Pre-production Thriller Sequence

Pre-production Thriller Sequence

My opening sequence will be based on the horror genre, but more

specifically, on the thriller sub-genre. This sub-genre has many

standard conventions and I will examine these conventions along with

their effectiveness in influencing the audience.

Conventions are what make up genres and therefore, by using

appropriate conventions in a film, the audience is able to quickly

recognize the genre and therefore have a better understanding of the

plot and what the film is going to be like. More specifically, with

knowing the genre, the audience can also then expect to see some of

the iconography that is typical for the genre. This can help establish

the necessary mood for the film genre, which in the case of thrillers

is exciting, suspenseful, tense and full of anxiety and nerve-wracking

anticipation. Scenes in thrillers create suspense, tension, and a

sense of danger by having the setting in an isolated for example, or

by creating scenes where a lot is unseen and unknown to the audience

(whether this be the reason behind a situation occurring in the film,

or simply a character that is shadowy and that we do not know a lot

about).

These icons are used to signify the elements of the thriller genre to

the audience. These include such topics as the dark side of life,

conspiracies, murders, twisted relationships, danger and suspense.

Since they carry symbolic/connotative meaning, colour coding adds to

the iconography of thrillers as well. The use of black and white for

example, represents or adds to the darkness and evil that is in the

play.

I will start my opening sequence by slowly panning across ...

... middle of paper ...

.... The film, as stated before,

is appropriate for both males and females since both types of

narratives are included. My film will not be aimed at teenagers like a

lot of horror-type films are, but instead it will be more

sophisticated as a thriller, and therefore will appeal to a slightly

older audience of about a 20-35 age range.

Also, on a final note, because it is the convention for men to always

play the murderers or shady characters in thrillers and for women to

be the caring ones, I have decided to turn this around this in my

film. The psychotic individual will actually be played by a woman and

the good character by a man. This hopefully will give some incentive

for people to go watch the film! This is what will set my film apart

from all other thrillers and is what will make it stand out in

people's minds.