Planning - chosen genre

Our genre

For our film, we have decided to use the genre of thriller to construct our narrative on.

Thriller

The genre of thriller uses conventional camera angles such as low and high angles, canted shots and extreme close ups; allowing us to use these in our film opening to create the same effect as other thriller films. Also given the limited resources and time that we have, this genre will be easier to create all the stereotypical conventions and have the desired effect on the audience.
Shadows are commonly used in thriller films to present a sense of darkness for the audience, and also add to the tension within the film, so this is something that we will incorporate into our film opening in order to conform to the stereotypes.
An idea for our narrative involves a mixture of shots from the present and flashbacks, and as these are often key elements for  thriller films, it allows us to appeal to the target audience.

A thriller generally involves a conflict between an antagonist and a protagonist which normally begins with an equilibrium. The equilibrium is then challenged with a disruption where the characters address the issues presented and finish with a resolution; so it follows a cyclical structure. However this structure can be contested and finish with a further disruption that isn't solved. By doing this it would create more tension and as this is an audience pleasure associated with thriller films, it may appeal more to the audience than a standard cyclical structure. This is something that we will consider when planning the full narrative of our film opening.

Thriller films stereotypically involve characters who are young adults, aged between 16-26 as this is often the target audience of the film so this will be something that we are likely to base our characters on as it will appeal more to our chosen target audience, who are also likely to be similar to the stereotypical thriller target audience.
Thrillers usually have non diegetic music in the background to create a sound bridge so that they can create the desired atmosphere which would be tense and chilling. Orchestral music is often played as it builds dramatic, causing the audience to feel as if something bad may be about to happen. From this, we can consider non diegetic sound when we are editing the film opening.

As a genre, thriller can have a variety of sub-genres and hybrids, which would allow us to combine multiple genres to make our film opening contain as many conventions as possible. Examples of these include horror, psychological, mystery and drama:
Horror/thriller = Silence of the Lambs
Psychological/thriller = Black Swan
Mystery/thriller = Crimson Peak