Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

 By James Taylor and Joel Guest

Title

Due to our thriller being set in a dark, gloomy environment, and the murder scene taking part in an alleyway, we felt the title ‘Underpass’ suited our film perfectly, due to its simple yet effective tone. The font used to present our film in both the opening title and poster also delivers the creepy, rough image we aim to give off to the audience when seeing our title, and we believe the font ties in well with the title. We also decided ‘Underpass’ could mean a lot of things due to the simplicity of the title name, leaving the audience guessing as to what it can mean. The innocent victim (James) within the film is also chased through an Underpass; therefore the main hotspots of action within our thriller occurred here. James is also murdered in the Underpass, linking back to our title and hoping to create an air of tension and thrill throughout the film as James is being chased down into an Underpass. Finally, we believe the whole theme of an ‘Underpass’, creepy, mysterious and unnerving, relates to our killer in the film, a cold and heartless individual who the audience don’t know much about, giving him an air of danger and mystery.

Setting/Location:

We decided we needed a dreary and lonely place to film our thriller, and after reviewing a couple of locations we discovered Romford Marketplace, a desolate and quiet place of a night which had a nearby subway link. We immediately decided to use this location, as not only could we film the chase scene in the underpass, we could add in a variety of shots with different backgrounds to add to the suspense, such as the tall church with the black backdrop, and the station and train scenes where it is evident James is being stalked. As a group, we decided that filming in a public place added a sense of danger and reality, as not only had we seen this technique used in previous thriller films such as Scream, it makes the audience think it could be anyone walking home alone, being attacked thus putting them on the edge of their seats. Although we filmed late into the night, all locations were lit sufficiently enough to be able to film everything we needed. The atmosphere at the station, the streets and of course the ‘Underpass’ were perfect to create the thrill we were looking for to fit in with the ideas we had, and thankfully the location and our ideas interwove brilliantly when filming.

Costume & Props

Due to ‘Underpass’ being filmed in a public place, we felt the characters that we portrayed needed to dress sensibly and normally, as the innocent victim was dressed in jeans, a hoody and trainers- clothes which nearly every teenager wears, reaching out to our social groups and again presenting the idea that anyone could be involved in an incident like this. Thus, we needed clothing which most teenage boys watching could empathise with. The Killer was dressed from head to toe in black, so that he could blend into the darkness of the night. The hood also shades the majority of his identity throughout the film; therefore the audience may not be entirely sure who the character is. Although he is dressed in black, we felt his costume had to be believable and realistic, so jogging bottoms and a coat were perfectly suitable to dress the character in. The character also wears gloves, so that his fingerprints can’t be traced back to the scene of the crime, and his hands won’t be left with blood, enabling him to slip back into the night as silently as he came. The only props we used throughout ‘Underpass’, was the long bag the Killer was carrying on his shoulder and dropped, although the audience are clueless as to what is in it. The other prop was the innocent victim’s iPhone, used to show him receiving a text from his mother and also at the end, where it is hopelessly vibrating next to his dead body.

Camerawork and Editing

When filming our thriller, we used a diverse range of shots in order to make our thriller as eye catching and exciting as possible. Our opening shot is a high angle shot, presenting James as alone and vulnerable from the outset of ‘Underpass’, and allowing the audience to take in the Mise en scene of the area. We also used point of view shots, to engage with the audience and put them in our characters shoes, such as the innocent teenager receiving the text, and the killer peering over his newspaper to lock down onto his target. This also gives the audience an idea of the characters state of mind. We felt that high angle shots were vital to portray the innocent victim’s vulnerability, as it is used when being chased and also when he is lying dead on the floor, showing he is powerless against a force greater than him. The extreme close up of the camera panning into James mouth emphasises his horror and fear of being caught, and the screen goes black and the picture fades, symbolising the end of his life and death. As a group, we felt having the right camera shots was vital for each scene as we needed to emphasise the thrilling nature of events that were occurring, and needed to make the audience as uneasy and tense as possible whilst watching ‘Underpass’.

Title Font and Style

We decided that because our poster was going to be a black and white theme so it made sense that the title should be white. The font matches the eerie sensation we aimed to possess throughout our thriller and marketing campaign and so we were looking for a font which appeared spooky and mysterious. The fact that this font appears worn down and vandalised matches the area which we located our thriller. It is commonly the case that in places such as underpasses that you will find graffiti and our title appears to be a piece of graffiti. This could also give off the impression that the smudges and drips could be blood splattered and therefore this also matches our thriller as the murder scene is the main subject of the film. Also blood is commonly linked to thriller films and so we believe our title meets the general connotations people have of a thriller. Also we decided to make the title rather large as we want the name of the thriller to stick with people so that they remember what it is called and go and see it. The fact it takes up a rather large proportion of the poster means it is easily noticeable and even more affective. We looked at similar thriller films titles as we wanted to find a title that would be unique as well as meet the connotations of a thriller. We believe our title is not similar to other thriller films and therefore our title will hopefully stick with people and ensure they make a link to our thriller film whenever they see that text style and font.

Story and How the Opening Scene Sets It Up

We knew from the start that we intended to make our thriller mysterious and use flashbacks as the main aspect of the opening. We had an idea of setting the thriller in Romford using the train and the underpass. We had this idea because we intended to make our thriller in a modern, relatable setting for our target audience. We wanted to do this because having seen students thrillers from previous years we saw that most were located in an abandoned house and were not in modern times. The storyline from our thriller is a boy getting followed and eventually murdered. We found this effective because having seen The Silence of the Lambs opening we wanted to use the camera shots following the main character. The flashbacks are intended to add mystery and audience assumptions to the thriller. As the thriller is set in a modern day setting and leaves the opening on a cliff-hanger many doors are left open for when the opening is followed up with a main movie. The boy is left dead and his phone is ringing which leaves the audience asking many questions and making numerous assumptions. The film can then go onto show who the killer was, why they were following the boy and why they killed him. The film can also go onto show how the main character was killed. Also the boy’s mother could get involved as although she doesn’t physically feature in the film, the text and phone call means she is a main part of the storyline. The film could also go onto show why the mother was ringing and if the murderer goes onto kill anyone else.

 Genre and How the Thriller Suggests It

The genre of our film opening is a thriller. We believe the dark lighting creates a sense of eeriness and meets the connotations of a thriller. This is because having taken inspiration from similar films such as Scream it became apparent that darkness creates the mysteriousness that the genre aims for. Also the fact that thrillers are supposed to make the audience ask themselves how things have happened and make assumptions is another way Underpass meets this criteria. The flashbacks leave the audience asking themselves how things have happened. For instance, how the boy was murdered. The fact that the boy is being followed also gives the audience the immediate impression that Underpass is a thriller as this is very similar to the world famous thriller The Silence of the Lambs. The camera angles and mysterious acting give the audience a scared, confused feel as they are worried about what will happen next, as well as being unsure about who the follower is. The concept of a following and murder fits into the main connotations of a thriller which can then add a horror/mysterious feel to the opening. The fact the genre meets these other genre conventions means it made sense to take ideas and inspiration from famous films such as Scream (horror thriller) and The Silence of the Lambs (mystery thriller.)

How Characters are Introduced

There are two characters in our thriller. We wanted to establish James’ character first as he is the main character throughout the thriller opening and so we believed he should be the face of our thriller opening. He is introduced wearing casual clothing which shows the audience he is just a normal, everyday boy. As our target audience is teenagers and the character is of this age range appearing as a normal teen means the audience put themselves in his position and make a connection with him. The fact he is the first person the audience see means they almost build an immediate relationship with him. This is because he is alone, isolated at the station at night, which gives them the impression something bad is going to happen to him. The other character is introduced immediately after we see James. This is because we felt it would be effective if the viewer could see who it was that was following James, although not giving away his full identity. We done this by use of costume, Joel wore all black with gloves and his hood up. This adds a mysterious feel to the character which is what we intended when introducing Joel’s character. The fact that our thriller has one vulnerable, lonely character and one psychopathic, mysterious character this immediately realise they are watching a thriller. This is because in the world-famous thriller film Scream uses similar characters. Scream begins with a lady on her own receiving a mysterious phone call, which secondly introduces the second character. The characters are very similar as the lady appears vulnerable on her own, the same as James. The man on the phone is very mysterious and the identity is kept secret, which we intended from Joel’s character. We believe because of this link and characters appearances it becomes clear the characters in Underpass meet the connotations people have of thrillers.