Research: Narrative Themes - Miss Begum

Narrative Themes

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

Themes are ideas that consistently reoccurs in a movie for example; death, violence, money and vengeance in order to meet the audiences expectations of conventional ideas within that particular genre or sub-genre.  For example, if the viewers were watching an action/ crime thriller, they should be expecting to see clearly themes such as crime, mystery and violence because it is what they came to see.
Themes are important for the audience as it is there to get a particular, pleasing response from the audience, furthermore it also allows the audience to identify potential plots that might be taken place within the film.

Themes and genres - discuss how themes are dependent on genres and why?

Themes are usually dependent on their genres because it allows the audience to predict what might happen as the movie progresses which will further allow the viewers meet their expectations. Without a specific genre that enables the whole structure of the move to follow, it is impossible to generate themes as there is no clear narrative. There are different genres that consists of different themes however some similar genres have the same themes portrayed such as:

• Thriller Genre: Death, violence, religion, money, drugs, crime, supernatural
• Action Genre: Violence, Good Vs Evil
• Horror Genre: Death, violence, murder
• Crime Genre: Crime, mystery, violence, drugs, money
• Romance Genre: Family, relationships, love
• Science Fiction Genre: Time travel, space, Good Vs Evil

Common themes in thrillers and why? Examples:

The Dark Knight (2008) (Sub-Genre: Action)

• Crime
• Good Vs Evil
• Vengeance
• Trust
• Weapons
• Violence
• Death
• Envy
• Jealousy
• Mystery 

Memento (2000) (Sub-Genre: Mystery)

• Trust
• Deceit
• Mystery
• Crime
• Vengeance
• Violence
• Death
• Jealously 
• Relationships
• Loyalty

World War Z (2013) (Sub-Genre: Horror

• Death
• Murder
• Relationships
• Family
• Violence
• Mystery
• Disease
• Infections
• Weapons

Although the different story lines and plot twists between these two very different movies, they both share very similar themes both under the thriller genre yet each with their own sub-genre. All these themes are very similar because thrillers always create suspense and all these themes are very capable of doing so.

With the different sub-genres these films possess, they share similar themes. I believe this is because these are the most popular themes used in thriller films today. I plan o n using some of these themes such as murder, death, violence, vengeance and mystery to captivate my target audience.

Impact of themes on the audience

The audience are already aware of the genre before watching the film as they have picked it in particular because of their interest in the trailer they may have seen before therefore they have an idea of what themes to expect when watching it. These particular themes such as death and murder are very likely to be used in a thriller genre which will likely to give the audience a negative response furthermore, might affecting them psychologically too. Moreover, these types of themes usually create tension and anticipation from the audience. 

Conclusion:

Overall, my research on narrative themes have educated me on the important of themes. The themes that are based on the specific genre is created to get a particular response from the audience such as suspense. I know now that when I am creating my thriller film, I have to choose my themes with caution making sure that they are associated with the thriller genre.