Thriller Film Openings Research

Overview:

For this part of my research I am going to be watching the film openings (first 5 minutes) of 3 thriller films. I am commenting on what happened as a reference for my future film opening. The films I will be watching are Woman of the Hour, The Weekend Away, and Subservience. 

Woman of the Hour: 

This film started off with an establishing shot showing the setting, it then cuts to a man taking photos of a woman. It shows us a POV shot at first only seeing the woman through the camera, I can hear the man's voice but not see him. For the first 3 minutes it is just dialogue using mid shots and over the shoulder shots. I get to hear a lot of the woman's backstory but nothing about the man, keeping him mysterious. During this dialogue I see a significant amount of space between them, but he starts to move closer to her as to comfort her. After closing the space he tries to attack her and we get a close up shot of the woman and you can see her start to realize she is in danger. And then a close up shot of the man and you can see his face turn serious. The five minutes then end with him attacking her and no longer being alive. This leaves me with confusion, suspense of what will happen next, and wanting to know more about the man. 

The Weekend Away:

This film starts of showing us the ocean then panning out showing a body floating in the water. It then uses an establishing shot to show a city. It then shows a close up on a woman showing her in the car, and it shows us POV shots of her looking out the window. The woman then engages in dialogue with the taxi driver and he gives her a a card for is she needs a taxi later on. This gave me a sense of foreshadowing. After talking with the taxi driver someone new is introduced it is the woman's friend and it is revealed they are staying together for the weekend. They engage in more dialogue with over the shoulder shots and the woman gives her friend a necklace. The five minutes end with the woman getting ready for dinner and calling her husband. This leaves me nervous for how their weekend will play out since it started with a body floating, it created tension making you wait for things to go wrong. 

Subservience:

This film starts with an establishing shot showing a snowy forest and extended to a city by the ocean. It then starts tracking a family in their car and shows the man having flashbacks of him and his wife. We then see the wife crying in pain and clenching her chest. It then cuts back to the man with his children but not with the wife making me think something happened to her. It then shows the man taking his kids through what seems like a mall, where he engages in dialogue with an employee that then introduces him to a robot that runs on AI. We then switch to tracking the young girl and we see a bunch of the robots in different home settings. The man then comes to find his daughter and she is brought over by one of the female robots. The robot, man, and employee then begin some more dialogue in which the employee explain that she is a newer model that mimics human emotion. The five minutes end with the daughter asking to keep the robot. This leaves me a little worried about the mimicking of human emotions and I wonder how the rest will play out. 

Horror vs. Thriller Research

Overview:

For this blog post I am comparing the two genres horror and thriller because I feel that I need to know more of a difference. 

Thriller: 

• Thrillers focus on mystery and suspense, they want you on the edge of your seat and they want you immersed in the story trying to solve the mystery with the characters
• Thrillers often feature more complex characters in their stories with many layers
• Pacing is very important in thrillers, often have steady build up of suspense while dropping hints throughout the story to keep viewers engaged
• Settings vary but are usually realistic, emphasizing on tension without using anything supernatural
• Thrillers want you to be tapped into the movie figuring things out and questioning things as they go. The point is to keep you curious
• Thrillers use quick cuts to add tension and to match the pace of narrative
• Thrillers can sometimes change the points of view from antagonist to protagonist to make things feel more unpredictable

A good example of a thriller film is Knives Out 

This film has a really good buildup of suspense, it focuses on finding out who killed a wealthy man. It follows a detective investigating a family. Throughout the story the family is interrogated revealing new information and secrets. You get to piece together the different clues with the detective up until the climax in which there is a big twist. 

This film follows the conventions, building suspense, engaging you in the story, letting you follow along with all the clues, and keeping the anticipation all the way up to the climax.

Horror: 

• Horrors focus on creating fear, shock, and disgust in their viewers. They want you experiencing the fear with the characters
• Horror tugs on the fears that most people generally have, death and the unknown
• They often rely on visual effects to make the bigger impact, this includes costumes and makeup
• Horror often has a slow pacing with very sudden jump scares to keep viewers on their toes, can go from slow to very fast and intense climax
• These films use sudden loud noises and other discomforting sounds like whispers 
• Horror engages in fear rather than making you think
• Horror focus on the point of view of victims

A good example of a horror film is The Conjuring

This film is a great example of the conventions. It follows a family moving in to a seemingly normal house that is actually haunted. It has a bit of a slow pacing with a lot of dialogue at first with the occasional jump scare. It also follows the theme of focusing on fear but using the makeup and costumes to make it even scarier. It reflects how the pacing is slow and then at the climax it completely heightens it and goes all out on the scare factor. 

Citations:

“What’s the Difference between Horror and Thriller?  .” Screencraft, screencraft.org/blog/whats-the-difference-between-horror-and-thriller/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.

EllieB. “Thriller vs. Horror: Understanding the Key Difference between Thriller and Horror Genres.” All In The Diffrence, 14 Oct. 2025, www.allinthedifference.com/difference-between-thriller-and-horror/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Agnetha. “What Is the Difference between Thriller vs Horror?” Greenlight Coverage, 23 July 2024, glcoverage.com/2024/07/23/thriller-vs-horror/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Genre Conventions of Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi

Horror Conventions: 

Setting: Can be in dark settings that cause a feeling of terror or uneasiness. Can also be in abandoned and isolated places like the woods. On the other hand horror movies can be set in places that seem harmless but really aren't, this is seen in paranormal movies with haunted houses like Insidious. 

Insidious Cabin in the Woods

vs.

You can see that there is a big difference is the feeling of these settings. The house from insidious looks extremely normal contrasting the horror that lays inside. While the cabin from Cabin in the Woods give you an immediate eerie feeling foreshadowing what happens in the future.

Sound: Non-diegetic sounds like music are often slow and eerie, music can be made this way through classical instruments. For example in the movie Halloween they have a really recognizable soundtrack that shows up when Micheal Myers’s is around.  They also use volume to build up suspense. For diegetic sounds like creaking doors, screaming, footsteps, heart beat and even wind to add to the unease.  

Camera work: Long shots are used to build up the creepy unsettling atmosphere. Close-ups aren't used often since they focus on emotion which usually isn't the main focus. Jump cuts are used a lot in horror films. They can cause confusion and fear adding to the effect. 

Costumes and props: Common props in horror films are weapons. When more uncommon weapons are used they can make an audience more disturbed. There are other props used to add to the creepy effect on the films like balloons, rocking chairs, and dolls. For the costumes they can be designed to look scary or uncanny so people naturally fear them. An example is Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street. 

 

Science Fiction Conventions 

Setting:The setting often depends on the subgenre of the film. Some of the most popular settings include outer space, futuristic cities, and spaceships/stations. There is often a lot of technology around as well.  These films are often made up of imagination so the setting allows us to see things we have never seen before and couldn't even imagine ourselves. The setting is used to support the plot of the movie and add context to characters. For example Avatar is a movie taking place in another world in the future, this movie is built upon its setting. Its setting causes challenges the main characters have to face and overcome. 

Sound: The sounds are used to compliment the things we are seeing and also help add to setting and mood. Some non-diegetic sounds used are music, it often adds suspense  and builds the atmosphere. Some diegetic sounds used can be beeping of technology or voiceovers of aliens and other creatures.

Camera work: Wide shots are used to show the big environments as well as establishing shots. Tracking is used when exploring new places and following the characters through the exploration. POV shots are also used from inside machines or from inside space helmets.

Editing: Sci Fi relies on special effects and a lot of CGI. For example in Planet of the Apes CGI is used when creating the main characters and making their movements natural and realistic.

Costumes: The clothing used usually reflects class, and climate of the film, it can often easily be recognized as sci fi. The costumes can vary from uniforms, space suits, futuristic type clothing, metallic looking, wearable technology, and things aliens wear. common colors in this genre are blue and white because they are often connected with technology. For example in Interstellar a big part of the movie is in spacesuits.

Romance Conventions: 

Setting: In these films the setting is often shown at the beginning of the movie, and can take place in aesthetic places like cities and beaches. There is a very wide variety of settings that can be used. Some things related with this genre are sunsets, sunrises, weather, and tops of buildings. The different settings affect how the characters feel.

Sound: Sound is a big part of this genre. It sets an atmosphere and expresses how characters feel without needing dialogue. In sad scenes there can often be powerful ballads that carry emotion with them. During happy scenes they may play upbeat pop music that reflects the joy in the scene. There are also voiceovers that reveal characters' inner thoughts and feelings. For some diegetic sounds they use sounds of cars and people talking to support the setting and immerse you in the story by making is seem more realistic.

Camera Work: Romance films are focused on dialogue so the shots used reflect that. Some camera shots often used are close ups, they let us see a character's facial expressions focusing on the emotion in the conversation happening. Two shots are used a lot since romance follows two characters and their relationships, these shots lets us see the body language and how the characters interact. Over the shoulder shots are used a lot to show conversation between the characters and make it seem like we are part of the conversation.

These close up shots show the many different emotions the characters in La La Land are feeling. Without even needing to speak to each other you can see the switch in emotions they are going through.

Costume and Props: Costumes are often just very day clothes based on where the film is set. Props in this genre are often things that you can find in everyday life to make characters relatable.

Citations:

Michellehui. “Genre Conventions: Romance.” Itisalreadyhere, 27 Feb. 2016, itisalreadyhere.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/genre-conventions-romance/.

Tolhurst, Kiera. “Cinematography in Romantic Comedy.” Slideshare, Slideshare, www.slideshare.net/slideshow/cinematography-in-romantic-comedy/82768078. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

Standard Sci-Fi Setting - TV Tropes, tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardSciFiSetting. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

Josse, Gabriel. “Science Fiction Sound Effects : A Complete Guide to Sci-Fi SFX.” Bluezone Corporation, 4 July 2023, www.bluezone-corporation.com/blog/science-fiction-sound-effects.

Natashaellis. “Typical Conventions of Scifi.” Slideshare, Slideshare, www.slideshare.net/slideshow/typical-conventions-of-scifi/61742126. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.

Nathan, Posted byMedia Blog. “Mise-En-Scene: Props and Costumes in Horror Movies.” Nathan Walmsley | Level 3 Year 2 FMP, 16 Mar. 2020, nathanwalmsleyfmp.wordpress.com/2020/02/28/mise-en-scene-props-and-costumes-in-horror-movies/.

“A Short Guide to Writing Horror.” First Draft Pro - Book Writing Software, www.firstdraftpro.com/blog/a-short-guide-to-writing-horror. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.