Analysis Of Titles From An Example Genre

At the beginning of the project, we looked at the typical elements of the titles and openings of films from the thriller genre, to show an example of what will be expected from us in the main part of the project.

From this, some of the typical conventions that are adopted by films from the thriller genre are made fairly clear. For instance, we can see that the sound is considered to be of high importance, and that orchestral music is the most frequented implementation of non-diegetic music in this genre. This is because the usage of strings and such like can easily be manipulated into an eerie, menacing or unsettling sound. They effect of this is often to incite tension and fear into the audience.

Films from a thriller genre regularly play on and enforce typical stereotypes, the most common being gender based i.e. the strong and powerful men of either an evil (the 'bad' guy) or protective (the 'good' guy) nature, in juxtaposition to the weak, defenceless females, often seen as the victims. Additionally, racial and ethnic stereotypes are enforced, with characters of a foreign background typically playing the villains, and the caucasian male - most often British or American, as the dominant hero.

The camera is often manipulated to highlight and support these stereotypes, through the typical usage of angling - lower angles on the powerful men, and high angles looking down upon the terrified victims - most often the female characters. Camera movement such as tracking shots are often used to emphasise the powerful stance of the hero - following his movements and thus making him seem to be the most important character.

Another typical convention seen to be utilised in the thriller genre would be low lighting. This creates shadow upon the faces of characters, adding to a feel of mystery, and creating a little discomfort in the audience due to the negative connotations commonly associated with the shadow, particularly in this genre.

Therefore, from this we can conclude that the opening sequence to films of a Thriller genre often introduce and familiarise the audience with either the hero or the villain immediately, and serve an overall purpose to create as much suspense and tension in the audience as is possible within the first few minutes through the use of lighting, music and camera manipulation.