Research Tasks - "Joyride" - Gareth Allen

First Film : Joy Ride
In the film Joy Ride, I found that the genre of this short film was a thriller. I felt that this short film was a thriller because, they include suspense at points of the film (when the captive is in the boot of his own car). It could however be confused with a horror film as there are scenes with killings involved. This film is different to a horror though as you don't see the police man and woman getting murdered, which creates the 'unknown' factor that is included within a thriller. They do include iconography in the film which is also linked to horror films. You see where the captive is in his boot, blood dripping from the outside onto his face. The film itself is based in the middle of a forest, on a rainy night. This has all the makings of a thriller based film as most thrillers are set at night time.

Within Joy Ride, they use both thriller aspects, and horror aspects throughout the film. I feel that they have succeeded in creating this affect. I think this because, there are parts of the film where the horror aspects add to the suspense and unknown. This I feel is done the best when they hijackers or the car meet the police for the first time. When you can only see the man in the boot of his car, and the screams and chopping of bodies, you know what is happening, but you can;t see it. When you see the blood dripping on his face, this brings out the suspense and one of the hijackers says "Your next". This is implying to us how they have brutally murdered the police man and woman.

The film uses a short film format well I feel. I feel this because, they make the pace of the film fast, with the use of music and storyline. They also use suspense and drama throughout the film so that you don't loose attention to what is going on at any point. I feel that they used the beginning of the film along with the end of the film well where they use the same setting under the wire poles. This would be different to how some people would finish a short film, somewhere else in the forests.

I found that the sound throughout this short film was very good. At the start of the film, they used diagetic and non diagetic sounds together at the same time, showing contrast between them. They use the same non diagetic sounds throughout the film when needed. This was a good choice of sound because it was an eerie soundtrack, and created the suspense and made us think what was going to happen next. They also picked the pace up with the soundtrack at points, and made the fade in where they wanted the audience to mostly be intrigued by what was happening.

The film seems to try and blend three different genres into one. I think that in the film they use the horror genre, thriller genre and social realism. The film seems to be socially realistic by showing how a electrician can be held captive by thugs. They also position the audience at different points of the film. They position the audience to be with the captive while he is in his boot and can only hear screams and bodies being decapitated. I think that this is good how they do this because you feel as though you are in the same position as the captive, and brings suspense to the 'unknown' aspect to the film.

I think that this short film is targeted at a wide audience. I think this because, it is a thriller peice so many people will like it and be intrigued to watch it. I think that this could appeal to males more than females because, the main character is a male and the audience who are males can relate to him in one way or another.

Gareth Allen