Genre Research

Thriller/Horror

I decided to choose thriller (with horror) for my movie opening scene. In order to hold the audience's attention, there should be a built of curiosity or tense. Comparing to other genres such as comedy, romance, fantasy, which could only take attention if they have a good script, horror and thriller are two much easier genres when talking about building tension and curiosity, with the help of violence, crime, blood. For my current knowledge and ability as well as experience, I don't think I'm capable of making an interested comedy or romance, so thriller and horror would be good choices.

Horror:

Thriller: A thriller is a book, drama, or motion picture with a gripping storyline. It frequently centers on suspense and anticipation with the intention of keeping the audience attentive and on the edge of their seats. The main ingredients of thriller movies are frequently suspense and exhilaration.

Conventions in horrors and thrillers:

- Iconography/props: guns, knives, cars, blood, weapons, darkened places.

- Narrative/story lines: good against bad, revenge, creepy murderers, living in a haunted house.

There are 2 movies I've watched that I think are some good representatives of thriller-horror. 

Scream (1996):

Scream is technically a slasher film, a film in which people, especially young women, are killed very violently with knives. The movie includes all of the conventions usually seen in horrors and thrillers. There were blood, killings (alot), mysterious phone calls (raising curiosity).

Us (2019)

Us did amazing in defying modern horror conventions. The movie uses silence to make an intense atmosphere for the viewers. While many contemporary horror movies are aware that "less is more" when it comes to blood and monsters, Us uses this dictum when it comes to the sound design in its opening sequences. The opening scene does not heavily rely on shrill string music to signal a looming jump scare or to inform viewers that they should be uneasy.

Simple events, like a frisbee landing so that it perfectly lines up with one of the enormous polka dots on Adelaide's beach blanket, help Us, generate tension. Such coincidences, says her companion Kitty, seem to be happening more frequently lately.