A2 Research and Planning: The Thriller Genre

Thrillers are a genre of literature, film, video gaming and television programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements. The primary subgenre is psychological thrillers.

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods such as; a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement, tension, terror. Literary devices such as red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively. The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although each subgenre has its own characteristics and methods.

Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge and kidnappings. More common in mystery thrillers are investigations and the whodunit technique. Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror-of-personality, and obsession. Elements such as fringe theories, false accusations, paranoia, and sometimes action are common in paranoid thrillers.

A genuine, standalone thriller is a film that provide thrills and keeps the audience cliff-hanging at the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the character(s) is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the threat is sometimes abstract or unseen. Thrillers with a crime-related plot mostly keep the attention away from the criminal or the detective, where they focus more on the suspense and danger that is generated.

“...Thrillers provide such a rich literary feast. There are all kinds. The legal thriller, spy thriller, action-adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high-tech thriller, military thriller. The list goes on and on, with new variations constantly being invented. In fact, this openness to expansion is one of the genre's most enduring characteristics. But what gives the variety of thrillers a common ground is the intensity of emotions they create, particularly those of apprehension and exhilaration, of excitement and breathlessness, all designed to generate that all-important thrill. By definition, if a thriller doesn't thrill, it's not doing its job.” —James Patterson, June 2006, "Introduction," Thriller

A2 Research and Planning: Black Swan Poster Semiotic Analysis

Black Swan is a 2010 psychological thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky. The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production requires a ballerina to play both the innocent White Swan and the sensual Black Swan. One dancer, Nina, is a perfect fit for the White Swan, while Lily has a personality that matches the Black Swan. When the two compete for the parts, Nina finds a dark side to herself. The film is a generic hybrid of a ballet movie, psychological horror and an art film.

The colour scheme used includes white, red and black. White denotes purity, cleanliness and innocence; this is juxtaposition against the black which denotes mystery. The white also denotes the youth of the character. The deep red used in her eyes and lips has connotations with a range of seemingly conflicting emotions from passionate love to violence and evil. It is suggested that her passion for her role in the ballet turns her evil, hence the red in her eyes.

The mise en scene of this poster includes the tiara on the girl’s head. She is blinded by her passion and evil in order to get to the ‘top’- illustrated by the tiara on her head. Tiaras have connotations with femininity, innocence and princesses; however this one is notably spikier and darker than a conventional tiara and it denotes a darker and perhaps evil princess figure.

The angle used in the shot is a close up to mid shot of the girl. The girl is facing and looking into the camera, the effect being that she is staring at the consumer. This is unsettling and further emphasises the genre of the film.

The target audience for this film is varied. Whereas dancers would take an interest in the film the psychological thriller side of the movie attracts older teenagers and people up to their sixties.

The font used in the movie title is fairly simple and is black to contrast against her pale skin. It is small, minimalistic and classical- signifying the nature of ballet. The rest of the text used is a lot smaller and simple. The red used fits with the colour scheme of the poster, so it is not too colourful and the focus is on the girl.

AS Construction: Final Contents Page on Photoshop.

AS Construction: Photoshopped Image.

I have lightened the picture on Photoshop and made the contrasting higher.

AS Construction: Double Page Spread Final

AS Construction: Front cover Final Analysis

AS Construction: Contents Page Draft

This is my final contents page for my music magazine. I have used a similar layout to the contents page in Look magazine. However, I have developed on it and made significant changes.

I have used a collage of images for the top half of the contents page. I have done this because from the results of my questionnaire I found that people preferred to have an even amount of text and images. The collage consists of four images I took on my digital camera while at a music event. The reason I have used images of artists performing/standing on stage is because the music magazine looks more authentic and relevant as it is images of a music event.

The reason I chose the image on the left hand side, under the other two images is because it is of a pretty female, which girls, who are the niche market, would enjoy reading about as she can be seen as a role model for them. She and the band behind her are all wearing white, which denotes purity and cleanliness. However, her dress is made of latex which symbolizes promiscuity. This contradicts the symbolism of the colour of the dress and creates juxtaposition. The effect of this emphasizes her role as a role model to the consumers, who are likely to be teenage girls who strive to be pure and ‘perfect’ but ‘sexy.’ Her black wavy hair denotes power, authority and mystery, while the waves in her hair symbolises femininity.

On the right hand side I have used an image of a pretty female singing into a microphone stand. The microphone stand signifies music, which is relevant to the genre of the magazine. Her hair is blonde and curly, which symbolizes youth and femininity. This is precisely who I have catered our niche market to be. She is wearing a cream lace dress which has connotations with femininity and fashion. Again, this is what I believe the niche market for the magazine would want to read about. I have used a strap line containing the signifier special!; I have done this as the word signifies exclusiveness and to emphasize this I have highlighted the word in pink which denotes femininity, passion and sensuality. Pink can stimulate energy and increase blood pressure and increase action and confidence- pushing the consumer to read it. I have also used the font Bradley Hand ITC as it doesn’t look too harsh or sophisticated; it resembles handwriting which has connotations with girls’ handwriting. I used the font size 38.

The two images I have used in the bottom left side of the collage I have used to create a slideshow and storyboard effect. I rotated both images slightly to the left. I have also bordered the image with a vibrant pink colour. Vibrant pink denotes high energy similar to red; they are sensual and passionate and appeals to females. It is also part of the colour scheme of my magazine. The left side image is of a rap star with a skull T shirt and khaki coat. The skull T shirt signifies death and decay, his khaki coat signifies war and is a synonymous of the colour brown which has connotations with earth. Therefore it is juxtaposition. He is also wearing a red poppy, which connotes war, death and remembrance. I chose to include him as he depicts a genre of music different to the other images and is a more controversial figure but also appeals to girls. He is also looking straight into the camera, instantly making the consumer feel like they’re on a personal level with the artist. The image on the right side depicts four good looking boys- a key marketing strategy for attracting teenage girls. They are all wearing dark colours- primarily black which denotes mystery. Mystery links directly to a person’s sex appeal; this is what teenage girls enjoy looking at.
For my masthead I have used the font Adobe Caslon Pro- similar to the main font layout of the page of Times New Roman- it is sophisticated yet simple- relating back to the results of my questionnaire that my consumers prefer an understated layout. I have also used a font size of 28. I have highlighted Welcome and Wanted in orange. Orange has connotations with energy and warm, similar to red and yellow. Orange is a stimulant which stimulates emotions- which is why I chose to use it for my colour scheme. I want the colour scheme to bring out an emotional reaction to the consumer, urging them to pick up the magazine and read it.

I have separated my contents in three columns which are situated in the bottom half of the page, below the collage of images. Above two of the segments of text I have used a black box and used a white font over the black. This creates effective contrasting so the text inside the box is easy to read and stands out. I have also used italics, for variety of the main font of Times New Roman. The text as I’ve mentioned before are set in Times New Roman and is written in a font size of 11. I have also created the first column a segment of four features that were featured on the cover- this creates ease for the consumer to find something on the cover they were interested in reading. I have also bolded the numbers so that they are clear.

I have used signifiers such as hot gossip and exclusive, reveals, shock and juicywhich signifies exclusiveness, secrets and up to date information. Gorgeous, swoon and sexy and fierce which signifies attractive people- good looking boys that girls enjoy looking at and pretty girls who they want to be like. It also signifies female empowerment; good for my niche market of girls.

I have used one more image situated in the middle of the second column. The image is of the cover star and is a different image to the one on the front cover. This tells the consumers that it contains a photo shoot which means the images are exclusive. The image is a head shot and depicts the person facing away from the camera, but drawing looking to the side slightly to draw her eyes to the camera symbolises mystery as she is not revealing her entire face to the camera. However, she evokes warmth to the reader by her smile. This urges the reader to read about her. Her hair is a deep, brown- burgundy colour which has connotations with passion to conflicting emotions of warfare and violence. It also denotes power and has the ability to make consumers stop to look at it. It can also raise blood pressure, provoking an emotional reaction. Her eyes are light blue, which denotes calmness, the sky and the sea. The sea is often used to symbolise women; therefore her eyes convey calmness, warmth and femininity.

I have placed an editor’s note’s box in the third column, which I have sectioned off with a box. The font inside here is Adobe Caslon Pro and has font size of 11.