The Beginning

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Welcome to my blog! My name is Valentina Lesende and I can not begin to explain how excited I am for this project ahead. My partner, Tomas Vilas, and I began brainstorming the type of genre that would be best for our film opening. He presented the idea of a thriller genre, but I would love to use the horror genre because it is what I am most passionate about. Instead of flipping a coin or playing rock-paper-scissors to see who wins, we chose to research both genres in depth and make an educated decision. While researching the two genres, we wanted to get a full understanding of what each consists of.
    Thriller films “promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension.” [1] The main focus of thriller films is to create tension with the audiences, providing thrilling, intense scenes for greater suspense. These scenes build up anticipation with uneasy situations, while leading up to the climax. The protagonist always has some sort of issue that must be resolved, whether it be “an escape, a mission, or a mystery.” [2] The danger that is presented on the journey to solve the problem is what is mainly emphasized. Up until November 2016, The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), and The Departed (2006) were the top rated thriller films on imdb. [3]
    “Horror films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.” [4] They focus on the gloomy, threatening characteristics of everyday life, while playing with the audience’s fears. It is a broad genre using many mediums to cause viewers “anxiety, fear, and ultimately thrills.” [5] These films tend to combine with the science fiction genre in discussing people  vs. technology or monsters/made up creature antagonists. Get out (2017) was rated the best horror movie of all time by rotten tomatoes [6] and has achieved many awards, including several oscar nominees and the AFI award for movie of the year.
    Now that I have a better understanding of what key elements make up the two genres, hopefully my partner and I will be able to make a decision on which to choose.


[1] http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html
[6] https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-horror-movies-of-all-time/

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