Homework Task

What are the conventions of the thriller/horror genre?

Thriller uses suspense, tension and excitement for it’s main elements. Thriller has a high level of anticipation, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seats, building up a climax. A thriller should provide thrills to the audience, they’re scared of what is about to come next, yet excited as to what it could be. The tension is usually created when the character in the film is placed in a mysterious situation, leaving the viewer uncertain of what is about to happen. They are in a trap that seems impossible for them to get out of. Life is threatened as the character is usually in a dangerous, life threatening situation. The scenery and music add to the tension of thrillers as the scenes are usually set in dark, lonely places and the music is often slow, with a low tempo that can often get faster as the situation becomes more serious.

Horror films are unsettling films that strive to produce the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from their audiences. Horror deals with the viewers worst fears, nightmares and terror of the unknown. Themes or events that are most common in horror films are ghosts, werewolves, demons, animals,
vampires, cannibals, haunted houses, zombies and serial killers. Most being supernatural. Horror can overlap with the thriller genre. Both horror and thriller films want to keep their audiences on the edge of theie seats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYTmjiRtixI    <  a short thriller/horror clip to give you an idea.


What is suspense?
Suspense is a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what is about to happen. Suspense is what builds up the tension in films until eventually reaching it's climax. It's what leaves the viewers on the edge of their seats waiting to know what is about to happen.


Shot types
Match on action shot - Occurs when an action that begins in one shot is continued or completed in the next. An example of this could be; Natalie Portman opens the front door to a house. The next shot you see, with the camera now being indoors, is her entering  through the door inside stepping into her hall.

Shot/reverse shot - Where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. An example of this could be; A close up of Natalie Portman staring into the eyes of Ashton Kutcher, then the camera is moved to a close up shot of Ashton starting back at Natalie.

180 degree rule - A basic guideline in film making that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. An example of this could be; Natalie Portman leans against a wall on her rigtht side, while directly facing Ashton. Ashton then leans against the wall, still looking at Natalie, but on his left side.