The Thriller and Drama genre are often seen as completely different films. This has become apparent through our groups research into the codes and conventions of both of these and so a direct comparison of the research we've completed is needed.
It can be seen from my research into both genres that there is a distinct difference between the types of Narrative that Thrillers (Post: Genre Research Thriller) and Drama's (Post: Genre Research Drama) revolve their storylines around, for example, Drama's are emotionally and character based where as Thrillers tend to have characters focused around a central event. Basically, Thrillers focus on a narrative built around the suspense of a main event (for example the shark from "Jaws") whereas Drama's focus on how individuals are effected by this event or how this leads them to interact with one another.
Music and Sound
The main difference between the sound used in these two genres would be the styles of music and sound, thrillers use sharp and jagged sound effects whereas dramas use diagetic sound that portray realism. Because thrillers need to build suspense, music that reflects this is used, an example of this would be the theme from Jaws, in which the music used is intense throughout and makes the audience believe something is about to happen.
In comparison to this, Drama's tend to use music to enhance the emotion held within a scene, the following clip from the film "Jack", Starring Robin Williams reflects this idea, A backing track is subtly used to make the characters speech appear to be more touching although this is just the effect of the music.
Iconography
Looking into the iconography in thrillers, a lot of the time they use anything to build suspense and tension. In terms of the storyline,they often have really tense plot lines and shocking twists. An example of a tense storyline is often unrealistic events with shocking drastic changes to the equilibrium. This is to create suspense as you can get involved in the storyline and get excited. It often creates a bigger shock if you have an unrealistic change. This is because something unexpected happens and it changes your views. Thrillers generally use conventions such as weaponry and blood that is over the top and often something you can not get your hands on in general life.
Drama films differ to this with the due to the fact that they often have storylines that are a lot more realistic and based on real life occurrences, with normal people. The reasoning behind this is because in drama's the audience like to get involved with the characters and storylines emotionally therefore having real life events allows you to connect with the audience in a realistic fashion as they feel it relates to their life. In terms of weaponry, like thrillers would use an RPG dramas would use a frying pan or a kitchen knife. Something easy to get hold of in a real life situation. Another example is in thrillers, fast cars like an aston martin or a supercar may be used by the hero however in dramas cars like a ford focus and a kia picanto are used, making it easier to relate to the audience.
Cinematography
Camera angles within Thriller isn't much more unique to Drama. The difference is that the Thriller genre has smaller cuts that entitles the audience to more intensity, as a thriller is urged to keep the audience on the edge. However with Drama, the storyline goes at a slower pace. An example of how this is reflected through cinematography would be the methodology behind the shots, a close up in a Thriller would be used to see their fatigue or panic whereas in a drama it is used to display more compassionate emotions.
Another factor used in Thriller would be the cantered angled shot, this shot involves the disposition of the field of view which results in a distorted angle and thus creates an unorthadox visual context for the viewer. This differs in drama as it tends to reflect real life and so it uses steady or handheld shots. There are sequences in the Star Wars sage that use cantered angles to reflect the thrilling spacts of the scene. In comparison to this a dramatic shot from the television show "Misfits" reflects the style of filming used in dramas.
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| Cantered angle used for Thrilling effect in "Star Wars" |
Editing
There are many differences between the editing conventions of a film of the thriller genre and a film of the drama genre. Conventionally, a thriller film will use many jump cuts in an attempt to keep the story progressing at a faster rate. It also allows the audience to see more of what is going on in a scene and can be used to build a sense of the unknown and tension.
Another common theme in thriller films cross cutting. This is used in many films of this genre in order to enable the audience to see what is happening in more than one place. This is prominent in many thriller films such as Saw and Inception. Below is an example of a cross cutting scene in the film Inception.
On the other hand, drama films tend to use slightly different techniques. Editing in a drama will change dependant on the mood of the film. If the film is becoming quite tense and a lot is happening then the editing will become faster. However, if not much is happening or the mood of the film is quite calm then the editing will become slower. The editing should be more continuous and avoid editing techniques such as jump cutting. This is because cuts like these take the audience out of the reality of the scene.
Similarities
There are also some similarities between these. Psychological Thriller films often require thought and explanation and tend to have a focus on characters in which a storyline is built around this basis, rather than a character being caught up in a storyline, an example of this would be Sixth Sense (1999). This award winning film has numerous plot twists and it gets the audience intrigued and allows them to have their own understanding as to why these things happen in the film. Drama's are similar to this with the idea of Character focus, this is done in dramas so that the audience can gain a stronger emotional attachment to the characters and as a result the film as a whole. An example of a Drama film with extreme character focus would be Forrest Gump (1994), in which the whole film is based following the life of a man with below average intelligence. it's also worth noting that Sixth Sense also contains scenes that are high in drama, bringing up the idea that the combining of these genres attributed to it's success, an example of this is seen below in one of its most famous scenes:
Upon comparison, although our chosen genres for our film can be considered to be extremely diverse, the advantage of having our short as a "Genre Hybrid" is that it allows us to get the best aspects from both Thrillers and Dramas and combine them in order to create a short film that moulds perfectly around this genre.
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