Week 3 Homework

Thrillers:

Psychological

A psychological thriller is a genre of film that really focusses on the delusional or sensitive psychological and emotional states of the characters in the film. Most psychological thrillers aim to make the audience able to feel the characters' paranoia through the screen.  Many directors try to include the consistent theme of trying to dissolve the sense of reality for the characters, and the audience watches it unfold as their mind tries to understand what movie world the filmmakers are trying to create. A technique that a lot of directors use to make psychological thrillers is by making multi-layered realities that create an uncomfortable atmosphere. A few of the conventions that are used include distorting reality, mental illness and crime. An example of methods that these effects are achieved is through is an editing transition technique that focusses the camera on the forehead and moves the camera close, almost pulling the camera into the mind of the character. This technique is most commonly used to show flashbacks and visions. 

Movies- The silence of the Lambs, Get out, Black swan, American psycho, Gone girl

Horror

A horror-thriller is a genre of film that focusses on instilling fear in the audience as it is conveyed through the fear that the characters feel. A consistent theme of horror thrillers is the idea of highlighting anything that may be of suspicion, these things are generally not considered to be of concern however the context of the film makes the audience and characters feel suspicious of everyday items. A technique that is used to make horror thrillers is making the entire film recorded from the point of view of the character. This is so that the audience can feel as though they are in the same situation as the character, this makes it harder to separate reality from the film and this makes the audience feel more fearful as though they are in the world of the movie themselves. This also allows the audience to connect better with the character in the film which overall heightens the emotional involvement with the film. Conventions that are used with horror thrillers include death, nightmares and vulnerability. Methods that are used to achieve the effect is by having a mystery character that is either masked or is just a shadow for a majority of the movie, this allows the audience to be more on the edge when watching the film as fear of the unknown is scarier than fear of what is known.

Movies- Midommer, Death note, Birdbox, Hush, Don't breathe 

Action 

An action-thriller is a genre of film that focusses on keeping the audience on the edge, trying to keep the audience entertained through means of the plot twists and storylines. A theme used commonly is having the plot as not entirely unbelievable and unrealistic, the director takes everyday life and adds small changes to separate it from reality, however, the audience will feel an internal feeling of questioning what would happen if this was real life. A technique that is used is having the typical antagonist, protagonist and shots that a fast-moving, trying to replicate the tense feeling in the situation, as well as shaky camera as if the audience is part of the scene (used commonly in fight scenes). Common conventions used in action thrillers include fighting scenes, violence and massacre. Methods that are used to achieve the desired effect is by having the antagonist endure a series of unfortunate events and situations that make the audience question their survival. This is so that the audience always has something to be on the edge about, thinking if they will survive this time, next time or the next after that.

Movies- The Bourne Identity, Taken, Mission impossible, James Bond, inception 

Sci-fi

A sci-fi thriller is a genre of film that focusses on including the aspect of science into the film, having the audience question the limits of science and what they are. A theme that is commonly used is having the character be disappointed by human error or incapabilities, and them turning to science to fix what others could not, or to prevent what happened to them from happening to others, that too by force. This is seen especially in spider-man where the antagonist is disappointed in the doctors being unable to help his death from seizing, so he turns to science even at the expense of others. A technique that is used is lighting being backlit, used when introducing a potential threat such as an alien, this makes whatever is being introduced look more mysterious, adding to the suspense of the movie. F-X make-up and CGI is used mainly in these kinds of films as they are portraying an unnatural character that could not be shown otherwise. Common conventions include the idea of experiments, trial and error, the character thinking they found the perfect solution then later on finding out the downsides and long-term effects this "solution" has, as well as supernatural beings and ideas. Methods that are used to achieve this is by having less light in fight scenes, these types of movies are generally situated at night as night-time is correlated with mystery. 

Movies- Alien, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Interstellar, Passengers

Man vs. Nature 

Man vs. Nature films (disaster films) are films that focus on emphasising the connection between both the animal world and the human world, showing the significance of both living in peace by one another. A theme that is commonly used is having there be a character who has one bad encounter with an animal per se and decides that they are unwanted, this is very common in coming of age films as it relates to how animals are treated in today's world. A technique that is used is taking advantage of primordial fears such as the fear of bees, apes or dogs. This allows the audience to feel unsettled and be more invested in the film as it relates to their own outlook towards certain aspects. Conventions that are used in these types of films include natural disaster, animals and beast form. Methods that are used to achieve this is by having used  CGI to create the world of the movie that would otherwise be difficult to recreate. Another method that is used is using fast pace music, as the animals that are commonly used in these types of films such as apes, lions and so on are connected to the idea of being fast and aggressive themselves, so generally, the music is used in a way that correlates with that.  

Movies- Maze Runner, Dawn of the planet of the apes, Jaws, Godzilla, All is lost

Spy 

Spy thrillers are films that focus on the theme of watching or being watched. A technique that is used when creating these types of films is having the camera be shown in a way that looks as though we as the audience is looking through the binoculars, this is a technique used commonly to make the audience feel more involved in the film, feelings as though they are put in the shoes of the characters. This allows the audience to be more likely to feel what the characters are feeling, creating a stronger connection between the two. Conventions that are used include the idea of spy gadgets, high-tech tools, governments, politics and conspiracy. Methods that are used to achieve this is by having the characters constantly in the dark as dark is correlated with suspicion and mystery and most likely the spy in these movies is suspicious to the other characters. Always having the spy in hiding, when in playing sight the director makes the spy fit in instead of hiding like the other times. 

Movies- Spy kids, Mission impossible, Allied, Salt, North by Northwest.