Genre research

Identifying the Genre

Psychological

Crime

Non-fiction

FictionDark fantasy

Horror

Antagonist

Protagonist

ThrillerGenres I Enjoy & why:

Thriller – I enjoy this genre as it keeps me on the “edge of my seat” and you don’t

know what to expect in the next scene.

Comedy – Who doesn’t love comedy? That’s of the reason why I adore this genre. It always gives me a laugh, and the storylines are not of your

everyday experiences. Action – I enjoy these films because of the thrill and excitement I get from it.Thriller:The reason why I have chosen the genre of ‘thriller’ for my AS coursework is because this is the one I prefer out of all the genres. It covers a wide variety of other sub-genres, and has key conventions that you can interpret in your own way, but still get the main plot of the narrative across. Many people associate thriller with horror films however, thriller’s consists of an antagonist and a protagonist character, and so doesn’t have to be related to horror. People enjoy thriller films as it can overlap with other genres, thus broadening the audience. For example, a thriller film could include the genre of fantasy and supernatural which could link to superpowers and superheroes. This would mainly target an audience of a younger generation, however a thriller film including horror would be targeted at a generation of adolescents and the older generation. Thriller can also create a range of emotion throughout a narrative; for example, a film could feature both aspects of fear and excitement.

Identifying the Genre

Three films/ that influenced us with the genre of thriller are:1. The Woman in Black – this had a lot of mystery to the

film, so we wanted to see if we could incorporate some of that into our film.

2. Se7en – this film was about a character who seemed to have an obsession with killing, and so this keeps the audience on the edge of their seat with suspense.

3. Psycho – this film included many non-diegetic sounds which worked really well with the narrative and the plot of the story, and so this would be useful in the narrative that we are doing.

Identifying the NarrativeThe Columbine High School Massacre

Timings:11:10am – Eric and Dylan arrive at

the school11:14am - small bomb exploded as

a diversion set by the boys11:19am – shooting begins11:22am – police response11:29am – 11:36am – library

massacre12:08pm – suicide of the

perpetrators

I have decided to base my narrative on the ‘Columbine High School Massacre’ shooting at the school that occurred on April 20, 1999, between the times of 11:19 a.m. and 12:08 p.m. In addition to the shootings, the attack involved a fire bomb to divert fire fighters, propane tanks converted to bombs placed in the cafeteria, 99 explosive devices, and bombs rigged in cars.The perpetrators were two senior students called Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They murdered a total of 12 students and 1 teacher and injured 21 additional people, with 3 others being injured while attempting to escape the school.

Eric David Harris (aged 18)Born: April 9, 1981

Wichita, Kansas, U.S.Died: April 20, 1999Parents: Wayne Harris

Katherine Poole

About the PerpetratorsDylan Bennet Klebold (aged 17)Born: September 11, 1981

Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.Died: April 20, 1999Parents: Thomas Klebold

Susan Yassenoff

The Harris family relocated often, as Eric's father, Wayne Harris, was a U.S. Air Force transport pilot. In July, 1993, the family moved from Plattsburgh, New York, to Littleton, Colorado, when Wayne Harris retired from military service.The Harris family lived in rented accommodations for the first three years that they lived in the Littleton area. During this time, Eric met Dylan Klebold. They both went to Columbine High School and were both active in school play productions, operated video productions and became computer assistants maintaining the school’s computer server

Plot Outline

Dylan and Eric are walking through the school corridor with a gun beside them.

Dylan walks towards the camera then points the gun towards it where the screen goes black with a gunshot at the same time.

Time flashes back to a time ago The film shows a montage and long shots of the school, all

peaceful. We hear Dylan talking in the background about his life, how he

keeps getting bullied and how he wants to deal with this situation We see him later on at school being nudged and pushed at school

on the way to lunch where he meets up with Eric Dylan tells Eric about his plan and what he plans on doing. He is

sceptical at first, but as the bullying continues he agrees to Dylan’s plan.

They meet up the next morning; the day of the shooting.

Target Audience

As this film is of the thriller genre, our target audience is ages 15+. Most thriller films are viewed by an audience of this year group and above. The reason for this is because thrillers cover many sub-genres and so it broadens the audience's view on these films and the genre of it. Our film will be based on this and so we would recommend that the classification would be a ‘15’. This is because the film would have some ‘dark’ scenes behind the storyline and would feature guns and violence.

Todorov’s TheoryOur narrative will follow Todorov’s theory of equilibrium. His narrative theory focuses on plot – he believed the narratives could be divided into five stages1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.)2. A disruption of that order by an event.3. A crisis that the disruption has occurred.4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption (resolution.)5. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium

Our film will start with the attempt to repair the disruption from the view from Dylan and Eric, however will ‘flashback’ to a year ago where there is a state of equilibrium, within the school. A disruption will be caused with all the bullying going on aimed at both Dylan and Eric, and once they’ve had enough, a crisis is caused.