PART 4 - IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR

CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?  

Evaluation - Part 4

What actually is a thriller?

When thinking about ideas for our title sequence we thought about what a thriller actually was. We found that a thriller usually consists of a battle between the protagonist and the antagonist characters. This usually happens when there is a disruption in the equilibrium. The narrative in a thriller then shows a chain of bad events that build tension and suspense for the audience. In these narratives, the aim of the protagonist is to restore justice within the film and the antagonist's is to destroy. 

Conventions of a thriller:

low lighting quick cuts shadows tense music changes in the angle of shots black and white shotsmontage of shots 

Explaining STINCS

When thinking about the narrative for our film and how were going to show the codes and conventions of a thriller in our title sequence we thought about STINCS. Where the S stands for setting, T stands for theme, I stands for iconography, N stands for narrative, C stands for characters and S stands for style. 

In a thriller film, they would usually use stincs to develop the genre of their film. For example the setting in a thriller film would usually be low lighting and dark or dark buildings. The theme of a thriller is that the narrative makes the audience think that these events can happen to them which will make the audience feel scared. The iconography of a thriller are usually knives because they are usually associated with a thriller as they have connotations of death and pain. More iconography that are associated with thrillers are shadows, confined spaces, woods, running water and street lamps.

Narrative

The narrative of our title sequence matches the codes and conventions of a thriller film as the protagonist (Leonardo DiCaprio) is up against the antagonist (Paul Dano) because he needs to find the antagonist as he has kidnapped a young boy. In the film Taken, the storyline is based on a protagonist trying to catch an antagonist. Another thing that our narrative relates to within the codes and conventions is that in a thriller the protagonist usually gains justice and the protagonist is usually caught. In our film, the protagonists gets justice because he catches the antagonist. 

Cinematography

The cinematography that we use in our title sequence matches the codes and conventions of a thriller film as in thriller films there is usually tense music and black and white shots. In our title sequence we have made all of our footage black and white and used music that adds tension to the title sequence as a whole. Also in some points in our title sequence we have used quick cuts to add more tension and suspense to our title sequence. 

Editing

When editing our title sequence, we decided to cross dissolve most of the shots. Our title sequence looks similar to a montage of photos because from these pictures the audience can understand what our narrative is and what our film will be about. Most of our shots that we use are shot in very low lighting to add more suspense to our title sequence and adds the effect of the film being a thriller. 

Music/Sound

At the start of our title sequence the music starts off very slow and eerie as more things start to happen the music starts to build up. This matches the way music is used in thriller films because the music is used to create tension and suspense within the audience to make them feel scared and frightened. Also music in thriller films start off at a slow pace then gradually the music speeds up the pace which helps create the tension of the film. This is what we have done in our title sequence. 

Mise-en-scene

In our title sequence the mise en scene that is used matches the mise en scene that is used in thriller films because usually in thriller films there is naturalistic costumes used so it makes it more believable as how we present the characters is how the audience will perceive them. In our title sequence, we haven't used any fake props we have only used a pair of boots meaning some of our audience would be able to perceive our title sequence the way we have perceived it when filming. We also knew when filming our title sequence that the make-up and props that we used would be important for the way the title sequence came across to the audience. 

Typography

The typography that we used in our title sequence fitted with the codes and conventions of a thriller film. This is because most thriller films have eerie typography which reveals the themes that are going to be associated in the title sequence. When picking our typography for our film, we looked at many simple but affective fonts. We chose a simple font because it revealed the genre to the audience but also didn't take all of the attention away from all our cinematography that we have filmed.