1. Evaluation Task 1
How does your product use or challenge conventions
and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. GENRE
We have created a thriller opening sequence, it does not have a hybrid
genre or a sub-genre. We had used genre conventions such as suspense,
shot duration, angles and lighting to differentiate our thriller sequence from
other genres.
Genre Conventions – the elements that distinguish one genre from
another. They defy the genre, hybrid genre or a
sub-genre. There are technical (camera, sound, edit)
and symbolic (mise en scene) conventions which help
both the institutions and the audience to transmit the genre
of a product.
Examples
Romance: the colour red/pink, relationships, romance
Comedy: bright colours/setting, parody, jokes, actors
Horror: dark colours/setting, violence, blood, death, evil
3. FILMS
I am going to compare my thriller to 4 different films in the technical and symbolic
conventions and then consider the stereotypes and issues that we used and
subverted .
The films are:
Disturbia (2007) – D.J. Caruso
Refuge (2016) – Justin Chaloner
28 Days Later (2002) – Danny Boyle
The Survivalist (2015) – Stephen Fingleton
4. EDITING
In these scenes the editing is similar as
the shot duration is very short to create
suspense and tension. The
aggressiveness and anger from
characters builds up pressure and
makes the audience feel unease. The
struggle of the female characters shows
that the males are in control and this
adheres to the stereotype.The shot duration is short and shot
reverse shot is used to show the
dominance and struggle between the
characters as they fight.
Overall, there are effects on all 4 films
to correct the lighting and make it either
warmer or colder.
We had left our sequence as it is as we
felt the cold blue shade gives it a sense
of mysticism and the unknown.
5. EDITING
In Disturbia, a similar technique was used, only there wasn’t the binoculars effect
on the shots. Firstly the actor in it used a camera and the switched to binoculars.
Both sequences do not have transitions.
Our thriller only has one transition at the beginning, which is a fade out of black,
this is adds to genre conventions to show that it is a thriller.
In our sequence we have used a special effect to
create a sense that the audience is looking
through the binoculars. This hints to a point of
view shot and the shaking and quick movements
of the camera also create tension.
The difference is that we made our thriller look more
realistic.
With the point of view.
6. DIEGETIC SOUND
Through dialogue, the audience can
understand that the accent is British and
sothis relates to regional identity. The same with 28 Days Later. Other films
however, have either American or other accents.
All films have diegetic sound present if forms of ambient sound, dialogue and
soundtrack at times.
All these contribute to the genre conventions to make up thrillers and create
the tension and suspense from the films of such genres.
7. NON-DIEGETIC SOUND
In our thriller we had used special effects to add on
sounds during the fight between the male and
female characters. We had added sounds on for the
hit on the face with a brick as our was a sponge and
did not create the needed effect and when the girl
was stabbing the man with a knife, we made it
sound like the knife going in and out of flesh.
We also had a non-diegetic sound track that
helped to build up tension and the beat would
affect heart rate of the audience. The contrapuntal
sound within the fight scene makes the audience
feel unease. This helped us to create a more
realistic fight scene with more aggressive sounds
that contribute to the tension presented to the
audience.
In the film Refuge, an over voice is used to show
the passage of time.
8. CAMERA
Here we have a comparison of two
shots from our sequence and the film
The Survivor. It is a mid shot on both
shots, it is done to get the attention on
the facial expressions, body movement
and other details. They are still shots
and composition is very similar. Both
characters are positioned in the middle
using the rule of thirds to focus only on
him.
9. CAMERA
Here I am contrasting our sequence to The
Survivalist. They could be considered to be mid shots
however I think the one on the right hints to be
establishing. The shot from our sequence is a still
shot whereas the other one is a tracking shot where
the camera follows the character’s movements and
then moves to the front to show his face.
The shot with the
binoculars from Disturbia
and our thriller are very
similar. However, in our
sequence the audience
sees the character from the front and in the film we
can see the character’s profile. The composition of
the shots also differs a little bit. In our opening scene
we have a few twigs in front of the character to show
that she is hiding and in the film, the character is in a
house a when seen hides behind furniture.
10. CAMERA
Here, we see a comparison between
the shots in our sequence and the film
The Survivalist. In our thriller, there is a
low shot of the female characters
standing over a dead body to show
power and dominance over the male
character who is on the ground.
In The Survivalist, a man is standing
over another man’s body to suggest that
the one standing is the killer. It is a high
over the shoulder shot that lets the
audience see the face of the dead man
in order to match with the narrative.
11. SETTING
Our film and The survivalist were both
shot in the woods partly. The seasons
both seem to be autumn due to the
presence of leaves of the ground. In
both sequences there is a cabin, “cabin
in the woods” in which the characters
live or are trying to get to. The running
female in the frame creates a feeling of
a chase, shortage of time and danger.
We have challenged a convention that
an apocalyptic movie is based in a
deserted city.
We can see that in The Survivalist the
setting looks like someone has been
living there and there is some presence
of humans whereas in ours, the woods
look deserted and the cabin barely looks
like someone lives there excluding the
fact that the female characters had been
looking at the cabin and its owner for a
while, that is how they know he has
supplies.
12. SETTING
Here, our sequence and 28 Days Later
are compared to show the similarities
differences in the regional identity. It is
clear to say that both of the films are
produces in the UK or portrayed to be in
the UK. We can tell this by the presence
of the red double decker bus in both
shots, and an old cab in ours. This
shows a sense of abandonment and
emptiness.Due to the colour scheme of our
sequence it looks more deserted and
the dirt on the bus and cab make it
look like they have been there for
longer. Whereas in 28 Days Later the
bus looks almost new but is on the
ground. There is also the male
character running towards it and we
have our female characters walk past
the double decker.
13. COSTUME
The costumes in our thriller and films I am using for
comparison are very similar. For example, colour of
all clothing is dark, including black, brown, grey and
khaki colours, this is done is order to help the
characters blend with the nature as they are hiding.
The costumes are all a bit dirty to show that the characters have
been living without civilisation for a while. It is very simple and
has many layers in order to protect from the cold.
The costumes in our sequence were
simple and supposed to look like people
are trying to blend in and hide in the
woods so are mainly dark colours. This
suggestsThe post apocalyptic
14. MAKE UP
In our sequence and the films I am
comparing the use of make up is
minimal or used to make the actors look
more scrappy. This suggests that they
have lived out of civilisation and do not
have access to proper water supply.
Hair and make up was generally
used on a very small scale as it was
unnecessary. In our thriller he actors
themselves succeeded at
transforming their looks from
everyday to after apocalyptic. We
also wanted to use fake blood at the
end, but turned out to be filming the
last scenes first and this would have
changed the look of our actors so we
ended up not using it.
15. PROPS
In our sequence we had used various props that would
work as genre conventions. We had props of guns,
knives and supplies within the cabin. Some contributed
to the setting and creating the atmosphere as if someone
had been living there but in very bad conditions.
The films I am comparing our thriller to all use some kind
of props weapons. There are guns, self-made weapons
out of improvised material found. This connotes violence
anda sense of protection considering the apocalyptic atmosphere.
The presence of weapons suggest that the characters
are on “a survival mission” and have to fight for their lives
with their rivals whom they compete with for supplies.
16. LIGHTING
Our sequence and 3 of the
films I have chosen for
comparison have different
lighting. The film The
Survivalist, most of it is filmed
outside and so natural lighting
is used, this makes it look
very simple and natural.
Some scenes are filmed
inside or during nightime so
artificial lights are used.
In Disturbia too, artificial lighting is used as as most of
the movie is filmed indoors and additional lighting was
required to light up the room and character’s face.
17. TITLES
Our thriller opening scene titles have a background of videos that we shot on the
day. There are no transitions. The colour scheme is cold and dark. The font we had
chosen was simple and the colour white. This creates a sense of occultness and
suggests the genre of the film. There is no sound with the titles and it only starts
after the name of the film.
Our titles are in some ways simpler than other films’, however, the videos in the
background make it look more apocalyptic and hint the narrative and genre of the
sequence .
18. TITLES
28 Days Later has more complex subtitles including transitions, movement,
changes in colour and sound in the background. This creates a sense of a
chaos and a mess, which is then shown through mise en scene. Overall,
the titles show the passage of time presenting the days and then the rest of
the film is about what happens after the 28th day. This is different to ours as
it is a timeline showing events. Between those titles, videos are shown to
contrast the change in time. The sound also builds up and this creates
tension and makes the audience feel uncomfortable.
20. AGE & GENDER
The stereotypes of the younger being less powerful and older being in
control and dominant was adhered almost all the way through the
sequence until the end of the opening scene. We first see the reaction of
one of the females to seeing him and suppose he is in control as she
looks scared and swear as she is frightened for her companion. We see
low shots of the man and over the shoulder shots which convey that he
is more powerful however the next moment it all changes and the female
protagonists are then overpowering him. The fight scene shows the
struggle of a man being beaten up by two younger girls. The females
master the man in the fight and this shows that they are in control over
him as we see a low angle of them standing over his dead body. This
proves that the protagonists are more powerful and determined than
expected as they have the courage to kill the male. It makes the scene
more tense and creates suspense of what is to come next for the
audience.
We have gone with and against stereotype of a typical thriller in order to
differentiate our sequence from others and therefore interest the
audience and have tension and suspense all the way through.
21. REGIONAL IDENTITY
Through diegetic dialogue, British iconic imagery and setting
the stereotype is adhered. Iconography of the symbolic cab
and double decker let the audience know that it is a British
film. Although there is not a lot of speech in our thriller, the
audience can understand the accent through the few lines of
dialogue.
FRIENDSHIP
Relationship stereotypes of support and protection are
adhered all the way through the extract as the female
characters groups together to achieve something. The male
on the other hand is portrayed alone and
