To develop our research into our chosen genre (Psychological thrillers) we looked at films released over 5 years and how the genre increased in popularity, what they included (conventions) and who their target audiences were.
2000
Scream 3 - 18 Murders, woods, killings & fear.
The Beach - 15 Suicide, drugs, insane & travel.
The Cell - 18 Psychotherapist, FBI, serial killer & twisted.
Unbreakable - 12 Crash survivor, questioning existence, reality or not & genetics.
2001
Frailty - 15 Serial killer, FBI, flashbacks & religion.
From Hell - 18 Serial killer, detective, drugs & prostitutes.
Hannibal - 18 Asylum, revenge, victims & FBI.
Donnie Darko - 15 Psychatrist, crash survivor, insanity & end of the world.
Session 9 - 15 Asylum, complicated, personal history & mystery.
Soul Survivors - 12 Crash survivor, nightmares, spiritual & afterlife.
Vanilla Sky - 15 Wealth, crash survivor, dreams & psychology.
The Watcher - 15 Serial killer, FBI, psychiatric therapy & detective.
2002
Insomnia - 15 Murder, insomnia, detective & personal investigation.
One hour photo - 15 Photography, loner, obsession & secret
Panic room - 15 Burgulars, fighting for their lives, claustrophobia & threats.
Red Dragon - 15 Serial killer, FBI, evil & psychological scars.
Signs - 12 Freak accident, UFOs, religion & fear.
2003
Cold Creek Manor - 15 Old mansion, living nightmare, dark past & previous family.
Dot the I - 15 Wealth, fear, pushy & love.
Fear X - 12 Murder, wife killed, CCTV & security.
The I inside - 15 Hospital, time travel, memory loss & links to the past.
Identity - 15 Strangers borught together, killings, psychiatrist & blame.
In the cut - 18 Murder, passion, fear for safety & worry.
Phone Booth - 15 Threats, insecurity, fear & mental games.
2004
The Butterfly effect - 15 Blackouts, flashbacks, memory loss & confusion.
The forgotten - 12 Psychiatrist, mental illness, struggles with existence & sanity.
Freeze frame - 15 Paranoid, accusation of murder, psychologist & forensics.
The Machinist - 15 Insomnia, insanity, mystery & confusion.
Secret window - 12 Mentally ill, mystery, accusations & violence.
Suspect zero - 15 Serial killers, FBI, demons & hauntings.
Taking lives - 15 Serial killer, FBI, identity & trying to fit in.
Trauma - 15 Coma, Crash survivor, police & psychologist.
Twisted - 15 Serial killer, police, suspicion & murder.
The Village - 12 Pact, monsters, existance between reality and modern life & threats.
Common conventions across all of these films, with the exception of one or two were Serial killers, mental illness, FBI, supernatural incounters and crash survivors causing flashbacks or insanity. The target audiences across all of the films seemed to be that of older teenagers who were interested in crime cases and existence in reality. This research will help with the planning of our own Psychological Thriller because it will give us ideas as to what works in these sorts of films and what an audience of this age group expects.
Other group member Laura Harris will be doing the same but for the years 1990-1994 to see if conventions have changed over 10 years and how this has effected target audiences, we will swap information to come to some sort of conclusion.
