a level media studies research in genre

1. Researching Genre
Studying thrillers

2. What is genre
Genre is a category of a certain
type of film, the genres include:
• Action and adventure
• Animation
• Biopics
• Bollywood
• Comedy
• Crime
• Documentary
• Drama
• Family
• Horror
• Music documentary
• Musicals
• Period and historical
• Romance
• Science fiction and fantaisie
• Short films
• Sport
• Thriller
• War films
• Westerns

3. Thrillers
A thriller is described
as consisting an
exciting plot which is
rich in suspense.

4. Types of thrillers
• There are many different sub genres to
thrillers:
- comedy thrillers
- Crime thrillers
- Psychological thrillers
- Supernatural thrillers
- Erotic thrillers
Etc..

5. Characters
Most thrillers demonstrate a narrative in which
good fights against evil. Therefore there would
typically be two main characters…
The antagonist and the protagonist/ hero
Typically portrayed as
a crazy/psycho
character who's main
goal is to harm the
protagonist
Portrayed as the victim
of the antagonist’s
actions or the person
attempting to stop the
antagonist’s plans

6. Plot
In some cases these
conventions of good vs. evil,
protagonist vs. antagonist
aren’t followed, in many
thrillers the protagonist can
ultimately become the
antagonist of the film and
cause more harm than the
original protagonist.

7. Plot
Thrillers tend to variety in story lines so to
create tension and suspense, this making them
unpredictable.
Steep incline
where suspense
is slowly built up
Climatic scene where
the built up suspense
lead to, something
bad most likely
happens
Everything is
resolved and
tension goes down
A twist is set on the plot
ending the film in a plot
hanger, this is extremely
common for thrillers as for
some films the aim is to
play with the viewer's mind.
Some films
would end at
this point with a
“happy ending”

8. Props
Many thrillers tend to have a sense of mystery, and
in many cases it is never resolved leaving the
audience with many questions. To achieve this
some films would use a Macguffin, a prime
example of this is The Case in pulp fiction.

9. Sound
For example, in the opening
sequence for the shinning:
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=TgCejsyS0t8
The sound score does not suit
the image of in the scene, the
use of eerie music instantly
informs the viewer that the film
is a thriller/ horror.
Non-diegetic sound is a crucial part of thrillers. The
sound tends to be a variation of low and high pitched
scores, which vary in speed depending on what is
happening in the scene or what is to happen further on
therefore it is also used to foreshadow and build
suspense

10. Sound
In thrillers Non- diegetic sound is
also used to suggest what is
happening in a scene. For
example, in the iconic shower
scene in Psycho:
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=atjhOhH-V3E
The music score is used to
demonstrate the danger Tony
Perkins posses over Janet Leigh as
it does not start until he enters
the scene and ends when after he
leaves and Janet collapses dead.

11. Setting
Most thriller films are either set in a remote
area, somewhere eerie, mysterious or even
haunted. Or even in a small remote town.
Both The Shinning in Psycho were set in remote large hotel/homes

12. Print Media
Before films are released Print media such as
posters are released, this gives crucial
information to the audience such as the name
and release date of the film, who stars in it and
the genre of the film.

13. Print Media
Tagline: a memorable phrase
that that will associate the film
with it, mostly used for a
dramatic affect and interest the
viewer as it displays the genre
of the film or reviews on key
aspect of the narrative without
giving away the whole plot.
Main Image: the picture of the
main actor(s), also depicting an
event and themes that are
represented in the film, it also
shows who stars in the film.
Production Blurb: would contain
the names of the production team
(writer, producer ect.) and also
institutional logos and in many
cases the release date of the film.
Film Tittle: the name of the film,
the font and colours used are
another indication to the genre
of the film, dark colours such as
black have negative
connotations as they are used to
depict something bad, such as
‘black cats’ being unlucky.

14. Print media
These posters show that films
with the same genre follow the
conventions of film posters when
marketing their films. This films
follow similar plots in which the
main character goes on a
“murder spree” and therefore
words such
as ‘Terror” are used
to depict the events in the film,
these words also having negative
connotations.

15. My work
One key element that my work will
include will be that of mystery and also
most likely a twist In the plot.