Genre, Representation, Audience & Institution

Genre - Thriller/Horror

The thriller genre uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements, in order to create the desired 'rush' for an audience. Thrillers often change the mood of an audience, giving them a high level of anticipation, high expectations, uncertainty, anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline-rushing, surprising and fast-paced. I chose to include this genre in my opening sequence as in my opinion, it is the best at preparing the audience for a exciting film, and intriguing them.

A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions and exhilaration that creates the atmosphere for the narrative as it keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", as the plot builds towards it's climax. Common sub-genres are psychological thrillers (my chosen genre), crime thrillers and mystery thrillers. The horror and action genres often overlap with the thriller because they tend to be psychological, threatening and mysterious. 

Horror is a film genre that evokes a negative emotional reaction from the audience by playing on the audience's fears. Horror films often startle the audience, by using scene of gore and violence linking with the thriller genre. There are common plots within the horror genre which often involve an evil force, event, or person. I chose to base my opening sequence on a psychological horror thriller, as I am going to focus on the life serial killer where the audience will be able to see into his mind, using scenes of horror and thriller elements to crate suspense.

Representation

I will include only the protagonist in my opening sequence which will be a 50 year old man. The obvious representations of a man of this age would typically be a less able, age restricted person, due to the representations of the elderly. However, this character is going to be a serial killer which portrays him as powerful and mentally twisted. Men will be portrayed as the dominant sex due to the victims being female and the murderer being male, suggesting that men have the strength to overpower women. This will create the desired darker effect on the audience, as I want them to be unnerved by my opening sequence and emotionally connected, achieving the aims of a horror film.

Audience

In order for me to create my opening credits I have to understand who my target audience is and what they would like to see in my psychological thriller/horror movie.

Who watches psychological horrors?

This genre of film will appeal to a mixed audience. I believe both women and men will enjoy a psychological horror as analysts say it allows us to explore and experiment with fears and emotions. Men will enjoy the more violent scenes and the women are more likely to enjoy the suspense and entertainment. 

I have done some online research on fans of psychological horrors and it appears that both rich, poor and well-educated people enjoy this genre. The audience that prefers the pure thriller, tends to be less educated as they are excited by the violence and drama rather than suspense and understanding the mind of the killer which is what i am basing my sequence on).

My film will be based around the psychology of human behaviour and how those who's minds are corrupted act out of hatred. My target audience is interested in finding out about personal identities as the film is based around human behaviour its consequences and the psychology of it. 

What certificate would my film get?

The certificate rating given to my film will be a 15. I have chosen to make it a 15 as I feel the elements of horror such as murder, will need this higher rating but it will not be an 18 as I am focusing more on the psychological elements instead of gore.

In conclusion, I have discovered a psychological horror appeals to a mixed audience. It appeals to both genders and from different backgrounds and levels of intelligence. However, it has a following of those that are 15 years old - 50 years old. It doesn't appeal to youngster as it can upset and disturb them and the elderly also find it too violent and intense, therefore my target audience is middle aged males and females who will take an interest in the psychological elements my opening sequence will include.

Institution

After my research into title sequences of horror/thriller films, I found that the institutions involved in presenting them are widely known large companies - Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. These are big studios rather than independent so I will keep this in mind when I create my final piece. When I create my own sequence it will be presented by a big studio like the ones that presented the films I have analysed. After completing some more research I found the best distributor to use would either be Universal or New Line Cinema as they have both presented popular horror/thriller films such as Dawn of the Dead, Se7en and Sweeney Todd.

Universal Pictures is an American film studio which is one of Hollywood's 'big six' film studios. They have produced works such as 'Jaws' and 'Van Helsing' which are both horror/thriller movies. I have chosen to use Universal Pictures as my film distributor due to their involvement with many thriller/horror movies such as 'The Purge'.