Task 14 - Summary of Findings of Genre Conventions - Part 1

Findings of Genre Conventions in Film Openings

- from our chosen genre

After a long discussion with our group we have made up our mind and came to the conclusion that we would like our genre for our film opening to be... THRILLER. 

- The aim of a film which has the genre 'thriller' associated with it is to create suspense and excitement for the audience without being gory but instead frightening.

Common micro conventions found in a title sequence for this genre are:

Gone Girl

Camerawork:

• Camerawork in thrillers are used to portray the setting of the film in a way where the audience can start to draw expectations of the plot of the film. For example, thriller movies tend to use a lot of established shots and close up shots. Both of these types of camera shots each portray something different - established shots are also a sense of mise-en-scene but they tend to set the scene and start to link closely with the film as the location of the established shots tend to relate to the plot of the film in one way or another. An example of this is the established shots used in the title sequence of the film 'Gone Girl'. 

This established shot is specifically quite significant as this seems like the location of where the husband's house was and where the wife initially went missing. Using an established shot to do this in the opening title sequence really sets the tone of the film and allows the audience to start to draw expectations as to what they want to see in the film and whether this established shot is relevant to the plot or not. 

• Close up shots are also used quite frequently in thrillers and what we can assume the meaning of this would be to show either the details in something or to portray the emotions and how someone is feeling through the close up - which can then be related and linked with the plot of the film. For example, in the title sequence of Seven there are many close up shots of hands constantly doing something which shows the importance of what the hands are doing - such as cutting off the skin on the person's finger with a razor. An example where someone's face is used is in the title sequence of Gone Girl. 

These close up shots of the back of the woman's head and face portray or emotions and in some ways her innocence and vulnerability because in the first shot she is being stroked by her husband as we can assume from the title sequence and this typically can be a sign of weakness and vulnerability. As in the second close up shot of her face we can infer that she is quite confused and in some ways stressed maybe due to the crease we can identify on her forehead as she looks at the camera. 

Editing:

• Editing in thrillers tend to involve quite quick and jagged transitions and cuts however, on some occasions this may differ and create a sense of contrast with quite normal editing with not that many effects but it still makes you feel someway uneasy because of how normal it feels and that is mostly always not a very good feeling with a thriller as you expect something to happen and when it doesn't and is quite normal this will be a suspense of disbelief. An example of this is the title sequence of the film 'The Shining' as from the title sequence you would think it's an ordinary film because it features long roads and not that many cuts or editing but the film itself is actually quite frightening. The editing in the title sequence of the film Gone Girl is also quite slow and normal - as in due to it being a thriller the editing is not quite how we expect it to be for example, in comparison to the editing in the title sequence of Seven which uses many jump cuts, match cuts and jagged transitions the editing in the title sequence of Gone Girl would be too ordinary. 

Mise-en-scene:

• Mise-en-scene in thrillers are usually quite informative as even if a specific location or setting isn't shown there are always props used which is still a sense of mise-en-scene which the audience can draw ideas from. The lighting in thrillers tend to be quite dark - by using dark colours such as black or grey - or very dimly lit. Thrillers do not tend to contain much performance or a lot of people in it due to the fact that the surroundings and the little things - the details - are actually what are the most significant in the film. For example, in the title sequence of Seven you cannot see anyone's face but are constantly watching the small details of a pair of hands doing things that normal people wouldn't do but as well as not being introduced to any character or not being shown the location of the title sequence you are shown a lot of props which still gives the audience a chance to build ideas from. However, in contrast the title sequence of Gone Girl slightly touches upon all aspects of mise-en-scene. Therefore, we are introduced to a character, we are shown many locations and settings where we can start to infer from and like all thrillers the lighting used in the title sequence is not specifically dark like Seven's but very dimly lit - as mentioned before. 

Title Sequence of 'Gone Girl'

Sound:

• Sound used in thrillers are quite significant as they tend to usually set the tone and make the genre stand out. An example of this is the title sequence of The Shining as without the sound it seems like an ordinary film - presumably about a road trip due to the long roads we are shown. However, when the sound is turned on you get a completely different feel to it which isn't a good type of feel as the music is quite eerie and makes you feel uneasy which for the audience they can already start assuming the genre but also what could happen in the film as the title sequence doesn't give much away. The sound used in the title sequence of Gone Girl is a range of non-diegetic musical scores, voiceover sound of dialogue and foley sound. The non-diegetic musical score is used all throughout the title sequence but at the beginning just before we are shown the back of the woman's head a male starts speaking over the title sequence for 26 seconds starting from the 24th second of the title sequence and this is known as the voiceover. As the scenes change and the transitions contrast between still and moving images there are minimised foley sounds in the background to suit the scene of the location of the still/moving image.