What genre signifiers will we include?
In our opening sequence we will include genre signifiers such as blood and wounds on Anastasia's face. You would only conventionally see a high volume of blood and deep cut wounds in genres such as action, psychological thrillers and thrillers, therefore blood being demonstrated through extreme close ups and normal close up shots already breaks it down for the audience. The audience could also suggest hat if somebody has blood all round her face and is unable to get out of the situation then somebody has put her there, which the audience could then infer that they might have been some sort of psycho. According to Rick Altman's genre theory, all films contain semantic and syntactic elements. This opening shot strongly supports this theory because as well as being visual to all the blood and deep cut wounds, the use of close up shots connote that she is in grief as well. People might also enjoy the repetition of blood in psychological thrillers, therefore want to watch more. This links to Steve Neales genre theory that audience might enjoy repetition of conventions in genres and would want to see more.
We will also communicate our genre to the audience by using taboo language when the character is in distress. This is extremely common in horrors and psychological thrillers because the idea is so the dialect expresses the main characters level of distress, frustration and anxiousness. This is seen most famously in classics such as Saw where he shouts 'someone help me' in an extremely high pitched voice. As Saw is a horror film, this supports Roberts Stams theory as some people may argue it is a hybrid of genres rather than just a psychological thriller. However it could also challenge his theory because, dialect of distress is also seen in other genres such as action and thrillers and not just horrors.
The use of camera shots and angles will connote that the films genre is a psychological thriller by showing close ups of the girls facial expression to signify she had been psychologically effected. Her beautiful face and long shots of her tied up to a pole in a basement suggests that a psycho is obsessed over her, therefore took matters into their own hands and locked her up all for themselves. The audience may be able to infer that this psycho may be somebody who is obsessive and unable to control themselves. This challenges Robert Stams theory because no film contains a obsessive psycho other than films of the genre 'psychological thriller'. These inferences give the audience a clear understanding of the genre as they have been demonstrated in the opening sequence. Camera shots and angles are also key in contributing the genre because they help the audience understand the daunting atmosphere Anastasia is in. For example the over the shoulder establishing shots connote that the atmosphere is conventional to a thriller, a psychological thriller or a horror film.
All the elements of a psychological thriller such as high amounts of blood, a psycho villain, a princess and prize and a protagonist all thrown into one film contribute to the film being able to push the boundaries of the genre, which supports Steve Neale's genre theory as his idea is that genre is always evolving through a cycle of events. Therefore our film, concealed, pushes the psychological thriller boundaries because all the key concepts take the genre to the next level.
Finally, the use of non-diagetic sounds and music will communicate the genre of our film. The use of high pitched music to work together with dark lighting of the mise-en-scene and pan camera shots create a daunting atmosphere to the audience, and could also help them come to the conclusion that Anastasia is psychologically effected by this as the music could have links and annotations on to how she is feeling.
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