argue that Film Noir is not a genre as it is more of a style that has evolved since the 1940’s. Noirs are usually black and white films with moods of melancholy, alienation, isolation, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia

Romance- This sub-genre includes features of romantic dramas, romantic comedies, and sexual films. These may be love stories that focus around passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters. This makes the film connect with the audience. Romance films make the love story the main plot focus which usually involves a male and female character.

Suspense Thriller- Thrillers have many sub-genres like action-thrillers, crime thrillers, western-thrillers, film-noir thrillers, etc. The thriller genre can be recognized with the horror genre as they both produce an intense exciting atmosphere. The high level of anticipation and suspense makes the audience anxious and nervous. Alfred Hitchcock has made many suspense thriller films that have captivated audiences. Spy films may be considered a type of thriller/suspense film also.

Research into Different Types of Genre

I have looked at all the different types of genre including sub-genre and hybrids. This will make our group understand what type of thriller we can produce when it comes to making our film.

Action- I learnt that this type of genre tends to have high energy throughout the film that includes things like: stunts, fights, explosions and a destructive crisis. Sub genre’s in this category is a spy movie or a disaster film. I then looked at adventure. This genre is similar to action as it also has exciting plots.

Adventure- Adventure films also tend to have exotic locations (eg- Pirates of the Caribbean set in the Caribbean), action and treasure hunts. Even though this sounds like an interesting genre to base our short film on, it comes across as a difficult genre to shot.  After this I looked at comedy; however our group has decided that this is a bad idea as comedy is a hard genre to focus on.

Crime- I then went on to look at crime. I feel this is a good genre to work around on as it includes themes or murder and robbery that are developed around sinister actions. Detective mystery can be sub genre into crime as both include similar conventions.

Drama-I then focused on drama which uses serious plots and life situations that can shock our audience. The genre drama portrays realistic characters, settings including intense character development. The sub genres in this category are melodramas, epics and romantics.

Horror- I then looked at the genre horror. This genre is designed to frighten, captivate and entertain an audience that summon our hidden fears. Horrors include a shocking finale with monsters and deranged humans. This genre can be compared to the science-fiction genre as the corruption could relate to technology such as aliens. The sub-genres of horror are: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula and Frankenstein.

Overall I studied the main genres in which our group want to develop on. We’re not interested in making neither a science-fiction nor a fantasy film so we decided to base our research on genres that appeal to us.

The Auteur System 
Throughout my research into genres I also looked at the auteur system. This is when films are made based on the expression of one person, which is usually the director. This makes the film become their style which is shown through the personality, look, and feel of the film. For example: Alfred Hitchcock is well known for his suspense thrillers. Here is a link to his famous movie Psycho

What is a Thriller?

A genuine thriller is a film that provides thrills and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as the plot builds towards climax. Tension usually arises when the character/s are placed in a difficult situation, a mystery or trap from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened usually because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.

Conventions- setting, characters and story
 Thrillers are usually set in a creepy atmosphere in with sudden violence, crime and murder. Thrillers mostly take place in ordinary suburbs/cities, however, sometimes they may take place completely or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, Polar Regions, or the high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary citizens who are not used to danger. However, more common in crime thrillers, they may also police officers or detectives. While such heroes have traditionally been men, women lead characters have become increasingly common.

Thrillers are fast-paced that often present the world and society as dark, corrupt and dangerous. Characters in thrillers include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.

Thriller and mystery

Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must stop the plans of an enemy rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. While a murder mystery would be spoiled by a premature disclosure of the murderer's identity, in a thriller the identity of a murderer is typically known all along. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements in the genre. While a mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved, a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeating the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others. In thrillers influenced by film noir and tragedy, the compromised hero is often killed in the process. However, there are thriller films that have the characteristics of a mystery, such as the climax of a mystery being solved and the defeating of the villain seem to be common.

Alfred Hitchcock

The master of the thriller or suspense genre, Hitchcock manipulated his audience's fears and desires, taking viewers into a state of association with the representation of reality facing the character. Hitchcock's films often place an innocent victim into a strange, life-threatening or terrorizing situation, in a case of mistaken identity, identification or wrongful accusation.

BBFC Target Audience Research

I have started to research into the difference between a '15' and '18' rating movie. I explored the British Board of Film Classification website (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/) and evaulated the main points.

          15

• No one younger tham 15 may watch a 15 in a cinema. They cannot buy or rent any 15 rated video work
• The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour
• Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (aerosols or solvents etc.) is unlikely to be acceptable.
• Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised
• Dangerous behaviour (hanging, suicide and self-harming etc.) should not dwell on detail which could be copied
• Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised
• There may be frequent use of strong language, the very strongest language may be justified if used in an acceptable context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable
• Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context
• Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable
• No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds
• Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification

          18

• No one younger than 18 may watch a 18 in a cinema. They cannot buy or rent any 18 rated video work.
• Most adults are able to choose what they want to watch but there are some constraints
• The material must not be in breach of the criminal law, or must not be created through the commission of a criminal offence
• Material or treatment must not appear to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault
• Must not include explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in ‘sex works’ 

This research is going to help us decide whether we choose a 15 or 18 rating film, using a 15 doesnt seem to be limiting as we initially thought, but if we were going to make a very violent thriller, then we would have to make an 18 where there not really any restrictions. With the research we have completed so far, we are considering a 'Crime Thriller' however this is not final, and if we were to go ahead with this, it would most likely to be a 15. We need to possibly find out our basic storyline of our thriller first, and then decide whether to make a 15 or 18 rated film.

Initial Research

We have been put into our groups for our Media filming and to begin our general research, I investigated the final questions that we are going to be asked at the end of our coursework to evaluate our film. The most important question i came across that is relevant to the work and research we are doing now is;
"In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?"
By exploring this question intially when we do our research, means that we can take it into consideration when making the film and make sure we include certain aspects in our film to allow us to answer the question later. this question means we need to look at other openings to thrillers and keep a familiarity yet something new, original, and possible with a twist to the story. We need to explore in depth the thriller genre and everything that is included in a classic thriller opening.