Evaluation Question 1 (Jack)

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

I believe the opening to our thriller successfully creates tension and raises various questions as to why a sense of normality is conveyed in the first few moments of our opening. In my opinion, our intro does conform to the stereotypical thriller genre, seen through the thriller conventions that we used in our final product, typically found in thriller movies.

Our opening conforms to traditional thrillers by having the production company logo presented in the first five seconds, like most real production logos (ie Universal, Dreamworks and 20th Century Fox). Our company logo is simple yet professional, the name of our company in combination with a stick figure being translucent, on top of a time lapse of stormy clouds looks sharp and a step above using a simple solid logo on a plain background. The use of dark, dull colours may reflect the mood of our opening also. The name 'Escape', to slip away from pursuit or peril, can be associated with the thriller theme as it is meant to be shocking and eerie. 

We used a variety of different techniques making it clear that our opening was of the thriller genre and understandable for the audience. Through these conventions, an eerie atmosphere was presented.

We aimed to shock the audience and make them feel uneasy through the camera angles used in our opening. The unusual mid shown used was from the point of view of the mirror, and can be compared to the shaving scene in 'Royal Tenenbaums', it was used to grab the attention of those watching as the character looks straight into, out and past the audience, like they would be when looking at them self in a mirror. Through our opening, we aimed to make our persona feel foreign to the viewer, leaving them suspicious of what the man is about; why he's shaving? why he's wearing a suit? and why his knuckles are bruised?

We also used panning shots, revealing the whereabouts of the persona and his living conditions. After clearing the living room set, to make the cleanliness of the room somewhat bizarre for a man of that age. The panning shot in the opening to 'Inside Man' is used to establish the character and the setting of the movie, like ours which we use to establish where the man lives, giving a small background to the man.

The use of montage editing to condense time, space and information, is used in other thrillers where certain moments are focused on to inform the viewer in a small period of time. We used two layers of film simultaneously alongside each other to help present a bigger picture of what was happening, a good example of a film which uses this technique is 'Se7en'. Our opening was successful in this sense as we condensed the man's preparation of himself into small clips, which we put together in combination with transitions for a montage effect. Therefore the opening did not necessarily have to be in chronological order as through montage editing, we are able to get a grasp of what is happening.

The use of mirrors was also powerful, usually used to create a sense of claustrophobia and reflection of one's inner self. Mirrors were used in our opening to create a sense of unease as the character carried out a normal task, an example of a good use of mirrors is the film 'Mirrors'. We aimed to present another side to our character by using the mirror as a reflection of the 'darkness possessed within' and we did this though the camera acting as the mirror and the actor looking into it.

We decided to have the title of our film come at the end of our opening as we found it to be more effective than having it at the very beginning. Or research found that many other films do the same thing, not only because this is the opening of the film and the title introduces to the audience that the film is about to begin, but also because it is hard hitting and an effective way to make the title of the film memorable, especially in a thriller when stopping before an exciting point in the intro to make the audience want more or a horror where the intro is building up to a big shock or scare and the title breaks up the film, to also make the audience want to watch more.

 

Frame 1 creates an unpleasant atmosphere by creating a one on one sense with the viewer. The viewers attention is caught and this was done on purpose to create tension and unease. The connection between the persona and the people watching is a questionable one, which leaves the audeince to decide whether they think the character is good or bad, this question may leave them unsure, which inturn creates suspense, wondering what this character will do in the film.

Frame 5's panning shot across the clean living room reveals the whereabouts of the persona and his living conditions. We wanted to hint at the persona's lonliness through these panning shots which establish the setting, and dont reveal any other characters, suggesting he lives on his own.

Frame 6 reveals futher ideas of the plot, suggesting the man is preparing to go out, and what the man is wearing could also reveal the class and nature of the persona. Wearing a suit and tie, and classy watch may infer the man is quite well off, and his preparation is for something uimportant. This raises questions and draws the viewer in as they want more to be revealed.