Genre 2: Back to tha Hood

Reflecting back on my last project, "As Long As We Both Shall Live", I want to do more research pertaining to genre tropes and conventions before actually completing an outline or shot list. In "As Long As We Both Shall Live" (I will refer to it from now on as LWBSL), all of the shots were hand-held, and from the point of view of the camera, as the Boy and the Girl were documenting, or "vlogging", their experiences as a couple. This year, I am more devoted to cinematography and the way I shoot the production is very important to me. I want to create more meaning and significance through shots and angles, and put as much thought into that aspect of the production as I do for character and content. Films are motion pictures- the "motion" aspect is something I intend to concentrate on over the course of the project.

Keeping this in mind, I began researching only knowing a basic plot and maybe a few shots. My google searches included "crime film", "crime drama film", "crime thriller conventions", and many other variations. I was looking for specific conventions, rather than film examples, but resources seem to be scarce on the specific "crime drama/thriller" genre. However, when I typed in "movies about abductions", I got taken to IMDB, where there was a list of kidnapping movie after kidnapping movie. I decided to look at what genre those films were classified under, which generally was "Crime, Drama, Action, Thriller, Mystery" (IMDB classifies with multiple genres per movie). When I envision the film I want to create, I don't imagine heavy action scenes, but rather short bursts of action or movement- causing me to sway away from the idea of an "Action" sub-genre.

I do intend for the film to be a dark drama, with the thrill aspect manifesting mentally in the audience's mind and physically on the screen. The mystery aspect will come not from the abduction itself, but why the abduction occurred and what the abductor's motive was. It seems that my film will be similar to ones such as "Along Came a Spider" (2001, dir. Lee Tamahori), "Kiss the Girls" (1997, dir. Gary Fleder), and "Trade" (2007, dir. Marco Kreuzpaintner). I plan on watching these films and taking note on technique and conventions for more "hands on" research and a better understanding.

A film I have seen that I imagine having a similar tone and style to is "Killing of A Sacred Deer" (2017) directed and co-written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou. The movie places the action primarily in the motive and mystery rather than using a plethora action-filled, gory scenes. This also intensifies the action scenes due to the scarcity of them in the actual film.

I plan on doing a lot of watching and viewing of films and television shows with similar genres and ideas as part of my research, and I can't wait to apply what I learn on screen.

SOURCES
https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/filmgenres/crimefilms
https://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/980-crime/
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls000011555/
https://a24films.com/films/killing-of-a-sacred-deer