Genre and Sub-Genre

In media 'genre' is a way of categorising media products into groups by shared characteristics.

media products that have the conventions of more than one genre are called 'sub-genres'.
There are many types of sub-genres.
Here is a list of sub-thrillers:
- Romantic-Thriller
- Action-Thriller
- Comedy-Thriller
- Psycho- Thriller
- Mystery- Thriller
- Crime- Thriller
- Religious- Thriller
- Political- Thriller
-Natural Disaster- Thriller
-Supernatural- Thriller
Techno- Thriller








A thriller sub genre that inspires me is The Stepfather, this is just a very short summary of what the film is about:
 'Michael returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her
new boyfriend. As the two men get to know each other, he becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand.'


The thriller opens with a man in the bathroom of his home. He cuts his hair and shaves his beard and leaves his bathroom looking very different. He does the basic tasks one would do in the morning such as getting dressed and preparing breakfast. Initially he seems like a a reasonably normal man but as the opening proceeds we see that there is something very strange about this him and his home. A very eerie version of the Christmas carol 'silent night' plays as the audience explores the setting. It is revealed to the audience just before the end of the opening that this man that appears to be normal is keeping the bodies of dead children in his living room. 


This film stood out to me because I am very fond of the idea of the protagonist in a film appearing to be an average civilian like the rest of society but is really very unusual and in actual fact dangerous. 


Although we are given the impression that this character is somewhat normal. We are also given clues that there may be something weird about them also. The mid shot of the utensils used to groom the man is shown in the opening of the film and at first the audience may not feel as if this is unusual in any way but if observed carefully you will see that these tools are arranged very neatly and organised almost too perfectly, also these are not even tools you would see in an average bathroom anyway. I like the way the film has hinted to the audience that this may be a strange character but has done it so subtly that they may not even notice and kept them guessing about what type of character this may be. This allows it to be a shock when they see the dead bodies in his living room. 


Another hint about the characters nature is given when he is shows installing his contacts. A close up is shown on both his eyes to make it clear to the audience that he is attempting to change his eye colour completely. This might wave a read flag to the viewer and provoke them to wonder why he is changing his image so drastically. But again the hint is so subtle it allows the viewing of the dead bodies to remain a shock. 

The viewer is then taken back to there initial feelings toward the character. That he is just a regular person, he is shown from long shots and mid shots preparing his breakfast. This allows the audience to relate to him in some way as most likely they also do this every morning. This is very effective, the film brings back the initial feelings the audience had towards the character to make the reveal of the dead children in his living room very unexpected. 

I feel that this opening of a sub-thriller will inspire my own thriller very much, as I am intrigued by the idea of a thriller about a seemingly normal person with a dangerous side. Watching the opening to the film has helped me understand how I can make the reveal of the protagonists secret shocking and unexpected by the audience.