Hey All! Welcome back to my Media Studies Blog! In the previous blog, you'll remember that I studied a few Sub-Genres, and how those Sub-Genres are often structured. Well, today, I've finally made a decision on the Sub-Genre I wanted to use for my Final project - Thriller Horror. Thriller Horrors try to keep the Audience engaged with often shocking and disturbing imagery or plotlines, as well as keeping the audience glued to their seats with engaging mysteries and villains. But that's not all that goes into making a film. Lets dive into the other aspects of Thriller Horror, and really see how to make a good Horror Movie!
Thriller Horror is renowned for it's cinematography - and rightly so. As the name suggests, it needs to build up "tension", and it does so by using several techniques. Most commonly, Camera angles will feature Extreme close-ups that capture small visual details, changes in expression that signal how the character feels. They help us connect to a character emotionally as well, and make us fear that they may die, or care when they are in danger.
Another staple of Horror's cinematography is sluggish camera movement, in addition to shooting from the character's point of view. They make us anticipate that something may come to attack, and naturally make us scared and feel anxious and wanting to escape. When done right, these movements add dramatic amounts of tension to a scene, and they make the Audience scared, even before the actual scare happens.
In addition to the many camera-angles that they implement, Thrillers also tend to make use music to heighten tension. Long, drawling tracks, those that instill a sense of fear or suspense, or even the absence of music in favor of ambience, can help greatly enhance a scene to help build an audience's tension.
Thriller Horror revolves around themes of morality, moral ambiguity, and mystery - Antagonists are usually either human or otherworldly, and both of these forces are utterly inexplicable in their power. Or, if they are a comprehendible threat, they are utterly terrifying in what they have done and what they can do.
An example of a comprehendible threat is the 'Grabber', from the Black Phone. The Grabber is a kidnapper who takes children hostage, and does unspeakable acts to them, exactly what being unknown. The grabber, while very much a human threat, is still utterly terrifying thanks to his well built form and presence, as while perhaps not as imposing of a threat as someone like Pennywise, the Grabber is still very much a good example of a human antagonist.
An example of an inexplicable antagonist would be from something like 'The Exorcist,' where the antagonist is a demon who has taken over a child, and therefore must be, as the name implied, exorcised. The antagonist isn't something that abides by human law, nor is it something that can be easily comprehended with how we view society and our world - rather, the Inexplicable antagonist acts as both a mystery and a fear of the unknown.
Now that we've explored Thriller Horror - what do you think of the Genre? And how would you implement it into your own film? I think I've already got a pretty solid idea!
Alright, everyone! 'till next time!
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