Choosing a genre and researching

The thriller is a very wide genre and can be confused along with horror, however after doing some research I was able to identify some of the most popular, best, top grossing films from the genre. Firstly from the IMDb website, they created a list of the most popular thriller feature films and the top three were Spectre, Crimson Peak and The Gift which all were released in 2015 so very recent, although I disagree with some of the choices they put as I wouldn’t classify Spectre as a thriller film and more of a spy film. However similarly again from IMDb they featured a list of best suspense/ thriller films and the top three were The Sixth sense (1999), The Dark Knight rises (2012) and Inception (2010) compared to the last list, these films are shown to be more varied in years. Lastly from the film4, I found the top 30 thrillers of all time that they had listed and the top three were The third man (1949) directed by Carol Reed, Rear Window (1954) directed by Alfred Hitchcock and The usual suspects (1995) directed by Bryan Singer. This list of films is very different from the ones IMDb have published in their lists as they are created from an older generation therefore they could be more outdated. The thriller genre has evolved over time, as in the later dates the films may not have been a low budget due to the generation but the plot narrative may not be as skilful as it is now. Through the way of editing and in general the plot, which allows the film to create an overall suspense but that effect may not have been able to be created, therefore in the past they may of made it to be gory instead of adding mystery.

Like any other genre in film, thriller has many conventions such as:

• Low key lighting
• Quick cuts
• Shadows
• Tension music
• Changes in the angle of shots
• Diegetic sound of breathing
•  Montage of shots
• The leading character is in the mercy of the person who has taken possession over them

As well as having many conventions that we will have to include in our preproduction but also ensure it's original, thriller also has many clichés for example:

• There is a murder, that is followed by a trial of other murders that all relate back to the first one. This shows the unrealistic situation as there is only murders that couldn't happen again or happen repeatedly leaving the area in danger.
• Along with this, there is also a burial scene where all the characters are there wearing black including the murderer and the suspense is just increased however linking in again, the generations have changed and different methods have formed in which can be done instead of a burial
• Lastly, in thrillers if any of the characters are in threat or on the run many of them can be quite obvious and do not care of their surroundings to be aware that they might get caught again. 

Overall however the main concept is that certain thrillers can be very unrealistic and not observative of their situation, which then leads to events that the audience can already predict to happen.

Genre Fact File
Films that are similar to our opening and genre that helped inspire us with the plot and the shots used were: Lovely bones, The Perfect Guy. We also used other films such as Halloween, Memento, The Purge as despite the fact that they weren't completely thriller yet helped us with different type of shots for the opening. As for thrillers that fit into the audience for teenagers or young adults, films such as: Crush, Scream, Taken, The Strangers etc. For example for the film (Crush) which wasn't a very well known film however was targeted towards teenagers and that was shown in the plot. The stars cast in the film were: Lucas Till, Crystal Reed, Sarah Bolger, Caitriona Balfe, Reid Ewing, Leigh Whannell, Holt McCallany and Camille Guaty. The film was only published in America and had a budget of $1.2 million, it also earnt $8,123,213.