1. Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. Genre conventions:
β’ A genre convention is a typical or standard trope of plot,
character, setting, icon, theme, or effect in a genre story. For
instance, in a thriller, a typical convention would be a gun or
a dead body.
β’ They are what makes a thriller βa thrillerβ, and will be seen
in all three of the comparison products.
3. Our final product: Kuru
β’ Our final product is a thriller with sub-genres of gore and
psychopathy. With these sub-genres we should be comparing
our film to products with similar genres, narratives, mise-en-
scene and characters.
5. 1) Sweeney Todd
β’ Produced by: John Logan, Walter Parkes, Richard D. Zanuck
and Laurie Macdonald
β’ Directed by: Tim Burton
β’ Released: 10th January 2008
β’ Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter etc.
FILM
6. 2) Supernatural: Time is on my side
β’ Produced by: Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, David Nutter, Kim
Manners, John Shiban, Phil Sgriccia, Sera Gamble, Ben
Edlund, Jeremy Carver, Jim Michaels, Todd Aronauer, Adam
Glass, Andrew Dabb, Brad Buckner, Eugenie Ross-Leming
β’ Directed by: McG, David Nutter, Michael Rohl, Phillip
Sgriccia, Robert Singer
β’ Released: 13th September 2005
TV SHOW
7. 3) Outlast: The Whistle Blower
β’ David Chateauneuf, Hugo Dallaire
β’ Writer: J.T. Petty (as JT Petty)
β’ Stars: Shawn Baichoo, Chimwemwe Miller, Andreas Apergis
VIDEO GAME
9. Sweeney Todd
Plotline:
β’ Both films involve some type of trade, i.e. our thriller involves
disposing of bodies for gangs for money, and Sweeney Todd,
involves turning bodies into meat pies.
β’ Both take everyday jobs (butchers and barbers) and turn them
into a way of committing horrific crimes.
β’ Both films are thrillers. The genre of both films are very similar,
however Sweeney Todd is the film of the musical and so contains
singing and dance and elements of dark comedy which are very
dissimilar to our thriller.
β’ Both have a gory, cannibalistic element.
10. Characters:
β’ Both have a psychopathic male as a
lead role.
β’ Sweeney and our butcher both look
old, dirty, ragged. Different eras, but
each still looks dirty, fitting the
psychopathic role.
β’ Both have well known jobs.
11. Action that takes place in the films:
β’ Both films use knifes in a gruesome way.
β’ Sweeney uses a barbers knife to stab one of his customers. It
becomes very gory as you see his blood spurting everywhere,
which is uncomfortable but also entertaining for audiences.
β’ This is similar to the knife our butcher uses when he is about
to cut up the dead body, this gives the same uncomfortable
effect on the audience.
12.
13. Action that takes place in the films:
β’ Mrs Luvitt makes human pies in Sweeney Todd which is
similar to our butcher making human meat. This is very
uncomfortable and disturbing for audiences as cannibalism
is consdidered a βtabooβ.
14.
15. Editing techniques:
β’ Sweeney Toddβs opening sequence is an animation which is slow paced and
establishes the location and era of the film. They use panning and zooming in
and out to make the sequence more entertaining for the audience.
β’ There is animated blood dripping over shots of different settings and items,
its movement required special platforms/effects to imitate real blood. The
blood gave conventions of a thriller and therefore foreshadowed what the rest
of the film was about.
β’ The animation also gave a comical feel.
β’ This opening sequence definitely differentiates from our thriller, however our
sequence is still effective in establishing location due to the shot of the
butchers shop at the end. Our editing has fast jump cuts, which contrasts
with Sweeney Todd in terms of the fast pace, but are mildly used in Sweeney
Todd as they jump from item to item. They are both effective as they show a
regular process which is eerie and weird for audiences.
16.
17. Camera techniques:
β’ In Sweeney Todd, using animation makes it easier to have
more non- naturalistic shots and angles whilst keeping
continuity. They used close-ups, birds eye, zooms in and out,
long shots, mid shots etc.
β’ In our thriller, we used similar shots to Sweeney Todd, i.e.
close ups, mid shots, long shots etc. However, continuity was
visibly less in our thriller as we had to edit our shots
together, in Sweeney Todd the animation meant that no
transitions were needed.
18.
19. Mise-en-scene:
β’ In Sweeney Todd, the colours are very dull and almost look
black and white. The setting is very old fashioned.
β’ In our thriller, dim lighting is used for the butchers scene
which could be considered quite similar to Sweeney Todd.
However, in the scene outside, brighter colours are used.
Also, our thriller is set in todayβs times, meaning that our
mise-en-scene looks far more modern than Sweeney Todd.
22. Plotline:
β’ This particular episode of Supernatural tells the story of a 19th-
century surgeon called Doc Benton who found a way to live
forever by replacing organs the moment they stopped working.
β’ This plotline is vaguely similar to our thriller as ours also has a
male lead who is a butcher, which is a similar job to a surgeon.
They both cut up bodies in order to live, however our butcher
living through money, the surgeon a little more drastic as he
wants to live forever.
β’ In terms of genre, they are similar as both are gory
thrillers/horrors, with Supernatural having the genres of action,
mystery and fantasy too.
β’ Both contain themes of blood, gore and violence.
23. Characters:
β’ The 19th century surgeon can be compared to our butcher as
they both are trained surgically and spend their time cutting
up humans, although for different motives. Their
characteristics are quite similar, both being psychopathic
and taking their jobs very seriously.
β’ There is a difference in era between our butcher and the
surgeon, our butcher is living in modern day so that it can
become speculative fiction and transform the fears of our
generation into reality on screen.
24.
25. The action that takes place in the film:
β’ Similar action takes place in both products. In Supernatural,
the surgeon cuts up several different people, taking out
various body parts in βthe name of scienceβ. This is far more
gruesome than our thriller as you actually see the various
body parts being taken out. This vulgar aspect makes
β’ Ours was less gruesome, but still effective, it left more
details to the audiencesβ imagination, creating more of a
disturbing, long build up, rather than being purely
gruesome.
26.
27. Editing techniques:
β’ Both products are fast paced.
β’ Both use special , ours to a much lesser extent, blood
dripping from the dead bodiesβ nose. In Supernatural, the
special effects are much gorier. We see the surgeon taking a
heart out of a body, maggots eating human flesh etc.
28.
29. β’ Camera techniques:
β’ In Supernatural, many close ups are used on body features
and of the surgeonsβ face.
β’ This is very similar to our thriller as most of our shots within
the butchers are close ups. This is to help disorientate the
audience so that the time and place arenβt clear, therefore
creating discomfort for the audience as they donβt quite
understand what is happening.
30.
31. Mise en scene:
In Supernatural, the mise-en-scene, in particular the setting,
is old fashioned, quite wooden, with warm but dim lighting,
appearing to be very messy.
β’ Our thriller has the similar dim lighting, however is in a
modern setting so has more metal than wood, with colder
lighting.
34. Plotline:
β’ A video game where you play as Waylon Park who, after
witnessing what was going on inside Mount Massive Asylum,
e-mails journalists around the world, exposing Murkoff
Corporation. But Murkoff takes its revenge, and throws him
in the midst of the Mount Massive Slaughter, where the most
deranged of patients escape, and try to kill Waylon.
β’ Along the way you meet a cannibal who is cutting up a
human on a table, which is very similar to our thriller.
35. Characters:
β’ The cannibal is clearly mental and has no control over his
actions.
β’ This differentiates with our butcher as he has more reason
behind cutting up bodies, and heβs certainly not a cannibal
himself.
36.
37. The action that takes place:
β’ In the game we basically become immersed in a mental
asylum where there are various abnormal characters within.
We see the whistle blower, with the body on a metal table,
cutting up the body, which is the most similar part to our
thriller. We also see several doctors surrounding a body on a
table in a lab.
β’ Both are very similar to our thriller.
38.
39. Editing techniques:
β’ Lots of jump scares are used in the video game which we
donβt use in our thriller. However, this is clearly to keep the
player involved and thrilled by the game. Our product has
more of a long build up and creates a realisation within the
audience rather than using jump scares.
β’ The game is also from a point of view perspective, making
the jump scares more effective and also making the game far
easier to play.
β’ Also, the game is clearly animated, whereas our thriller is
real life.
40. Camera techniques:
β’ In Outlast, we see a long shot of the whistle blower leaning
over body, this makes the setting clearer to see, but also,
being a video game, shows that player cannot and should not
get too close.
β’ In Outlast there are not many different shots used at all as it
is all from point of view.
β’ Differentiates from our thriller which uses many close ups
and a variety of shots.
41. Mise-en-scene:
β’ The most similar idea between our thriller and Outlast is the
setting. Unlike the other two comparison products, Outlast is
more futuristic and so more similar in era to our thriller. The
metal tables are the same etc.
