Research: Narrative Themes and Plots: Miss Begum.

Themes.

What are themes? Why are they important to identify for the audience?

Themes are a prominent or reoccurring idea that repeats itself in a piece of film or literature. A theme in a film is important for the audience to identify because it needs to meet their expectations and leave them in anticipation to what is going to happen. They need to know the themes so they know how to respond in the appropriate way. If the audience can identify the theme it also allows them to create meaning throughout the film. The theme also needs to meet the taste of the audience that is watching. If the same theme runs through various films it becomes a convention of the genre. Knowing this will benefit me because I know what to include and be aware of when making my thriller opening. 

Themes and Genres.

This table I have created from my research shows how genres are dependent on their themes. For a spectator to know the film is a certain genre the theme must be one that runs through all films of that type. You can tell the theme belongs to a certain genre because of its conventions.

Rom-Com	Action	Thrillers	Crime	Sci-Fi	Historic
Break-ups	Fighting	Religion	Addiction	Space	Fighting
Love	Battles	Fighting	Drugs	Supernatural	Battle
Happiness	Death	Obsession	Money	Science	Land
Loyalty	Violence	Envy	Greed	Disaster	Ownership
Marriage	Money	Ghost	Good vs. Evil	Earth	Hierachy
Divorce	Revenge	Haunting		Adventure
Commitment	Drugs	Revenge

Common themes in thrillers and why?

The Black Swan.

 

• Innocence
• Rivalry
• Lust
• Jealousy
• Obsession
• Hopes and Dreams

Mama

 

• Supernatural
• Haunted
• Mystery
• Family

Insidious

• Supernatural
• Psychological
• Mystery
• Death

Orphan

• Psychological
• Death
• Violence
• Mystery
• Deception
• Obsession

Impact of Themes on Audience.

 The themes of a film impact the audience significantly because it creates meaning within the film and the audience can learn and identify from it. The themes you include in your film need to be appropriate so the audience respond and refer to it in the right way. For example when a spectator watches The Black Swan, without the themes of innocence and psychological deception the audience wouldn't be able to find meaning in what is going on.

What Themes will you use in your thriller and why?

In my thriller I hope to use the themes of psychological deception, obsession and death.
I believe that these themes are the most conventional to a thriller film. I hope that using these themes will allow my audience to find meaning and guide a suitable response from them.