Wednesday 17 November 2010

Codes and Conventiions of my chosen genre

Codes and Conventions of Thriller films:
Thrillers are mostly characterised by an atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous, though they often feature a happy ending in which the villains are killed or arrested. Thrillers heavily promote on literary devices such as plot twists, red herrings and cliffhangers. They also promote on moods, such as a high level of anticipation, adrenaline rush, arousal, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety and sometimes even terror. The tones in thrillers are usually gritty, slick and lurid.
The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres. Though each subgenre has its own characteristics and methods. Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings and, more common in mystery thrillers are, investigations and the whodunit technique. Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror-of-personality and obsession. While elements such as conspiracy theories, false accusations, paranoia and sometimes action are common in paranoid thrillers are also included.

My preferred classification would be a 15. This is becuase I want to include the following:
·         Strong threat and menace.
·         Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming).
·         Use of strong language.
·         Violence.
·         Drug taking.
The aim of my trailer is to plant an enigma into the mind o the audience so that they become intrigued and want to find out what happens. I may use questions on the screen to help with this. To help me achieve this I will keep as much of the story hidden with fast cuts not allowing the audience to catch on to anything more than what Im giving them.

Here are 3 examples of other Thriller trailers: The Bourne Ultimatum, 21 and Deja Vu