QUESTION 1

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

INTRO

Our film is thriller genre. We thought it was the best choice because suspense builds up throughout the film. Also all thrillers keeps the tension of the audience high. For us this genre is super exciting compared to the rest. Filming the scene was a challenge due to all the different conventions thrillers have to offer but surely it was the right decision.

A little bit of the plot...

“I find myself in a distressed situation. I’m been followed by some kind of guy who for some reason is after me and wants to kidnap me. I try and run from him, I go from thin to wide streets to try and lose him but I make the mistake of reaching a dead end”.

First Impressions

First of all the shooting of the scenes involved a lot of imagination to get all the right angles and shots. In thrillers high angles, canted or birds eye view shots tend to make the audience look confuse, vulnerable and powerless. A good reference is “The Game”, where Michael Douglas finds himself very vulnerable without any clue of what’s happening and been played with.

Close-ups are also a very important fact; these help the audience understand in what situation the character finds himself/herself in due to the fact the actor/actress facial expressions and reactions. They can signify panic and anxiety.

Compared to our 2 minute sequence we do get a low angle shot of the chaser, his looking strong and dominant in the sense that he has me at bay lowed angled looking vulnerable and weak. My facial close-ups simply shows I’m startled and worried. The medium angle shot helps to emphasize each others reaction at a short distance in one capture.

Some of our shots connote movement. These are the tracking and the panning. These two shots are important because in thrillers they make out a character is being chased or watched.

In our sequence we have these shots. They happen at the beginning.

We also have a variety of all shot types. These are close-ups, medium shots, long shots and extreme long shots.

MOVEMENT SHOTS

SETTINGS/SOUND

The sound is great it links perfectly to what we are trying to express. On thrillers sound is very important, it determines the key moments of tension in the film. When sounds rises or becomes deep points out excitement bits of the movie. Thrillers are never in chronological order due to the fact that they are thrillers and keeps the audience on the edge of what's next; solving the mystery.

In our 2 minute production the tone helps leave the end hanging. Its attractive and surely makes you want to watch more of it. The music is non-diegetic as its non-visual on screen.

There’s also a drilling sound right at the end. This was already there and we didn’t added it, makes it diegetic because it forms part of the narrative world. What’s good about it is that it goes perfectly to the scene and the tone. It adds an extra sense of suspense.

SETTINGS/SOUND

The location of the scene took place on the kings road. First at Manner street and then on Jubilee road. We saw that filming on the kings road was a perfect opportunity to benefit from as there was movement on the streets although in the filming there wasn’t unfortunately much of it. In my opinion it gives the image of verisimilitude.

The streets were perfect, we found what we need it. The dead end really helped us to achieve a great ending. Same with the alloways and the wide streets. It made the chase so much more interesting. Location is very important, helps the sequence to stay interesting throughout.

CHARACTERS

Lawrence is the teenager who’s being chased. I myself play him. In my opinion its not bad at all. It was simple as there were no lines to learn for the scene. I just had to seek looking at the camera and make it believable for the audience: facial expressions.

The kidnapper also did a good job, it’s the same as to what I did.

OVERALL

The genre tends to focus on injustices but solves these matters. - On the sequence the teenager is about to get kidnapped. There is

no reason for this.

Institutions such as the police, army or government tend participate in thrillers.

- Although is our sequence there doesn’t seem to be any police etc.. the chaser is a detective. He’ a dangerous detective hunting the teenager.

Violent crime is vital, it features it.- The crime is the kidnapping.