Q1 conventions in my thriller

Jordan Crookell Media Evaluation

Q1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Shot types:

Close-ups

For our thriller we used a wide range of different shots including close-ups mid-shots and long shots. The most common shot type that we used was the close-up. This is because it showed the audience the emotion of the victim and gave them an insight into what he was thinking. As well as this, it creates atmosphere because the audience can clearly see the fear on the victims face. As well as this, the extreme close-up was used quite a few times. This was so we could get the detail of the victim’s facial expressions and accurate detail of the blood that was on his face.

Mid-shots:

Another shot that we used a lot was the mid-shot. We used mid-shots because they allowed us to show the audience the character’s body language and sometimes gives hints about what he is thinking at the time. Mid-shots of the victim were effective because they allowed us to show him struggling as he was tied to the chair. This created an element of fear in the victim’s eyes and the audience picked up on this instantly feel scared for him.

Long shots:

Whilst we were filming the flashbacks, we included some long shots of the victim walking down a country track. Using these long shots allowed us to show the location and set the scene to let the audience understand what was happening around and where the character was. This is typical in most thrillers.


Narrative

When we were constructing the narrative, we had to be careful about no being cliché and similar to other groups. We used flashbacks to show what happened to the victim and give an insight as to why he is tied in a dark room. Instead of using one long flashback in our opening, we edited it so that we had lots of short flashes in between shots of the victim being tied up with the torturer. This made it a lot more effective as we were able to me each shot really fast-paced and sharp. This helped to create atmosphere and tension between the audience and the victim making them want to carry on watching to find out what happens. As well as this, using the flashbacks helped us create enigmas for the audience and they had lots of questions that they were asking themselves.

Sound

To create the soundtrack, we had to research lots of different soundtracks online and look for one that we thought would be appropriate to the visual of the film. When looking into different soundtracks, we had to make sure that we got a royalty free piece of music. This is because all music is protected by copyright from PRS for Music and it is illegal to use other people’s work for our own when it is copyrighted. The royalty free music that we eventually chose to use stated that the producer was fine with us using the music so long as we gave him recognition in the credits of the thriller so that people knew it was not our work. The piece took a long time to find as there were so many different soundtracks available. However, eventually we found a recording that suited our filming. After this, we put the soundtrack onto Logic Pro and edited it. We changed the pitch and frequencies of the notes so that it sounded more sinister and creepy. When we had finished editing the sound we added it to the opening. Then we were able to edit the filming so that the notes in the soundtrack match with what was happening on screen.


Editing

When we had got the soundtrack onto ‘Pinnacle 19’ (the software we used to edit), we edited the actual filming so that both the music and the filming matched up. This involved moving each shot, either forwards or backwards, so that if there was a sharp sound in the music something on screen happened. An example of this is where the torturer puts his hand on the chain. When he does this there is a really sharp, high-pitched noise in the soundtrack.

Another thing we had to do whilst editing was shorten each shot down. This was so that the film was short and sharp creating tension for the audience. Making each shot only one second or less was very effective. It sped up the whole opening and created a lot more suspense adding to the effectiveness of the film.

Mise-en-scene

Setting

At the beginning of the opening, we see a bit of the setting and where the character is walking. We can see that he is walking in a fen and around the countryside. This is contrasted when we suddenly see him tied up in a chair in a small and lifeless-looking room. This contrast created dramatic effect with enigmas being created about the characters and the storyline.

When we see the victim in the torturer’s room, we do not see much of the room and it is kept secret from the audience. This builds the suspense atmosphere and helps to create tension as the audience are left questioning where the victim actually is and what is going to happen to him.

Costume

The costume that we used was fairly basic but was very effective. The victim was wearing a white t-shirt with some black


skinny jeans on. This is symbolic of a victim because they are just common everyday clothes than anyone would wear.

On the other hand, the torturer is wearing an overall and black heavy duty gloves. This is also symbolic of a killer who a lot of the time wears something baggy and not smart. As well as this, normal people wouldn’t wear a boiler suit and heavy gloves on a daily basis. This shows the audience that he is clearly disturbed and out of the ordinary.

Props

For the props, we gathered between the four of us some tools that we had at home that would be typical of a torturer to have with him. As well as this, we added three replica items to the collection. These included a knife, gun and a crossbow. Obviously we couldn’t use anything but replicas for these three items because the risk was too large and they would have been too dangerous to have around no matter how sensible we were with them. However, I fell that they look very realistic and have added extremely well to the props section of mise-en-scene very well. They have helped to create a lot of tension and fear for the audience but mostly the victim.

Lighting

When it came to lighting, there was a limited amount of things that we could. In the end we chose to use a simple garage light. We used this at the start of the scene when the victim first opens his eyes to symbolise him waking up.

After experimenting we decided to only have one out of the two garage lights on throughout the opening. This was because having both lights on made the room too light and destroyed some of the atmosphere that was created with a


low level of lighting. Adding to this, the darker the room was the more mystery we with the torturer we created as he was shadowed by the dim lighting. This showed that our thriller was a low budget production compared to other thrillers such as James Bond who are sponsored by huge production companies such as Lionsgate who give the film massive funding enabling them to create the perfect lighting for a given scene.

To show how I have used and developed the thriller conventions, below are some screenshots from both my thriller and a ‘real’ thriller. They show the comparison between them and ways in which they are similar. To find a thriller that was similar to ours in a few ways I had to do some research. I watched many torture scenes on YouTube. Because our thriller very different, the best torture scene that I analysed was Casino Royale.

These two shots compare different props that the torturer uses. On the left we see Le Chiffre. The weapon that he uses to torture Bond is a rope with a large knot at the end. On the right we see the the victim with a knife being run across his face by the psychopath/torturer. Both of these props are extremely significant to the effectiveness of each film as they instantly have a negative effect on the audience meaning that they might be frightened or anxious.

They are also key to creating suspense in the scene because of the mystery they create as the audience does not know what will happen which draws them into the film and engages them. These types of props are very typical and conventional of a thriller and they represent the genre of a thriller to the audience. When they see the props that are used they can instantly know the genre and in some cases the sub-genre of the film. Props are one of the main conventions in a thriller as they are so symbolic of the genre and style of the


film. Both our production and James Bond use key props such as guns and knives which shows a link between the two productions of thriller.

In these two shots we see the two characters in each scene; the torturer and the victim. These two scenes are similar because they both have two characters in them. The audience can clearly tell the relationship between both characters in the shots through the body language of the victims as they are both slightly bowed down compared to the torturer who is standing up above them. This symbolises power and control over the situation like in Casino Royale.

The use of levels is very effective in both shots as the audience can immediately see that the torturer is higher up symbolising dominance over the victims. The fact that there are only two people in each scene gives the victim and the audience a sense of entrapment and claustrophobia as they know that there is no escape or get-out of the situation they are in.

These two shots give the audience an idea about the setting of the two thrillers. They also show us the atmosphere that has been create through the use of lighting and set. On the left we can see that the room is very dark with only a lantern and some moonlight streaking through the roof. This is a


fantastic example of how to professionally create a sense of mystery and atmosphere through the use of lighting.

Obviously, we did not have the availability of choosing from a wide range of options about the set and location of filming. Because of this, we had to settle for a garage to shoot our opening. One of the downsides to this is that we only had basic lighting and only had the choice of one or two standard garage lights. This meant that we were not able to create the maximum amount of impact that having a really dark and mysterious room would have on an audience. However, we still thought we created this through our use of editing and shot pace throughout the opening. Lighting is a very representative element of thrillers and dark and cold-feeling rooms symbolise the thriller genre quite significantly.

Leading on from this, I feel that we have developed the different conventions of a thriller well by effective use of narrative, sound and Mise-en-scene. These elements ca be compared with real thrillers such as James Bond, as shown above, to see the similarities between the two.

Education

Q1 conventions in my thriller