Portfolio Project Genre #2

The second genre that I'm considering for my portfilio project is Thriller. And for the subgenre I'd like to go with is Psychological Thriller. 

Psychological thriller is a genre that focuses on the stuggles of character and their situation in life and this may come from the idea of trauma, morality, and just right from wrong. The whole point as well is to be in the characters mind when it comes to making lasting decsions. Now, the typical audience for this type of genre are usually older teens and adults who engage with topics like these. For example, the movie may want the audience to question their own moraltiy when watching a film with this kind of genre. 

The content of the genre may focus on the mental conflict within the character rather it being shown physically. The characters may also experince situations like trauma or conflict within themsleves. These stories may also include dreams and hallucinations. 

As for techniques, if the characters were to experince trauma, you would expect to see a lot of flashbacks inserted to see the back story of the character. For this, tight close ups are used to show the expression of uncomfort form the character face. Items and props may be used a lot throughtout the film to showcase the characters obssessivness. As well as dark tones and dark shadows, to illustrate the depressing vibe. And dim lighting can be added as well for the tension and the unexpectedness. The sound that comes along with this genre is very minimalistic, with very little music, since this genre wants people to think and not be distracted with loud music. 

For the marketing , trailers would definitely be used to display the film with its dark vibe and tension towards it, to attract the audience. The trailer would also really want to sell it with the moments of emotion and the situations rather than special effects. This films are usually premired in festivals, and after sometime may be distributed onto big streaming platforms. 

One of the two films that really bring this genre to life is "Black Swan". The main character Nina has this idea of obssession of being perfect when it comes to ballet. This movie portrays the pyschological struggles of overworking for your goals and sometimes can harm oneself. Really the mental state of Nina is what really drives the plot, like the extreme close up shots to show Nina's emotions. 

The second film that represents psychologica thriller is "The Shining". The character has a lost of santiy in the film at one point and that becomes the highlight of the film with its unexpectdness and the loss of all morality. Techniques that are used are long tracking shots that shwo uneasiness which adds to the tension. 

Citations:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller

                https://www.vaia.com/en-us/explanations/media-studies/filmmaking/psychological-thriller/

                 https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?genres=thriller