Research into our chosen genre.

As a group, we have decided to produce a film opening to a horror/thriller film.
I decided to research the codes and conventions of both types of film, starting first with the horror genre.

Horror Films
Films in this genre include:
Saw
The Shining
The Exorcist
Dawn of the Dead
Scream

In a lot of these films, there is at least one victim who appears vulnerable. For example, a lot of films use teenage girls as victims, not only is the traditional representation of females quite vulnerable and dependent, teenage girls also appeal to the young men and teenage boys as thats the target audience of horror films. There tends to be a lot of blood and gory scenes in these films, and the killer also has a 'trademark' about them and the way they kill their victims. In Scream, the famous white mask is used, whilst in Saw, the victims are killed in a very disturbing way.


The mask used in Scream.


Dark lighting is used quite a lot, and eery music is used to create suspense. In some films, like The Blair Witch Project, a hand held camera is used which also creates a sense of fear as they are quite shaky and give a point of view shot which makes the audience feel as if what they are watching is real.

The characters in horror films are often similar to one another. The girls are quite vulnerable but also have an element of sex appeal about them which is quite a traditional approach. The boys on the other hand come across as quite strong and very masculine. However, at least one of these boys are killed in most horror films which makes the killer come across even stronger. Eventually, one of the good characters finds a way of killing the killer or at least getting rid of them.

Thriller Films
Films in this genre include:
Se7en
Momento
The Godfather
Pulp Fiction

Thriller films take a more psychological approach rather than using gore and lots of blood. They're often more realistic looking than horror films, for example the way that the characters are dressed is a lot more casual than the characters in horror films. The characters in thriller films are often older than characters in thriller films and also act a lot more mature and less dramatic. Some horror films use humorous aspects, for example, in Scream some of the characters joke about what might happen whilst thriller films tend to use more serious storylines. Thrillers like Se7en use close ups of certain objects, like books or of people's faces, this creates tension and feelings of fear as it blocks the audience from seeing everything and makes their imagination work harder to think about what might be happening. Flashbacks are also used quite a lot in thriller films, in quite an abrupt way which disorientates the audience and puts them on edge.

The main difference which I have found between thrillers and horror films is that horror films place more of an emphasis on the actual killings or torture whilst thriller films focus more on the story of what is happening. I think that creating an opening scene for a thriller film will be much easier to do because of the limitations of location and time we have. Thriller films also use a lot of different shot types and camera angles to create the atmosphere of their film which will mean we can do more to make our work look more like a horror film.