Evaluation 1

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

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       When deciding that our genre would be thriller we researched the codes and conventions in the thriller genre. We followed the codes and conventions by using close up shots to show emotion in the mannerisms of the protagonist. Our title sequence was overall quiet dark as we only had a spot light on antagonist which creates mystery, not showing the antagonist face also follows the conventions as it creates tension and enigma, the shots were also cut quite fast paced which follows the conventions of thriller. The music we used builds tension and more suspense this is effective because its keeps the audience interested. The montage makes it clear that we are reopening a investigation case by the props we used such as detective cards, police evidence files and missing posters this follows the conventions of the thriller themes as most thrillers have involvement with detectives. The stop motion typography was handwritten which was very effective as it looks like they could be notes or clues the audience can interpret as either. 

Journal

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/cinematic
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

It took us some time to find the right soundtrack for our title sequence. We found fast paced music to go with the sequence and also to move it along and make it not drag. We found a soundtrack of nursery thyme as it goes with the narrative and audio in the begging.We found our other music on http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/cinematic and downloaded them to iTunes before transferring them to final cut pro.

Sub-Genre

Sub-Genres

The Thriller genre is split into different sub-genres to describe the type of thriller film each one is.


Psychological- Psychological thrillers focus on the mental and emotional state of the characters. It also plays on the audiences minds by using enigma which produces suspense in the film as it reflects on the characters mentality. Mystery and crime are often incorporated into the psychological genre. The 2010 film Shutters Island Dir. (Martin Scorsese) is an example of psychological sub-genre.

Political- Political thrillers normally include the main protagonist ensuring the stability of the government. Political corruption,terrorism and warfare are common themes of political thriller. The 2012 film Argo Dir.(Ben Affleck) is an example of Political thriller.

                                                                          

Spy- Spy thrillers mainly have elements of action. Spy films usually use government agencies as the main base of the film. Spy thrillers usually focuses on the main protagonists travel and adventures of either escapism or revenge. Sometimes spy thrillers have a combination of the genre of action and science. The 2002 film The Bourne Identity Dir.(Doug Linman) is an example of spy thriller,

Crime- Crime thrillers focuses on the criminals of the crime rather then the actual law. The main topics of crime thrillers are often about murder, killers, heists and robberies. The 2006 film The Departed Dir.(Martin Scorsese) is an example of crime thriller.

Audience Profile

Feedback

Journal

Sound

Sound is important in every sequence as it creates the mood of the film. Sound is to help create tension with eerie or intense music being played in the background. High pitched sound is often used as it makes the audience uncomfortable it also shows that something unpleasant is going to happen. For example the 1958 film Vertigo Dir (Alfred Hitchcock). In this title sequence the sound is high pitched throughout creating suspense and making the audience uneasy as its also repeated over and over again along with the Saul Bass geometric shapes that also repeat so it makes everything seem never ending.

Vertigo- https://youtu.be/4CZfSc6nJ8U

In thriller it is also common to use add dialogue or inner monologues to the sequence as it creates enigma but also narrative which could link to the film further on. It also creates more direct tension towards the audience as it seems like they are experiencing the the film from the characters point of view.

Gone Girl monologue- https://youtu.be/vyYkttbnPK0

influences

Gone Girl

We are taking influence from the 2014 mystery thriller film Gone Girl Dir.(David Flincher)  Because our film idea is about an old case being reopened of a missing boy. We will be showing this through our title sequence by having props such as missing posters, clips of the news report, montage of locations.
In Gone Girl there is a scene in the beginning of the film of a persons speaking about the protagonist with an extreme close up shot of her. We are going to use the idea of an audio telling a narrative at the beginning of our sequence to add enigma.
In the Gone Girl montage there are locations of the city in the film, the shots have been filtered with a blue tint this creates a sinister mood.
In our title sequence we have decided to add a montage at the end with it including road signs such as arrows to represent her journey, signs of locations and maps of the area.

The typography is faded onto the screen and is placed on the bottom of the screen, the colour of the font it white it stands out from the shots which changes the viewers eyes to the text to read but as its also small