Thriller Sub Genre Research

Crime Thriller:

Crime thrillers focus on external threats like criminals and violence. They are made to feel dangerous and morally grey. 

Lighting: In this sub-genre they often use low-key lighting. They use strong shadows and limited light sources. It is realistic, they use things like street lamps and desk lamps. The shadows can represent characters and their personalities, like how they are often morally grey. The darkness can also make the films more suspenseful since you can't see everything clearly. 

A good example of a crime thriller is The Dark Knight 

This movie has a lot of dark lighting. The shadows add to the entire vibe of the movie. It adds to the suspense and sort of mystery around Batman's identity. 

Setting: These films are often set in ordinary locations like cities. Using The Dark Knight as an example again, this movie is set in a city. The setting can make the crime feel more realistic and shows that it can happen anywhere. 

Cinematography: Some very common shots used in crime thrillers are tracking shots. These are used a lot when pursuing a villain so we get to follow along the chase. 

Iconography: Very common props in this sub genre are weapons, police cars, and other police force tools. 

 Psychological Thriller:

 Psychological thrillers focus on internal threats rather than external ones. For example battling with your own mind. This is meant to make us feel more unstable rather than scared. 

Lighting: Often use high contrast lighting, shadows on faces, and unnatural/harsh light. These types of light can help emphasize the mental instability the character can be feeling. It can also separate the reality from the delusions/hallucinations a character might be having. 

Setting: These types of films can be done in isolated environments forcing the to battle themselves, it can add to the sense of them feeling trapped mentally. This also takes away the perspectives from other characters to we are seeing everything the was the main character would They also often use repeated environments. Repeating the environment lets the directors build on previous scenes and the director can slowly make subtle changes, this can make what was familiar feel dangerous and give off a sense of dread. 

Cinematography: This genre uses a lot of close ups and slow zoom ins. It lets the viewers see all the emotions a character is feeling and sort of lets you get a glimpse of what's going on in their head. 

A great example of this is Black Swan. This movie uses a lot of close up shots which allows you to see the main characters emotion and see how her mental stability is slowly deteriorating throughout the movie.

Iconography: They often use mirrors, hallucinations, medications, and doubles of the character. All this is used to show how they are battling identity and how what we are seeing can be unreliable. Black Swan also does a good job showing this. It shows the main character going against herself figuratively and literally.  

Spy Thriller

Spy Thrillers go into the topics of secrecy, global issues, and deception. They often balance reality with craziness. 

Lighting: They use dim lighting in more secretive scenes to be mysterious and a lot of bright high key lighting during the action. 

Setting: In this genre many different settings are used. They use international locations that are often constantly moving to show that there isn't any permanent safety and to show how high the stakes are for the world. 

A good example of this is Mission Impossible. In these movies you see the main character going to many different places like Berlin, Rome, and China. 

Cinematography: A lot of fast editing is used in action scenes to create a sense of chaos in the fighting. They also use close ups during dialogue so we can see the emotions a character is going through as they get deceived and figure things out. 

Iconography: They use things like disguises, codes, weapons and gadgets, all things associated with spies. 

This all adds to the realism of the films. 

Citations:

Thriller Genre Subgenres: 10 Types of Thriller Novel, self-publishingschool.com/thriller-genre-subgenres/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

“Thriller Definition - Screenwriting I Key Term.” Fiveable, fiveable.me/key-terms/screenwriting-i/thriller?utm_. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

“Psychological Thrillers Definition - Film and Media Theory Key Term.” Fiveable, fiveable.me/key-terms/film-and-media-theory/psychological-thrillers?utm_. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

“Film Appreciation: Mise-En-Scène.” Mise-En-Scène | Film Appreciation | OpenALG, alg.manifoldapp.org/read/film-appreciation/section/6c87565c-8398-40fd-9c82-7d9aec5ead99?utm_ Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

“Crime Genre Conventions.” Savannah Gilbo, www.savannahgilbo.com/blog/crime-conventions?utm_. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

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.

Magazine Cover Conventions Reflection

 Learning: 

From this project I learned about all the different conventions of a magazine as well as how to use the program InDesign. I learned about different conventions including the banners, PUFFS, coverlines etc. I also learned about their meanings and the specific formats of each element, like where they go on the page and how big or small they usually are. 

The InDesgin program is very similar to another one I use called "hjedesgin" which made my learning process a lot easier and a lot faster. A lot of the tools used were similar including the dragging tools, shaping tools, and even the selection tool. There were some things that I was new too, but it wasn't anything I couldn't pick up on. The main thing I learned about the program that was different from what I use was getting the cover image on the page. When getting the image on the page I had to click some settings for higher quality and I had to shape the image to fit the page. 

High quality selection I did:

Genre Choice: 

The genre I chose was a travel magazine. I chose this genre because it is something I am passionate about. I have grown up traveling a lot and have been to quite a few places around the world. I also chose this genre because I thought that I had some pictures that would work well as the cover image and would give off the vibe of a travel magazine. 

My magazine cover conveys my genre using the cover picture, the gentle font which makes the magazine cover feel serene, and the light colored font (that I got using the dropper tool over the ocean)

Color selection from dropping tool and me choosing different colors for the fonts:

Conventions: 

Conventions I used that contributed to my cover where my masthead, banner, PUFF, boxout, and coverlines. My masthead is the biggest text on the cover and its the title of my magazine, the title I chose as well as the font gives you an idea of what the magazine is going to be about. I chose "The Getaway" which indicates a form of travel. 

The banner, PUFF, PLUG, and the coverlines all contributed to my cover with their text. The PUFF and boxout were both made with the shaping tool since they have a set shape they always follow.  All of the conventions I used had text that related to vacation or traveling. These conventions really tie the magazine cover together because it gives you a sneak peak into what will be written inside the magazine, that is why I was very intentional in picking what to use as my text. 

Shaping tool and PUFF picture:

Challenges: 

Something I struggled with was just making the magazine look cohesive. I was trying to pick different fonts that worked well together and that is what took me the longest. There were a lot of options for fonts and I had to click on them and see how it looked with the rest of my cover. I also struggled a little on where to put all my magazine elements (coverlines, puffs etc.), I changed the location of my elements quite a few times before finally deciding on the final product. 

Font options:

Successes:

I succeeded on using the program InDesign. I navigated the program really well and was able to make my ideas come to life. I added all the conventions I needed to complete my magazine while following my genre and keeping it from looking too messy. 

Important takeaways/How it is helpful:

I believe everything I learned from this project is an important takeaway. Knowing the different elements and what they mean helps me understand and interpret the meaning a magazine is trying to convey. Knowing how to use the InDesign program taught me more about what goes into design and that everything is intentional. Doing it myself showed me that I have to take every element into account including positioning and sizing. Learning this was very helpful because I will have to use the information I've learned throughout the year. This could be helpful for my final project because I learned about color schemes that go into themes as well as how to establish the audience I'm looking for. 

Final Product: 

Video Editing Practice Reflection

 Premiere Pro Learning Process 

I thought learning how to use Premiere Pro was a pretty smooth process. We started off with watching some videos that explained everything we needed to know from start to finish. The videos showed me how to create a project in Premiere Pro, how to add in the clips I would be using, how to organize everything, how to edit clips, and even sound. As I was watching the videos I followed along to get a better understanding since I learn better by actively doing things myself.  As I was following along I also just got myself familiar with the software by clicking on icons that I didn't know how to use and seeing what they did, as well as asking a lot of questions. Once I finished the videos I got a chance to put everything I had just watched and learned and put it into practice. I created my own edited video trying out a bunch of the editing techniques I learned.  

Some of the videos I watched:

Experience Creating Clip

I had a lot of fun creating my clip. I thought it was very interesting to see how it all came together. I first looked through all the materials I had to make my clip before deciding what I was going to do with it. I then started pulling certain sections out of the interviews and B-Roll I was provided with and put them on my timeline so I wouldn't lose them. After pulling out all the content I needed I started dragging the videos into the order in which I wanted them. I dragged some of the videos to V1 and some to V2 so I could get the voiceover effect and I also edited the audio so that the audio of the videos on V1 and V2 would blend well together and so you could hear what I wanted to be heard 

Dragging clips:

Challenges I had: 

I struggled with editing the audio the most. Since I had a lot of clips that overlapped each other the audio would sometimes mush together or one of my clips would be too loud and I wouldn't be able to hear the one I needed. My edited video focused a lot on voiceovers, so I didn't want to audio of the clips in V2 to be louder than the audio of clips in V1. At first I tried muting some of the audios in A2 but I realized that whenever I did that it muted all of them instead of only the one. I then figured out how I could lower the audio of each clip separately by dragging the gray box in the audio square. That box also let the audio be louder in certain of the clip which I liked since I wanted some words to stand out and be heard louder than all the extra background noise. 

Close up on audio showing the gray box:     

Successes I had: 

I think I succeeded in keeping my timeline organized and picking apart the portions of clips I wanted to use. To keep my timeline organized I color coordinated some of my clips so it would be easier for me to see everything and for me to be able to distinguish what I was looking at without having to rewatch the whole clip. This definitely made the process easier for me. I also succeeded in picking out the clips I wanted to use. One of my favorite parts of this process was getting to pull apart certain parts of my interviews and B-Roll to use in my clip. I would watch the videos and click the { on Premiere Pro where I wanted the cutout clip to start, then I would click } where I wanted it to start. 

What cutting out the clips looked like:

Some of my color coordination: 

What I learned: 

I learned a lot during this process. I learned how to navigate and properly use Premiere Pro by trying out the different icons and settings, how to organize my content by making bins and color coordinating my timeline, how to insert and remove clips in different ways, how to edit and insert audio, and even how to change Premiere Pros layout to better fit whatever I'm working on. 

Important take aways/How will this help me later on: 

I am going to take everything I learned with me as I continue this class because I think all of it was important. Since I am planning on doing a film opening for my final project, I will end up having to use everything I learned and learning it sooner rather than later will help me become more familiar with the software, so by the time I start editing my project I wont be confused or delayed by Premiere Pro. I will also definitely keep on practicing so I can get better on the thing I struggled with and so I can perfect the things I understood. 

Final Clip: 

 

Camera Work Reflection

 Camera Angles and Shots Project:

The learning process for this was made up of note taking and observing. During class we did stations, we went from table to table taking definitions of the different camera angles and shots to really understand the technicality of them. At those stations we also cut out and glued examples of the shots and angles into our notebooks so we could see the definitions in action and get a clearer understand of what they would look like.   

For this project we had to pair up with a partner to tell the story of an inanimate object using 15 different shots that we learned. It had to include at least one of the following shots:

- establishing shot

- long shot

- mid-shot

- close-up shot

- point-of-view shot

- low angle (used with any shot)

- high angle (used with any shot) 

For day 1 of this project, I started off by choosing my partner and brainstorming ideas with her, which then led to us making our story board. We decided on a story about markers competing against each other for the best rating. On day 2, we brought out storyboard to life. We gathered our materials and took our many different shots on the white board so we could then make our powerpoint presentation. 

I think we succeeded in completing the project in a timely matter and on following our story board pretty well. Some challenges we faced was getting the shots done properly, since the markers were quite small it was sometimes hard to get them into focus or get them to stay in the positions we needed for the pictures. 

I learned throughout this process how to identify the shots by actually doing them myself, since I had to work on getting the proper positioning and angles I can point them out more easily now. I also learned the effect that the angles and shots have on a story that I had never noticed when watching films before, this allowed me to convey certain messages in my project without have to use words. 

What I would do differently is tweak the story. My story was basically all shot with the same background which made a lot of the scenes look similar and it was hard to add variation. Next time I would make it so that there were more scenes taking place in different locations so that the story could be more engaging and differentiable.  

 

Storyboard: 

Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zvoMGjTaGdWs2LmMl11jenOQtdWi9gC5/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101976636099626655852&rtpof=true&sd=true

Camera Movements Project:

The learning process for cameras movement was made up of note taking, observations, and a quiz. We started off by taking notes around the room on the different camera movements and their definitions. We then watched a video that gave examples from films of each of the camera movements so we could see the difference between them all, it also just refined the information we had just taken notes on. We were also quizzed on the definitions after getting a few days to review to guarantee that we understood the information we were given.

For this project we had to get into a group and create a storyboard and a short video sing the prompt "surprise" that included the following camera movements:

- static

- pan

- tilt

- push in OR pull out

- tracking

- one movement of your choice

For day 1 of this project we came up with out storyboard and filmed all our clips since we already knew what we wanted to do. On day 2 we  choose the clips that we were going to use and edited them together. 

I thought this was a really fun experience and a great way to start the year since it was our first project. I liked that were were able to get creative with the prompt and it was a really good way to review the different movements. 

I think the project was an overall success. Me and my group members agreed on what story we wanted to do pretty quickly and had a clear image of what we wanted to do so making the storyboard and carrying it out was a success. We also had people in our group who had a little experience in editing which allowed us to combine our clips and finish the video.  The biggest challenge we had was the quality. There was a lot of background noise and we were working on our phones so the quality wasn't as good as we wanted and we had to do a few retakes because of sound issues like it being muffled. 

I learned a lot about what goes into all the different camera movements. Since we didn't have professional equipment we had to do all the movements ourselves, and for example when we were filming a scene with trucking we had to actually run alongside the characters. This taught me how the movements are carried out and what the different movements could mean. 

What I would do differently is maybe try out a different concept for the prompt "surprise". I think there are so many things that could fit into that prompt and it would be interesting to explore more of them. I would also try and record on something with better quality like a camera rather than a phone. 

Storyboard: 

Video: