My chosen genre and it’s conventions

For my short film, I have chosen the genre of ‘psychological thriller’ and ‘ drama’. I have chosen these genres for my film because I am not familiar with them and I find that if I study and analyse films of this genre and eventually create a film of these genres, I will be familiarised a lot more with these genres.

I have researched the genres that I will be studying and here is what I found:

Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. However, this genre often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. Also, occasionally this genre will border into the also wide-ranging horror genre.

Psychological – Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature. Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of either physical manifestations, or physical torsions of the characters at play.

Thriller – Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot.

Psychological Thriller – Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.

The drama film is a genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others, society and even natural phenomena.

This film genre; drama, can be contrasted with an action film, which relies on fast-paced action and physical conflict, but superficial character development. All film genres can include dramatic elements, but typically, films considered drama films focus mainly on the drama of the main issue. Some well-known drama films include Citizen Kane (1941), The Godfather (1972), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Forrest Gump (1994) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. See also melodramas, epics (historical dramas), or romantic genres. Dramatic biographical films (or "biopics") are a major sub-genre, as are 'adult' films (with mature subject content).

Examples of Psychological thiller films are:

• Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002, US)
• November (Greg Harrison, 2004, US)
• Pulse (Jim Sonzero, 2006, US)

The themes in a Psychological thriller are:

• Reality
• Perception
• Mind
• Exictence
• Purpose
• Itentity
• Death