PRE-PRODUCTION: Research - Action/Thriller/Horror Genre of Drama

Stranger Things

I have also highlighted another area of genres I am interested in when it comes to Drama. These include Action/Thriller and Horror. I have chosen to combine them and talk about them collectively because I think a few of the series I will talk about are a combination of these genres. I think that series' that come under these genres have become incredibly popular with audiences particularly on Netflix. They seem to attract a younger audience in particular, who are attracted to the elaborate and exciting nature of them. I am interested in watching these dramas myself as I find them very engaging and thrilling to watch, keeping me on the edge of my seat as well as being at times very scary. A more horror based genre is more niche, however, several of the Netflix series have managed to encapsulate the element of horror whilst keeping the material quite mainstream and appealing to many.
In general, Dramas that fall into these genres are very intense and thrilling to watch which encourages people to talk about them, therefore increasing their popularity further. I think that I would struggle to attempt to recreate these genres if I were to choose the Major Project Pre-Production, just because they are so dynamic and often very visually stimulating. However, as I have chosen to undertake the Professional Pre-Production option for this unit, this is a potential area I would be keen to look further into.

Stranger Things

'Stranger Things' is an Action/Horror Television drama created by the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy. It premiered on Netflix and follows the lives of a group of young boys and their families, living in a fictional town in Indiana. One of the boys suddenly vanishes and his friends and family must uncover the mystery involving Scientific experiments, Super-natural forces and a strange little girl called '11'. The first series created suspense by slowly unfolding what happened to Will and the journey his friends and family take to discover this, whilst also revealing to the audience who the character of '11' is, where she came from and what her capabilities are. The series ended with a resolution but with cliff hangers set for the next series which left the audience wanting to find out more. This series stood out to me as it was quite different to anything else I'd seen recently on Television. The fact that its a combination of genres makes it so interesting and so watchable because so many events occur in each episode, so it just encourages you to continue watching. I thought that the combination of Action and Horror/Thriller made it very gripping as a series, as you never know what's going to be round the corner and there's always something exciting happening.


American Horror Story

American Horror Story

Another series that I have watched religiously is 'American Horror Story', a Netflix original series. It is much more Horror/Thriller rather than Action but the themes vary throughout. It is produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk and contains several miniseries.  It is an Anthology series which means that each series is a new story with its own beginning, middle and end with new characters, settings and events. I found this Drama series so engaging because even though it is not Action based, there are so many events and twists and turns which kept me very intrigued and tense throughout. There is also a theme of Mystery, with a range of characters that all have interesting back stories which are slowly unveiled. Unlike some other Thriller/Horror series, there is an alternative vibe which gives it a unique selling point and makes it stand out amongst others. The Anthology series aspect is also unusual in that they use the same actors in each series but playing new characters. This was something that took me a while to adjust to when watching the 2nd series as I was still associating them with their previous characters from series 1. However, as I began to enjoy that series and the subsequent series after that, I began to enjoy seeing the same faces appear again as I wanted to see who they would be portraying that time round.
Another element that I think this Drama does so well is the distinct style it has in terms of its titles and theme. With a creepy and daunting title sequence for each series that is easily recognisable, I think adds to the show's USP and is so different to some of its competitors.
No matter what genre I choose to go for, I would like the themes and visuals to be unique and just as quirky and memorable as this one so that it differs to what is currently being shown on Television. I don't think I will choose to do an anthology series, just because I want to focus on one story-line if I choose to create a drama series. However, I would absolutely be interested in taking some of these themes of Horror and Thriller into consideration as I find them to be so engaging and exciting to watch. I also find that these genres have very clever and outlandish story lines which are a great selling point for any drama.