Genre Research

Thriller
As a group we decided for the genre of our film to be a crime thriller which is a
hybrid genre. The thriller genre aims to frighten, shock and startle the viewer in a
numerous amount of ways. One of the ways is dark colour schemes and low-key
lighting. Thriller films are mostly based in settings that depict a normal and everyday
environment, therefore it adds to the suspense. Conventionally the characters within
the thriller genre are almost always shown to have a smart appearance, which
highlights the characters role also the difference between the characters.
Thrillers use elements such as ambient sound in order to increase the tension
relating it back to thrillers being typically set in the normal everyday environment.
Over the past 30 years the thriller genre has changed immensely. The thriller films
that were produced I the 1940s -1970s were based on peoples actual fears making
it more realistic and the modern type of thrillers have many subgenres such as
mystery crime and disaster relating it back to our project which is a hybrid of thriller
and crime.
The first thriller film was made in the 1920s by a man named Alfred Hitchcock and it
was called The lodger. The film was about a killer who targets young blonde woman
on Tuesday evenings and the killer is known as The Avenger.
In the 1950s Henrey Hathoway directed a film starring Marilyn Monroe where she
was plotting to kill her husband.
Conventional themes and characters in Thrillers:

Ransom
Kidnapping
Mind-games
Death traps
Paranoia
Protagonists, Antagonists, Authority
Death, conflict
Quests and mysterys

Crime
The crime genre usually stars a male protagonist which tend to have the reoccurring
elements of binary opposition relating to Levi Strauss theory in this case good v
evil. In the 1920-1930s the (prohibition era) or commonly known as the golden age,
held some of the most significant authors for crime dramas such as Agatha Christie
and Dorothy L. Sayers. During the golden age the most common storyline followed
these lines:
-A body is found, usually by a stranger who was not expecting to find it.
-A detective will be called and the main suspects of the crime will form a circle
around the person who has been murdered.
- The police will not be able to figure it out so therefore it is up to the detective to find
it out.
The earliest known crime story was The Three Apples. This was a tale narrated by
Scheherazade. In this tale one man orders his political adviser to solve the crime and
find the murderer within three days, or be executed if he fails his assignment. In the
end the case is solved as the murder confesses to his crime.
The crime genre has changed a lot since it was first founded in the 1800s. Today
crime films often follow the criminal in the light of the person and the detective/police
in the view of the bad person thus creating countertypes. This formula is seen a lot
on the T.V today Top Boy (produced in London, England) follows a group of people
involved in drug dealing and street gangs. However in shows such as CSI
(produced in America) follows a traditional crime plot. They have the same idea that
a body is found by someone who accidently stubbles upon it.