Psychological Thriller Research...

Research;

"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.
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.
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.
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."

The Definition;

Psychological – Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature.
Thriller – A genre of fiction that attempts to "thrill" its audience by placing characters at great risk. This constant unease throughout the story makes the narrative suspenseful to the reader by creating a tense atmosphere.
Psychological + Thriller – By combining these two terms, the definition changes to a narrative that makes the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. 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.

Themes;

Many psychological thrillers have emerged over the past years, all in various media (film, literature, radio, etc). Despite these very different forms of representation, general trends have appeared throughout the narratives. Some of these consistent themes include:
Reality – The quality of being real. Characters often try to determine what is true and what is not within the narrative.
Perception – A person's own interpretation of the world around him through his senses. Often characters misperceive the world around them, or their perceptions are altered by outside factors within the narrative (see Unreliable narrator).
Mind – The human consciousness; the location for personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. The mind is often used as a location for narrative conflict, where characters battle their own minds to reach a new level of understanding or perception.
Existence/Purpose - The object for which something exists; an aim or a goal humans strive towards to understand their reason for existence. Characters often try to discover what their purpose is in their lives and the narrative's conflict often is a way for the characters to discover this purpose.
Identity - The definition of one's self. Characters often are confused about or doubt who they are and try to discover their true identity.
Death - The cessation of life. Characters either fear or have a fascination with death.

'Zombieland'

Saw the film 'Zombieland' last night at the cinema. It was directed by Ruben Fleischer and it's a horror comedy. I went into it thinking it was just going to be a rip off of Shaun of the Dead - nothing beats Simon Pegg and Nick Frost - but by the end of the film, I was convinced that it was a completely different style of "ZomCom".
It was a very surreal film but I really liked the way it had been produced. As the story goes on, the main character narrates to the audience the rules of survival in 'Zombieland' and as he does so they appear on the screen and they move along with his movements or the action that is going on in the film.
For example, in one scene the four survivors go into a shop and begin to smash everything up and compeltely ruin it. As they are leaving, one of the lights is swinging from the ceiling and the words 'Rule #32: ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS' come up in line with the light and they swing with the light.
I really liked this effect because it happened throughout the film and it helped me as an audience member to get inside the mind of the characters and the way they had to think in order to survive.
Another effective aspect of the production of the film was the music and lighting used together in order to build up dramatic tension and to inform the viewer that something bad is going to happen. For example, when they go into the shop checking for any zombies, the lighting is very dark, making it mysterious and extremely tense.
Also, the gory parts of the film were much more realistic than those in Shaun of the Dead which shows how much editing technology must have progressed since 2004.
Not as funny as Shaun of the Dead, but a great film all the same, watch it!

Genre Research

So I've just been researching Thriller on wikipedia and apparently there are lots and lots of different variations of Thriller within itself, so if we chose to do a thriller we'd have plenty of ideas to choose from. Here's a few of them;

Action thriller: In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and crime films but these elements take a backseat to action. Notable examples are the James Bond films, The Transporter, and the Jason Bourne novels and films.

Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. The Alfred Hitchcock filmsSuspicion, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train and David Lynch's bizarre and influential Blue Velvet are notable examples of the type, as is The Talented Mr. Ripley byPatricia Highsmith (who also wrote Strangers) and The Good Son starring Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin.

Drama thriller: In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involves a great deal of character development along with plot twists. Examples include The Illusionist, The Interpreter and The Prestige.

...and the list goes on! Making a thriller as a class would probably be the simplest option for us to go with, but it could also be difficult because we'll be going up against so many other openings that come under the thriller category. A Chick Flick has the potential to be good but there's a huge chance that it could end up becoming really bland.

Action would never work...although maybe if we try and do Action it could turn into Comedy...?!

I think our choices are either thriller or comedy, because the other genres seem almost impossible to work with.