Codes and Conventionsof our genre - Thriller

Firstly,

The genre (thriller) in itself is very broad. I looked online for various films that are classified as thrillers and came across films which I’ve never heard of before or possibly never thought them to be thrillers.

And that’s why in this presentation, I’m going to put together some common codes and conventions that my group and I are going to use in our own trailer.

Based on public research:

I’ve created a questionnaire (individually) and asked people of my chosen age range the following questions…According to the results, most do watch thrillers (mainly male) and the most common thing they all expect to see in thrillers is death. This has helped me personally, so I have a greater idea of what they expect and would like to see, and even if we could improve our story board to suit the audience better. Even though there will be no deaths/killing… I think the trailer will still be successful because it ends in suspense and if it was a real trailer and a real film, the audience may interpret as that someone will die if they watch the film, so it fulfils what they expect to see.

Conventions:

Dark and gloomy places Dark props to highlight the idea of being mystery/suspense Low key lightening/Shadows Quick cuts Tension music – creating suspense Multiple and rapid angle Editing Fast pacing Mirrors/Stairs (are hugely used, although for our trailer we won’t use

any of these unless changes are made)

Content Research

As part of my research I chose four existing products (of the same genre of my chosenpiece) to analyse conventions of the genre.

4 Films to analyze…1: Snow White and The Huntsman

2: Alice in Wonderland: 3: Taken4: Grinch

1. Snowhite and the Huntsman

Is an adapted up to date film from the original 90’s fairy-tale ‘Snow White’ Some of the elements were changed and altered to fit with the modern interpretation nevertheless, some elements are kept loyal to the original.. Such as, one of the biggest highlights of fairy tales which is included is the idea of the ‘happy ever after’ ending. And this is kept in both of the versions as it’s crucial to the main idea of fairy tales, and for the audience. Secondly, reflecting on Prop's theory of the 31 possible character roles is that the film does follow on according to the theory. They have the ‘princess’, the hero, the helper(s) etc. Another big thing is that fairy tales always show/teach that good always defeats evil, which is exactly what happens in the film and also the original story. Looking back on the true 90’s original Snow White is that a lot of attention was based on her beauty; the pale skin, the full red lips etc. Although it shows that ‘Snow White’ is unaware of her beauty and doesn’t make such a deal out of it, in the modern interpretation of the film, one of the main themes is about beauty, but the interesting things to it is that, the ‘witch’ continues after Snow White for envy of her beauty (ageing g etc.) and will stop at nothing for it which is precisely the same as the original fairy tale: referring to the poisoned apple etc. And lastly, another observation about both films, is that Snow White is hugely known for the phrase ‘’Mirror, mirror on the wall.. Who’s the fairest of them all?’’ and this above all highlights the fact that this is a recent interpretation of the original.

Continued..Anyways, in the Snow White and the huntsman the trailer, few seconds into it we areintroduced to this female character, in a medium close up shot. This straight away, highlightsthe significance of beauty throughout the film; this is because we see a clear skin, aserious/evil look almost female fatale sort of look, and a crown. Whether we notice or not,immediately our attention goes to the crown and subconsciously we think ‘who is she?’

After the first character we are also see her talking to the Mirror with the well-known phrase..‘’Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?’’ In which the mirror replies there issomeone, and only then are we introduced to someone else. ‘Snow White’ wonderingthrough the woods, which gives the sense of being a magical place and connotes the ideaof good and innocence. We see the wonder in her expression, and this shot then lead to SnowWhite standing in top of a mountain, in a victorious pose and not defeated, looking into distance sowe cannot see her face. From the previous images, the audience now knows that it will be a battlebetween evil and good.

2. Alice in Wonderland

3. Taken

4. Grinch