Group Research Into Our Genre (Oliver Jewers)

Crime

Most crime films have a prime focus on themes surrounding criminal activity or the lives of criminals. They may contain an anti hero (a protagonist which although commits arguably wrong deeds, the audience vouches for them nonetheless). Our piece will take place from the point of view of an anti hero.

Another factor of a crime film is that they commonly present the characters with a problem which they will try to overcome over the course of the film. a great example of this is the film Dog Day Afternoon (1975) where the main character attempts to escape and survive after an attempted bank robbery goes wrong. our film will follow the same structure and have the character try to solve the problem in the broken society he is living in.

The location in which most thrillers take place is in highly populated and possible congested areas (Seven), such as towns or cities. In some cases however, they can take places in rural areas where criminal activity is unlikely being enforced as much (No Country For Old Men). However, for our piece we want it to be taking place in a populated area (London or Chelmsford), we think this suits the story of our piece as we want it to be based in an area where there would be a lot of criminal and government activity.

Stills from Dog Day Afternoon and No Country For Old Men, two suspenseful crime films we will likely take inspiration from.

Thriller

Death is a common theme in thrillers and they are used in order to create suspense for the audience. The main aim of a Thriller film is to build anticipation for the audience and keep them on the 'edge of their seats'. This is usually involving criminal activity and the psychology of characters. Acts such as heists and kidnapping are used often in thrillers as they are interesting and create anxiety for their audiences. we will use all of these elements in our piece as it will focus on the life of characters living in a run down world and committing criminal activities.
Another way in which Thrillers engage their audiences is by putting the characters in danger or at risk of death. Giving them a problem in which they have to overcome is a way in which the audience would want to watch the film as it keeps them involved and wondering whats going to happen next.

Mystery
Most Mystery films involve a character trying to overcome a problem, puzzle or crime. They often keep important plot elements from the audience in order to build anticipation and to involve them more in the story. They usually build tension throughout which eventually leads to a large dramatic climax at the end of the film. They commonly contain plot twists that can completely turn the tables of the story in a matter of seconds, this can completely change the audiences view of the story and its characters.
There is a huge focus on characters in these films as they are the primary way of how the story moves forward. A lot of mystery films will revolve around a crime with various suspects, and the main characters must determine who is the culprit of the crime. A great example of this is The Usual Suspects (1995) where police interview suspects to find out the ring leader of a shootout.

The Usual Suspects trailer, an iconic mystery film that we will take inspiration from in our piece.

Knowing the details of these genres will be a great help for my group and I when we come to film our piece and its structure as we will have to take into account the main themes of these genres that our film is based around in order for it to be successful.

Oliver Jewers