3. The character is established here, you can see that when playing the piano the
character(Jack) wears white, however when he is using a knife to play the knife game he
wears a black hoodie. Seeing as they are sat in the same place it establishes that both
people are one however the black hooded figure is obviously a much darker personality.
The genre is established through various uses. Violence is a typical convention of a psychological
thriller, the knife in the opening connotes violence. Death is a theme which psychological thrillers
revolve round, the films name is Reaper referring to the Grim Reaper(death) and the knife also
connotes death. The use of black connotes death and mystery. The use of red in the font, and on
the special affects connote blood which refers to murder, death and violence. Drugs are a dark,
poisonous substance which once again links to the psychological thriller genre. The Warner Bros.
opening is also customised to be red which refers back to the murder, blood, death connotations.

4.  Generally in psychological thrillers villains wear ‘Casual, Smart Clothes fitting
in with the hypothesis’ (seen in the movie Se7en) In our opening we have
challenged this convention as we have made Jack the normal, ordinary, humble
man wear casual, smart clothes. Whereas the Reaper who is the villain wears a
black hoodie, this makes him stand out but is a very ‘in your face’ way of
showing that the Reaper is the villain. The black in the hoodie links to death,
but also shows that the Reaper is a dark personality, and has no limits.
 Jack wears white connoting purity, innocence.
 We used the convention of violence (seen in the movie Shutter Island) which is
a typical convention In a psychological thriller, we did this with the use of red
and the use of a knife.
 We used the theme of Death which is a typical theme in psychological thrillers,
we did this by using a knife and the use of black and red.
 We developed the idea that ‘Inception’ use, where they have a red background
connoting violence, blood, murder…etc with big black bold titles. We
developed this in our context and did an after effects of a black background
being polluted by black ink. This actually represents drugs going into the blood
stream. Which is a theme in our film (drugs)

6. The title of the film is ‘Reaper’. It refers to the Grim Reaper who is death, which is our developed
convention of psychological thrillers. The title gradually comes closer to the screen, making it all
the audience can see. The font is big and long; it looks devilish (referring to the reapers devilish
nature) and interesting. The colour used is red which refers to the connotations of murder,
violence..etc Which is also a used convention (violence).
In the Editing we have reduced the saturation on the filmed shots, this
connotes the dark nature of the film as the edit makes the finished shots look
darker. Darkness is connected to death, which is a typical psychological
thriller theme we have developed to suit our film. We also edited the Warner
Bros. intro to make It red, this links to the blood, murder, death
connotations.
The
setting/location
cannot really be
identified
however it is in
Jack’s house. The
wall being
dirty/cracked
connotes the
druggie, poor
location. It is set
in the UK, which
is shown by the
credit card on the
cocaine tray. The
credit card is a
HSBC bank which
is based in the
UK.

7. Better shot of the
HSBC card which
links to the setting of
the UK.
Better look at the cracked,
dirty wall. This connotes the
poverty, druggie location.

9. Special effects used are the after effects of the substance entering the bloodstream. There
are also effects used on the film title itself as when It gets bigger it distorts before returning
back to the normal font. This connotes how Jack’s personality and behaviour distorts when
he takes drugs.
The narrative is about how an ordinary man takes drugs and when under the influence he
becomes a psycho. Soon after the Reaper(Jack when under the influence) drives himself
completely psychotic and kills a woman (Emma Watson), the film focuses on how Jack looses
his grip on reality as his drug addiction gets worse by the day. The narrative is established in
the opening by using jump cuts between Jack and the Reaper establishing they are one
person. The knife the Reaper uses connotes he is violent and dark. Jack plays the piano and
this connotes he is humble and peaceful. The use of drug taking is established through the
cocaine shot, and the after effects of a black substance going into blood.

10.  The first shot is the Warner Bros. intro, this is edited with a red frame affect
which makes the whole intro red. This sets the atmosphere to be tense. The
music being played at this point is also tense. The red colour connotes blood,
death, murder and violence which links to the film. Death is a theme we have
developed. Violence is a convention we have used.
 The second shot is of the cocaine, which is placed on a CD cover and has been
separated with a credit card. This shot has been reduced in saturation to make
it look darker which links to the dark nature of the film. The cocaine is to show
that Jack is a drug addict. Drugs are a main theme in our film. The use of a
HSBC card is deliberate as it shows the location of the film is in the UK as
HSBC is a UK bank. The use of a CD cover can mean that Jack is a musically
talented person. Music like a piano which Jack plays can connote talent and
peace. This links to Jack’s personality of being humble and peaceful.
 The after effects is the third frame. It links to the drug use again, as it shows a
black substance entering the blood stream. This is a developed idea from the
film Inception.

11.  The fourth frame is the title of the film. It is red connoting blood, death,
murder. With the black background it contrasts effectively. The font is big and
long; it looks devilish (referring to the reapers devilish nature) and interesting.
There are also effects used: when It gets bigger it distorts before returning back
to the normal font. This connotes how Jack’s personality and behaviour distorts
when he takes drugs.
 The fifth shot is the shot of Jacks wall. It is cracked and in dirty conditions. This
connotes that he is poor and living in poverty and links back to the drug
addiction. This unravels more of the character and narrative.
 The sixth shot is of Jack playing the piano, you can see his is wearing white
connoting innocence. This shot establishes that Jack is the one playing the
piano and therefore he is the peaceful personality.

12.  The seventh frame is of the Reaper (Jack when under the influence) playing
with a knife. This establishes that it is the Reaper who is the darker personality
hence the black hoodie and the violent one as he is the one playing with the
knife.
 The next frame is a POV shot of Jack playing with the knife. It makes the use of
the knife more brutal and ‘in your face’ as the audience see what the Reaper
sees, emphasising his dangerous, dark personality.
 The last frame is the directed by shot. The reason I put this in the 9 frame
analysis is that during the other titles the colour is black and white. This frame
uses white and red as the colour of the title. The red connotes the violence,
blood, murder (Reaper) and the white connotes the innocence of Jack. The two
worlds collide and this is shown through the use of colour.

13.  The aim of psychological thrillers is to create suspense and exhilaration for the
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audience, we do this with our narrative it creates suspense with the Reaper
persona and how the drugs are going to completely destroy Jacks Life.
Normally narratives revolve round the investigation of the enigma (like in the
movie Se7en)- We developed this idea to suit our film, where the film is not all
based on the investigation, however when the Reaper kills a woman, the police
are investigating the murder.
In Psychological Thrillers the hero is normally the only one who is able to solve
the enigma to reveal the truth (like in the movie Silence of The Lambs) in our
movie we have once again developed this convention as technically Jack is the
only one who knows that he killed the woman therefore if he is to turn himself
in he is the hero who can solve the big investigation about who killed the
woman.
Violence is a convention of psychological thrillers, Our film uses this
convention, the use of a knife in the opening and the colour red, both
connoting violence.
Another Convention of Psychological Thrillers is that the hero and villain share
characteristics (like in the movie Black Swan) Our film does this as Jack and the
Reaper are the same person so therefore they have to have some similar
characteristics.
In this genre the hero is frequently an outsider but is moral (seen in the movie
Black Swan). Jack is a humble, moral person, therefore we’ve used this
convention.

14.  Reality – Characters in Psychological Thrillers try to find out what is
true and what is false, we have developed this as in our context Jack
looses grip on reality. (This theme is seen in the movie Memento)
 Perception- The view and understanding of the world in the hero’s
point of view is different; we have developed this as Jack sees drugs as
something which is okay to do for fun, whereas a general perspective or
stereotype with drugs is that they ruin lives and are no joke.
 Identity: This is where characters often are confused or doubt who they
are and try to discover their true identity, we have challenged this
typical theme as Jack is completely certain of his identity. (This theme
is seen in the movie Black Swan)
 Death: Characters may fascinate or fear death(Seen in the movie
Se7en). This is used as the Reaper fascinates with death (plays the knife
game)

15.  Location is normally modern and urban. Usually the genre
does not use a countryside as this can usually be confused
with horror. We have used this convention as our film is
based in modern, present time - London.
 The Sound is normally edgy and tense consequently it
builds up tension and creates shock.(Seen in the title
sequence of Black Swan) We have used this convention as
we used the piano music in our opening which is very
tense, the music when the very first titles appear is also
very eerie and tense.
 The editing used normally consists of montages(seen in
the movie Se7en) which emphasize the emotions of
suspense and tension. We have used this as there is a
montage in our title sequence.

16.  The hero’s psychological state is the motivating force of the
narrative,(as seen in the movie Black Swan) is another
general convention for the genre, we have used this as Jack
looses grip on reality.
 Claustrophobic spaces is used to connote the entrapment
of the mind, we developed this; in the opening Jack is seen
from only on place, he is very subdued, and this creates a
sense of claustrophobia.
 Font colour of title/titles are generally written in a
deliberate way to signify the theme or themes of a
film(seen in Black Swan).We used this as Reaper is used in
a devilish looking font connoting the Reaper’s devilish
behaviour and the colour red connotes back to the theme
of murder and violence.