Question 1

Thriller opening sequence – Evaluation: Question 1

‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?’

Mise-en-scene/ location:

In the thriller we used two different locations. The first location is the location of the interrogation between Joe Blaxall and Harry Ames’ characters. Just a simple garage. When it was pitch black outside the garage was a dark and cold place. This immediately conforms with the common convention of darkness within the thriller genre. We cleared out the clutter in one corner, in which we placed Joe Blaxall’s character. This created a claustrophobic atmosphere within the scene. This projects the idea that the two are isolated, and alone, to the audience. Again, this conforms to the thriller genre as the idea of being excluded and isolated is a reoccurring theme. A prime example of this is the torture scene in Resevoir Dogs. In this scene the location gives of the idea that the two characters are alone and suggests to the audience that nobody is coming, like in our film. Our first location also conforms with the idea that the antagonist/protagonist have an interrogation scene. An example from existing media products would be The Dark Knight and the interrogation between Batman and The Joker.

Costume:

The costumes in our films had a main purpose of informing the audience of the type of character, that were wearing them. The antagonist Harry Ames was wearing a shirt and trousers. I consider this to be a smart outfit, the idea of shirts and trousers can, carefully, be connoted to the idea of business men. The stereotypical business man is devious and manipulative. This matches with the personality of the antagonist, as he is a characters who owns these traits. This type of character is common within the genre, in many thrillers the antagonist is often very intelligent and manipulative. A prime example of this from existing media products would be the character, The Joker. Like our antagonist, he is smartly dressed and posses’ the traits of intelligence and is very manipulative. Another idea on top of this is that the antagonists clothing is supposed to be different, which again represents the personality of the character. I tried to create an idea that he doesn’t dress in ‘casual’ clothing as he is different and lives on the outskirts of society. The idea of having an antagonist who is ‘different’ (whether it be mentally etc.) conforms with the thriller genre, and again is associated with the Joker.

For the other characters the picture painted from the clothing is almost the opposite. Both characters are wearing, what I hope the audience deem as, casual/ regular clothing. The idea from this is that the two characters (protagonists) are represented as normal, and that they fit into the fully functioning society, when they aren’t in action. The idea that the protagonist is considered normal (when not in action) is a reoccurring convention and the prime example of this type of character would be Peter Park in Spiderman. When he’s not being spiderman, Peter Parker is just a ‘regular Joe’ and is part of the society around him, wearing casual clothing and doing a normal job.

Characters:

In my film the characters body language and behaviour is a crucial part of helping the audience develop and opinion.

The first character will be the antagonist. The antagonist in my film is seen pointing and looking down at the protagonist. This is to teach the audience that the character is in control and has a dominative personality. He is also slouched over (when sat down) which makes the audience think that he is calm and again, suggests to the audience that he is in complete control. This is typical of the thriller genre as the antagonist is a character who causes the most chaos and reigns the most terror, and to do this you need to be calm and collected. This can be noticed in exiting thrillers such as the Saw franchise. The antagonist is Jigsaw, who as a character is very relaxed and in control. This is seen as he causes pure terror through playing sick games. The intention of connoting this type of character is to make my antagonist seem more fearsome.

The second character is the character played by Joe Blaxall. The fact that he has been kidnapped is enough to suggest that in the film he is vulnerable, but his body language and behaviour develops these ideas. As he is tied to the chair, he is breathing very heavily. To the audience this connotes that he is fearful and potentially in a lot of danger. His body language also suggests this as he tries to wriggle free. This idea of having a vulnerable character is a common convention in thrillers and can be noticed most notably in the action-thriller Skyfall. In this film one of Bonds lovers gets kidnapped and her body language and behaviour suggest that she is in a lot of danger, and fears for her life. Overall, these features are all to promote the idea of vulnerability and that nobody is safe. Again, conforming to thriller conventions.

Lighting:

In the film I used a lot of chiaroscuro lighting. The idea behind this was to force the audience to focus on the characters, but was also to represent my views of the society in which the characters live. The idea is that the blackness connotes doubt and uncertainty as the audience can’t see, which promotes the idea that there is uncertainty is society as everybody is on edge and paranoid. This idea is a common idea and theme explored throughout the thriller genre. The prime example would be Gotham City in the famous film Suicide Squad. The lighting within the scene is also chiaroscuro. Like mine, the idea is to make the place feel hostile and abandoned.

I used non-diegetic lighting in the garage interrogation. This makes the audience think that the antagonist has set everything up intentionally, this makes him seem more intimidating. The theme of intimidation is often explored within the thriller genre, using lighting. A prime example would be the interrogation scene in Casino Royale. In this scene non-diegetic and low-key lighting is used to create an uneasy atmosphere for the audience, which comes together to create a feeling of intimidation.

The light we used on Joe Blaxall’s character conforms with the thriller genre, but also conforms with the common conventions of an interrogation. The light itself immediately informs the audience that an interrogation is what’s going on. In almost every interrogation scene (in the dark) the lighting is the same.

Sound:

In my film I used sound in many ways to conform with common conventions within the thriller genre. The first piece of sound is the emphasised diegetic sound of Joe Blaxall’s character’s breathing. I used this to create a feeling of uneasiness. Heavy breathing connotes the idea of being in fear of something and the idea that someone is uneasy or uncomfortable. This conforms to the thriller genre as fear and intimidation is a common theme that is explored using sound. This emphasised non-diegetic sound played the role in a almost motif like way. The heavy breathing’s volume dramatically increases at the end of the flashback, the idea of this is to show the audience that the character has remembered/ realised what has happened and potentially what is going on.

I also used sirens over the title of the film. Sirens are obviously associated with the police, and although the police are part of the plot (the audience don’t know that) but the connotations to this are crime and the associations with crime are obvious. Death and violence. Also, the effect on the audience is a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty, because of the high pitch and the weary tone. All these themes are explored in thrillers using sound. For example, sound is used to create a feeling of crime and violence in both Spiderman and Batman. The franchises use sirens to let the audience know that crime is all around is. This is also a vivid representation of the society in which we all live. The message is the idea that crime is all around us and that nobody is safe.

An important type of sound in the thriller genre is silence. I used silence to create tension. The silence comes just before the knock on the garage door. This makes the audience feel as if they are waking up with the character, making them feel vulnerable and therefore creating tension. Silence is used commonly within the thriller genre. For example, in the movie Insidious silence is used just before a jump scare on several occasions. This creates suspense as the audience aren’t very aware of what is going on, which is what I went for in my film.

Camera work:

The camera work in our film conforms to the thriller genre in many ways. Firstly, I used a low-angle over-shoulder shot to make the antagonist visually superior. The low-angle shot makes the audience feel as if they are looking up at the character themselves, machining it look as if he is in complete control. The idea of having a visually superior character is explored throughout the thriller genre very often. For example, a low angle shot is used in this scene from the shining. Like mine, the shot shows how the two little girls posses power over the small boy. Without any knowledge of the storyline any audience would be able to figure this out.

In my thriller, I also used an extreme close up. In any existing media products, close ups are commonly used to give vivid detail of an emotion that the character is feeling. In my thriller opening, it is to show the fear in the captors eyes as he realises what has happened. The effect on the audience is obvious, in that it’s a symbol of realisation and a creation of tension. An example from an existing media product would be the torture scene in Spectre. The close up in this scene is similar to mine (in terms of intention) and is there to show the pure fear and emotion in James Bond. Its very common in thrillers to have close ups.

A common convention and emotion explored in thrillers is exposure. In my thriller I created the feeling of exposure for the audience using a PoV shot. As the character wakes up from being unconscious, a feeling of exposure if created as the audience feel as if they are in the boots of the character. Because the character is unaware of what’s going on, and where they are, the audience also become these things. This creates a sense of exposure as they are uncertain of everything. This conforms with the thriller genre and an example would be the PoV shot within The Walking Dead. In this scene, we the audience are put into a PoV shot and because there are people surrounding the camera, a sense of exposure is created and also helplessness.

Composition:

One of the rules of composition which my film obeyed is to simplify the scene. The antagonist is wearing light clothes in a scene with no clutter which makes his character stand out. The metaphorical idea behind this is the idea that he is trying to stand out and is a visual representation of the convention that characters are always battling for supremacy. This convention (of battling for supremacy) is common within all subgenres and the entire genre itself. An example being Batman vs Superman.

Narrative structure:

In terms of narrative structure, I used a flashback in my thriller as it adds extra detail to the film and answers any questions that the audience may have, which makes the film clearer. They are also a common part of thrillers. Most noticeably in, again, The Walking Dead. The flashback, in this thriller was used to give the audience extra detail of what had happened and give them an idea of what was going to happen. The intention behind my PoV shot was the same. Both PoV shots explored the conventions that the audience needs a lot of detail.

Titles:

The animation of our title represents a common convention and theme within the thriller genre. The theme is confusion/ disorientation. The animation is a flash/ flicker effect. This was to promote the idea that there is going to be confusion and disorientation for the audience. Also, the positioning of the text is in the bottom corner of each side. The idea behind this is that it’s a metaphor for the structure of society. The idea is that the smaller writing is on the outside of society, whilst the big text in the middle represents the government who everyone's lives around, instead of with.

Editing:

For editing, I used many fast cuts during the flashback scene. The idea behind this was to create tension. Because the pace of the scene was so intense, the audience can become unaware of what is going on. This increases the intensity as they might have questions they want to ask, but will not get an answer to, so therefore the audience should assume the worst, increasing the intensity. The use of fast-paced cuts is common within the thriller genre. Most noticeably in the James Bond Franchise. In the franchise there are many car-chase scenes in which there are fast-paced cuts. We also used an overlay effect during the flashback. This allows me to show the fear on the characters face as he realises what is going on. And as I have mentioned fear is a common convention within the genre.