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DISTORTION EVALUATION
My stalking sequence ‘Distortion’ conformed to Thriller codes and conventions
due to its tone, colours and character representation. The tone throughout the
stalking sequence was bleak and serious which is used commonly in Thriller’s. We
used the colours of dark blue, red and grey. These colours set the mood of
‘Distortion’ as wary, violent and ambiguous. These are common moods that fit
into a Thriller. The character representation of Mr Jones conformed to thriller
conventions as he portrayed moral ambiguity and an aggressive and arrogant
nature. Agent 1 displayed aspects of Femme fatale, as she was shown as
opinionated and strong willed due to chasing after Mr. Jones for vengeance. The
third agent showed a submissive female character that was the victim. These
personality traits showed ‘Distortion’ to relate to characterizations common in
Thrillers.
Distortion however, challenged typical Thriller conventions as it had an element of
humour. The mode of address used at one point was Expletive Language. This was
shown through the character ‘Mr jones’ the effect of this was comic relief
however, it did not build on the suspense and intrigue of the plot, taking away
from the dramatised mood that Distortion was provoking. Although, the dialogue
of swearing at Agent 1 showed the lack of respect ‘Mr Jones’ had for his female
acquaintance showing the subtle element of misogyny present in ‘Distortion. This
thriller opening has the typical traits in Thriller explained by Laura Mulvey's
theory of film being made for the ‘male gaze’.
My stalking sequence engages audiences as it has quick flashbacks from previous
events. This keeps the audience intrigued with what outcome may occur. However,
by making the story plot nonlinear and complicated it caused confusion. This
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actually made the audience less engaged as they could not follow the storyline
easily. The stalking sequence 'Distortion' also engaged audiences as it is set at an
intriguing location on the waterfront. The establishing shot of the two agents
standing on the waterfront created an ominous aura. This engaged the audience as
the interesting setting reflected the plot.
My teamwork skills in ‘Distortion’ were challenged as my group found some
aspects of completing the task difficult. Such as delegating tasks evenly to each
group member and having good time management skills as a group. Also
managing our time effectively and staying on task. The biggest problem for our
group was taking our ideas from the storyboard and visually created it. Our
storyline was not easy to follow and that set us back as it was hard to convey. As a
team we needed to collectively outline the exact shots we needed in order for
‘Distortion’ to make sense and be intriguing.
My production skills technically have developed throughout this task. I struggled
with the technique of correcting white balance on the camera in ‘Distortion’. Also I
found editing shots for effect difficult to grapple with in ‘Distortion’. I was
adjusting on how to colour manipulate effectively and use editing techniques such
as jump cuts and continuity editing.
Overall, ‘Distortion’ was an exciting thriller opening to film and a good practise to
see where we needed to improve. It had major narrative issues as it did not make
full sense. But it exposed the positive impact of mise-en-scene as the spy
costumes added to the plot, and the setting of an industrial waterfront led us to
think sketchy behaviour could be occurring right around the corner.
