Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Codes and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

Key Concepts
  • Audience - what age band and type of person the film would appeal to
  • Codes and conventions of mise-en-scene (this is everything in the frame)
  • The representation of certain social groups and their ideology (messages and values)
Mise-en-scene
  • Low key lighting is essential when filming for a thriller, darkness incites fear.
  • Mirrors and shadows are good to use as they can show fear of the unknown
  • Dark clothing is usually worn with other costumes such as masks or clothing obscuring the face to add a sense of no identity
  • Location is another key factor when filming, a location can make or break a thriller film. A good location would be a rural abandoned area  
Sound
  • Music stings are used to put create fear and to shock the audience
  • An example of a music sting would be in psycho with the introduction of the knife
  • Non-diegetic soundtrack can be used throughout a thriller to create suspense when coming to an important scene
Cinematography
  • A mix of shots have to be used to create a thriller genre, for example close ups and extreme close ups need to be used to show a significant object or emotion.
  • Long shots are used to show isolation and vulnerability.
  • Camera angles are used to show who holds power between people, a low angle shot is used to show power, whereas a high angle shot is used to show weakness.
Editing
  • Editing in a thriller needs to be quick and fast paced to represent fast movement.
  • Long takes would be used to build tension and heighten suspense
  • An example of this would be when the parallel editing in Inception, where there are 3 different dreams going on in a different place at the same time

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