Initial Ideas - Style/Genre of Film Trailers

The genre that Camilla and I have decided to work in is thriller. The common theme in this genre is that there are disruptions between the protagonist and antagonist characters. Tension is built by the use of camera angles, shots and diegetic and non-digetic sound. The thriller genre features in many works of literature, art and media across the decades and famous works of this genre include: Seven by David Fincher and Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. 

Some conventions of this genre include the editing being fast paced and this is to create tension and suspense. The lighting is usually low and has a blue tint.  Music is very useful as it helps to build up tension using noises from instruments like the violin which get louder and higher pitched or quick loud banging sounds whenever the clip changes to a new one to make the heart beat faster. There is also a lot of continuity editing and montage sequencing to help pass time and not elongate the storyline. Thrillers are usually one of these themes: documentary style, true story, psychological, crime, enigma or supernatural. The director will use lots of close up and extreme close up shots to show the characters emotions, they can also be used to further the narrative. Shots of the antagonist character w
ill normally cut quickly so as not to reveal identity leaving the audience in suspense. The sound and mise-en-scene are very important in a thriller as they create an atmosphere for the characters and the viewers which will add to the emotive impact of the narrative. 

As we plan to create a trailer for a movie of the thriller genre our target audience will be predominantly male ages 17-22. However, our trailer will be certificated as a 15 so more people will be able to watch the trailer and be interested in it. I think that 15 is an appropriate target audience as most psychological thrillers contain some sort of violence and issues that could be disturbing for a younger audience. The secondary audience will be predominantly heterosexual females also aged between 17-22. I think that males are more likely to watch our film as they stereotypically do not get as frightened by horror/thriller movies as females.