Sub Genres

Within the thriller genre there are many differnt themes within the films which make the seem completely different to one another in terms of mise-en-scen characters and narrativfe. To differentiate these differnt types from one another is to have sub-genres.
Sub-genres are a genre within a genre that helps classify the specific themes of that film. 
Some examples of sub-genres within thriller are psychological thriller. 
The similarities of these two films that both come under the psychological thriller genre is that in the narrative events they both towards the end come to the realization of disturbed thoughts and alteration of reality to themselves. both these characters are the main characters within the film therefore we feel empathy towards them so when, at the end, the come to realization of mental problems is shocks the audience and adds surprise to the original pre-emptions of the events in the film. This is my favorite sub genre of thriller as it shocks you and makes you reconsider previous events watched in the film therefore changing your thoughts and making you re think you feelings created originally by the other characters.

Genre Difference, Repetition and Similarity

Films withing the thriller genre can be very different from one another with he content of the actual film. Examples of this are Shutter island and Taken. They both classify as thrillers but they are very different in terms of mise-en-scene as in shutter island it is set in a mental asylum where most of the lighting is dark which gives an eerie atmosphere. In Taken, the mise-en-scene is a modern setting where it is more familiar to an audience.
The characters in shutter island are doctors, mental patients and detectives, where as Taken has more criminals and policeman, so again it is more relatable to most audience as it includes normal everyday people that you come across.
The narrative events of shutter island are that two detectives come to an island to look investigate the a missing patient, and encounters many problems with himself and his unfamiliar surroundings. In Taken the narrative events include and ex-police officer whose daughter gets taken when she is traveling by a group of sex traffickers who he is trying to hunt down to find his daughter and save her.

 These films come under different sub genres within the thriller genre. Shutter island is a psychological thriller and Taken is just a thriller.
They also have a lot in common as they both aim to have the same effects on the audience. A thriller builds suspense, tension and excitement. This gives a high level of suspension to the audience and gives them something to create anticipation and expectation of the events within the film. The characters roles in the films are still similar. In Shutter Island you feel an empathy and trust within the main character and trust him to solve and save the problems encountered. I some sense this is very similar to the main character in Taken. You feel connected and entrusted in the main character and as the conventions of a thriller go, you expect them to succeed even though they are not necessarily to succeed outside of the film world.

Introduction to Genre

Genre is used to categorize films to target specific audiences and to use the conventions of the genres to advertise specifically.   

Some examples of film genres are Romantic, Horror, Comedy.

Films within each genre share conventions which help to differentiate between the genres. Conventions can be sound. For example, in horror films they could have contrapuntal sound where there is a typical children's nursery rhyme contrasting with the images of violence.
Another convention could be editing. In action films the shot length is short so the shots switch quickly between angles. This increases the pace and adds movement.

Editing Preliminary Investigation

Editing 

 In our first editing lesson we learned the basics of Adobe Premiere.
We learned how to make new "bins" and "rushes" to organize the raw footage filmed. we then learned how to place the information onto a timeline and we learned how to use various tools on the program such as Trim Handles, Blade and In / Out Points and how to cut to make a clean continuity edit.
 In our second lesson of editing we continued working on cutting and piecing together the footage of the preliminary investigation shoot, ensuring all the sound matched the action and the switching between shots was clean and the continuity worked between shots.

I felt that within our editing group we had a good combination of people as i think members of the group were better than others at different aspects of the editing which made it easier to contribute abilities to do the different tasks. I felt that I was stronger at choosing the angles to use for each shot. I think I need to work on the physical aspect of the piecing together on the timeline of the shots. I think towards the end of the task I improved my skills of the timeline editing but there is definitely room for improvement because I don't think i completely got the hang of it.

Original ideas discussed within my group (Freddy, Claudia, Tom)

Idea 1

A psychopath who was abused as a child and when he was younger he would try and signal to people about his troubles at home. when he grew up he was obviously messed up so and he would stalk children he suspected to be going through the same situation as he did when he was younger, even if they weren't he would try and save them by kidnapping them and keeping them abandoned in a locked cabin in the woods. it was going to be in first person on his behalf so we could see why he was doing it but we knew it was wrong but we empathised with him as he was just trying to help.

Idea 2

We see an extreme close up of a man sweating, looking stressed and nervous, the background is entirely black, the camera switches and we see that he is taking a penalty, he shoots and scores the penalty, there is a fade to black, and cheering is heard, and is synchronous to the fading screen. There is a newspaper on a table with the front page being about the famous penalty shootout and how it won the mans team the cup. We see the player pack his bags, and leave his apartment, he arrives at training to find a figure in the goalposts, he walks up to the figure to find that it is his coach hanging by his neck, with white letters painted on him, saying 'You're Next'.


Idea 3

Man is leading a double life. He is a police officer but has also committed a lot of very bad and serious crimes. He has raped and murdered 3 women in his other life, but 5 years later he is at work and is now investigating the crime as one of the bodies has just been found. Will people find out it was him?
For the opening sequence, I would like to use several clips from different news channels about the 3 girls going missing. The clips would cut from one channel to the next and eventually the sound from the clips would play over each other and then it would cut to black. Next we would see the back of a man dragging some bodies, but we don’t ever see his face. Next it cuts to the policeman at work and we hear a voice over of a news presenter saying that a girl who went missing 5 years ago, body has been found. We see the man at work trying to investigate the incident. An image of a wrist tied to a bed flashes on the screen and then we cut back to the man talking at work. We then see another body revealed with a voice over, it quickly cuts to a woman with hands around her throat. The speed of the cuts get quicker and we see a lot more shots of violent things. Then it cuts straight to black and there is a big bang. Finally we see a man slowly walking towards the camera with his hood up but we cannot see his face.

Preliminary Investigation Final Edited Piece

Thriller Genre

Genre

• A genre= a category that a film can fit under, that shares similar conventions to eachother. 

• A sub-genre= a genre within a genre that helps classify the specific themes of that film. 

• A hybrid-genre= a combination of different types of genre. 

Genre is used to categorize films to target specific audiences and to use the conventions of the genres to advertise specifically.  

What are genre conventions ?

• Genre conventions are things which people naturally associate with different types of genre that separate them from one another. They are used to let the audience establish the genre the film they are watching is categorized under so the have more of an idea what to expect from the film. 

Thriller:

What is a thriller genre?

• A thriller is a film genre that includes suspense, tension and excitement.  

• some examples of thriller films are 'Taken', 'Inception' and 'Se7en'

Conventions of a thriller

What are the main conventions of a thriller?
The main convention of a thriller are suspense.

Sub-genres of thriller?

Give the different types and include examples of texts within each sub-genre.
Some sub-genres of thriller are psychological, crime, mystery, espionage, conspiracy.

Filming Preliminary Investigation

 Filming

For the preliminary investigation, in groups, we filmed a basic storyboard scene. we were given five shots which we had to use: wide shot, close up and over the shoulder. we could use any other shots which we thought would be suitable to the sequence and would add more versatility within the sequence. we used a close up of the telephone which the character picks up. we also used some other variations of the over the shoulder shots.we had to consider that when it came to editing we had to have a match on action to convey the continuity within the sequence. we had to use the 180 degree rule, so it was obvious to the audience where the characters were position to one another.
 The preliminarily task involved a character opening a door, crossing the room, then the two characters exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. 
The first shot we used was a wide shot, to set the scene, including the mise-en-scene of a sofa and table. we used the close ups of the two different characters so when it came top editing we could focus on the dialogue and emotion from each character when necessary. We decided to use different variations of over the shoulder shot so when it came to editing, we could have a variation of uses for this type of shot. we used an over the should of the character walking through the door, with only seeing the responding characters face, so we knew where the dialogue was coming from but focused on the other character so er emotion was clear. We used an over the shoulder shot of character 1, including character 2, so we could show the interaction of emotions between the two characters. we did a close up of the telephone so that it was made clear when she picked it up and put it down, so it could make more of an impact and the movement was more purposeful.
i think, what we could have done better was using more of a variation of more complex shots, so when it came to editing we had a wide variety of different shot to choose from even if we didnt use them they were there. Also we could have done more takes of the same type of shot, so that there were more to choose from if there were any continuity errors.
In our preliminary task, I was the director and I filmed most of the shots. I enjoyed doing this because I could contribute my ideas for which types of shots would work best for each section of the sequence.