1) In what ways does the media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our A2 film 'The Employer' both complies with
the codes and conventions of a psychological crime thriller, and challenges them. In the opening title sequence, we used a close up shot of Kyle's mouth licking an envelope. The use of a mouth suggests human intimacy and personal relationships. The envelope is also a hint at our films plot, the letters communicate to Kyle which house to go to in order to receive his financial reward. These factors all contribute to conventions that a psychological crime thriller contains.
Technically, we also followed camera conventions in not only psychological thriller, but in all films. The 180 degree line rule was followed in order for the shots to be fluent when edited together and not out of place. We achieved this through markers on the floor marking a parallel line. We also used match on actions shots throughout then entirety of out film. This was also to make our film look for fluent, and therefore industry standard. Shot reverse shots were also use whenever we had conversation dialogue in our product, this allows an audience to see both characters facial expressions equally to match their dialogue. We found this technique especially useful for the screen shot above of Laura giving Kyle the box and first envelope.
The psychological horror genre also has nightmare or a type of abnormality in film. Within our film, recurring flashbacks help to mould the plot to the audience, as Kyle remember his mugging years ago. The use of bloody violence is what places our film in its subsidiary genre, 'crime thriller' instead of just psychological horror.
Our props also followed traditional horror conventions. Objects such as cigarettes and guns represented the criminology and dirty society in which Kyle and his employers address' were situated in. Other props such as the crucifix necklace had connotations of religion, this could suggest our films plot and the actions of characters were under the influence of religion, such as the revenge that The Employer seeks by murdering Kyle.
When watching other psychological crime thrillers such as Insidious and Devils Due, we noticed a recurring theme of personal relationships between the antagonist and protagonist characters.
As a team we worked hard to try and recreate this establishment of rivalry between myself and Kyle. This was achieved through
through different shots filmed in the same way and replicated with both characters for example above is the two panning shots. Also above is the paralleled walking shots of Myself and Kyle from the train station.
The two shots are filmed in different places to represent how the two different characters have very different lifestyles. For example Kyle is a tramp and is in a park, whereas the employer is in his office in a suit.
Lighting is also important in films, seen especially in thrillers. In our psychological crime thriller we needed to create darkness in order to establish our films genre. We felt we could do this most effectively when filming the final confrontation scene between myself and Kyle as the location was a dark office. We used a light from the media studies department which we could light up a single side to Kyle's face. We knew if we could execute this lighting technique correctly then we would achieve the same effect Harvey Dent achieved in The Dark Knight. This would suggest to our audience that Kyle suffers from a split personality, a heartwarming family man, contrasting with a vicious murderer seeking vengeance.
Additional lighting such as key and mainly back light was also used to create shadows in our film. This would assist the black lighting in creating a sinister atmosphere to our film. This shot above of Kyle's arm holding a gun at my head was used with the same lamp lighting that we filmed the confrontation shots with. This light gave off a warm red glow, this colour has connotations of death and murder, and so we thought it was an appropriate lighting source.
We did however subvert audiences expectations deliberately in our film. We put a perfectly realistic scenario together in which Kyle, a homeless man searching for financial stability mugs a random man in the street. This act is clearly morally wrong, however we try to make an audience question whether it is more wrong to seek revenge to this through tracking the man down and destroying him. This idea of the scale of characters morality questions if Kyle's mugging was understandable considering his situation.
I used intertextual reference to short horror film, 'The Hermit' in which a soldier seeks revenge on another soldier through an act he committed earlier that day. I used the form of revenge in our film, the use of weapons. However we different from the film, as we only hear a shot being fired, and do not receive a visual.
The primary audience pleasure we try to achieve in out film is entertainment, shortly followed by making our audience think. The use of violence and money allows an audience to escape into a fictional surrounding whilst watching our film. As mentioned earlier the morality of out film questions the viewer of they're actions if they were placed in a similar situation. Although this technique is not made apparent in this short film, the vengeful act is.
The psychological horror genre also has nightmare or a type of abnormality in film. Within our film, recurring flashbacks help to mould the plot to the audience, as Kyle remember his mugging years ago. The use of bloody violence is what places our film in its subsidiary genre, 'crime thriller' instead of just psychological horror.
Our props also followed traditional horror conventions. Objects such as cigarettes and guns represented the criminology and dirty society in which Kyle and his employers address' were situated in. Other props such as the crucifix necklace had connotations of religion, this could suggest our films plot and the actions of characters were under the influence of religion, such as the revenge that The Employer seeks by murdering Kyle.
When watching other psychological crime thrillers such as Insidious and Devils Due, we noticed a recurring theme of personal relationships between the antagonist and protagonist characters.
As a team we worked hard to try and recreate this establishment of rivalry between myself and Kyle. This was achieved through
through different shots filmed in the same way and replicated with both characters for example above is the two panning shots. Also above is the paralleled walking shots of Myself and Kyle from the train station.
The two shots are filmed in different places to represent how the two different characters have very different lifestyles. For example Kyle is a tramp and is in a park, whereas the employer is in his office in a suit.
Lighting is also important in films, seen especially in thrillers. In our psychological crime thriller we needed to create darkness in order to establish our films genre. We felt we could do this most effectively when filming the final confrontation scene between myself and Kyle as the location was a dark office. We used a light from the media studies department which we could light up a single side to Kyle's face. We knew if we could execute this lighting technique correctly then we would achieve the same effect Harvey Dent achieved in The Dark Knight. This would suggest to our audience that Kyle suffers from a split personality, a heartwarming family man, contrasting with a vicious murderer seeking vengeance.
Additional lighting such as key and mainly back light was also used to create shadows in our film. This would assist the black lighting in creating a sinister atmosphere to our film. This shot above of Kyle's arm holding a gun at my head was used with the same lamp lighting that we filmed the confrontation shots with. This light gave off a warm red glow, this colour has connotations of death and murder, and so we thought it was an appropriate lighting source.
We did however subvert audiences expectations deliberately in our film. We put a perfectly realistic scenario together in which Kyle, a homeless man searching for financial stability mugs a random man in the street. This act is clearly morally wrong, however we try to make an audience question whether it is more wrong to seek revenge to this through tracking the man down and destroying him. This idea of the scale of characters morality questions if Kyle's mugging was understandable considering his situation.
I used intertextual reference to short horror film, 'The Hermit' in which a soldier seeks revenge on another soldier through an act he committed earlier that day. I used the form of revenge in our film, the use of weapons. However we different from the film, as we only hear a shot being fired, and do not receive a visual.
The primary audience pleasure we try to achieve in out film is entertainment, shortly followed by making our audience think. The use of violence and money allows an audience to escape into a fictional surrounding whilst watching our film. As mentioned earlier the morality of out film questions the viewer of they're actions if they were placed in a similar situation. Although this technique is not made apparent in this short film, the vengeful act is.
No comments:
Post a Comment