Psycho • Examples of midpoint in movies More recently, Barbarian has an equally shocking midpoint twist which also completely reorients who we think are the main characters of the film. What starts as a thri
Some of the most common film genres include drama, comedy, science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, western, and musical. Each of these genres has its own subgenres. How many movie genres are there? There are dozens of movie genres that have different characteristics. There is no definitiv...
One of the most powerful examples of subtext in a movie scene that I can recall is fromNo Country for Old Men. It’s chilling to watch one man’s fate balance on the thin edge of a coin, and he doesn’t even understand the undercurrent of the moment. We, as viewers, are able to...
A movie tagline is a short, punchy tease of what a film has to offer. It’s not a plot summary; it’s more of a vibe summary. From a promotional standpoint, it’s usually part of a poster and othermarketing materials, directly addressing the potential viewer and promising a worthy expe...
When used in literature, television, or movies, red herrings create suspense by distracting the audience. For example, in a psychological thriller movie, a suspicious neighbor may be introduced as a red herring to make the audience believe they’re a source of danger. The character distracts ...
Tokeep your characters interesting, let their motivations develop as your story unfolds. For example, in Paula Hawkins' smash hit thrillerThe Girl on the Train(2015), the protagonist Rachel initially stalks her ex and his new flame out of hurt and poor boundaries due to developing alcoholism....
from novel by redon; stars pierre brasseur, alida valli, edith scob in this french thriller, a doctor causes a car accident that badly scars his daughter’s face, so he does a lot of macabre things to create skin grafts. the daughter exclaims, “my face frightens me. my mask frightens...
Words You Always Have to Look Up How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-) Words in Disguise: Do these seem familiar? Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word? Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?
The gothic novel—one of the most important popular genres in literary history. This article offers a glimpse into the genre and its origins.
The type and severity of external conflict will vary depending on your genre (and, often, the length of your story). A sweet romance novella isn’t going to involve the same kind of conflict as a high-stakes thriller novel. But whatever you’re writing, some form of external conflict sho...