Filmmaking at Home: Genre Research

Thrillers!

One of the most prominent genres in films and television. It often includes overlapping sub-genres (Psychological thriller) or it is mixed with another genre, usually horror or sci-fi. Thriller movies will appeal more to an audience that likes the feeling of suspense and mystery, these types of movies are perfect for someone who wants to feel adrenaline without being too frightened. Most of the movies that follow this genre have an "R" rating due to the content of film, however, there are a few exceptions as some have a "PG-13" rating. Young adults tend to enjoy this genre more than any other age group.

Conventions of genre

Content:

Suspense is a crucial characteristic of the genre, giving the viewer a feeling of excitement mixed with tension and pleasurable uneasiness. The viewer has a high level of anticipation that is created from an unpredictable series of events, this keeps the person hooked to watching until a climax is reached. Common themes in these types of movies are crimes (kidnappings and heists), paranoia, and mind games.

Characters are often innocent victims unaccustomed to danger that are set against a problem and the movie often emphasizes the danger that the character faces. Women lead characters are increasingly common, especially in slasher/thriller movies like Halloween and Scream, they are known as the "final girl"-the last woman alive to confront the killer.

Thrillers can take place in an urban setting that is highly populated or sometimes they can take place in a more exotic setting such as foreign cities or isolated locations because they tend to be unknown to the character. Thriller often make use of confined spaces to develop a feeling of tension and claustrophobia both for the character and the viewer.

Production techniques:

For the most part, Thrillers tend to use a lot of shadows as they set the mood of the scene and can often build tension and partially hide the identity of the antagonist. Low key can help to create shadows and other contrasts of light and dark, this type of lightning is used because it tends to increase the sense of isolation felt by the viewer.

The editing in a thriller is important as it can increase the tension by alternating between scenes of high and low suspense to leave the viewer unsettled. Quick cuts and changes of camera angles are also common in the genre, especially when trying to hide the identity of the antagonist.

Thriller movies also relies a lot on diegetic sound, which is presented as originated from the film's world, to further create tension and suspense. Some examples of diegetic sound are a creaking door or footsteps, all which would be presumably heard by the characters.

Marketing campaigns

As with any type of movie, TV advertisements are a common way of promoting the movie. Recently however, with the rise of social media, more productions are focusing their campaigns in sites like Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Usually, each production will create an account in each site in order to make posts announcing release dates, trailers, and teasers. They will also make a countdown usually two weeks before the premier of the movie, posting something every day to create a more exciting experience for the audience. Some productions will also release soundtracks (Jordan peele's US) or release merchandise like hoodies or posters (Ari aster's Midsommar).

Campaigns for thriller movies have proven to work, from 1995 to 2019 thriller movies have made a revenue of about 18 billion U.S dollars, this is highly impressive considering that from 1998 to 2017 about 12.4% of global film productions were thriller. According to google trends, searches for "thriller" rose 50% in 2017.

Some memorable campaigns include movies like Psycho, with Alfred Hitchcock's suspenseful set tour and Cloverfield because of the lack of information about the plot that prompted discussions and speculations (The first trailer did not even include the movie's title).

Perfect examples

Jordan peele's Get out (2017)- The movie follows Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) during a weekend getaway in a remote part of the state where Chris is going to meet Rose's family for the first time. Chris is one of the innocent victims of his girlfriend's family, it is worth noting that Chris targeted for being an African American. This movie relies on atmosphere and the relationships between the characters and their behavior, which can be really strange to say the least, to tell the story and eventually reach the climax. The element of suspense comes as it is revealed to the viewer the true intentions of the family while Chris is pretty much clueless half the movie.The use of confined spaces is also present near the end of the film when Chris is strapped to a chair, unable to move his body. The atmosphere becomes more eerie as the movie progresses and there are a few jump scares to keep the viewer at the edge of his seat. The poster of the movie is actually depicting that scene with white and black tones which aids in creating the eerie mood of the movie, it also may be referencing the racial themes in the movie and the disparity between white and black people.

John Krasinski's A Quiet Place (2018)- The movie is centered around a family that must live in silence to avoid creatures that hunt by sound. Once again, the victims are an innocents that have never committed any wrongdoing. The movies relies heavily on diegetic sound to create the feeling of suspense, there is little dialogue so the element of mystery and tension is heightened. The characters are put through challenges that test their ability to stay quiet, the uncertainty of whether they will successfully do this keeps the viewer at the edge of their seat. The use of sounds and shadows aid in maintaining the appearance of the supernatural creatures a mystery for most of the movie while addressing that there is something present. The events of the film occur mostly in the farm of the family, however, there are instances where the characters visit a small town or are in the middle of the forest. None of the areas are in the film are populated, the lack of humans further create an feeling of uneasiness in the viewer. The poster for the movie again relies on shadows to show the creature, the atmosphere is eerie, the colors are dull and a monochromatic palette is used. All of these elements create the mood of the story.

Recommendations

The silence of the lambs (1991)