Evaluation Question 1

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

Our final product follows many generic conventions associated with our chosen Crime Thriller Sub genre as many aspects that we focused on seemed to fit into the same style as the films we looked at during our research stage of the process. For example, we decided to edit the colors of the opening shots from normal colors to black and white which we believed added a more sinister appearance as there is no color in the shots which may connote that there is no life around. It also helps signify a different time phase as the clips were in the past as they were previous victims so this old fashioned style may depict this. We also decided on this as it followed some conventions used in well known thrillers, such as 'Savages' as this begins with a black and white edit to show a different time line.

The sound we decided to use also followed the idea of a Crime Thriller as it is rather mellow and the words used are parallel to the images on screen as they talk about death whilst the images show a dead couple and a psychopath. According to our audience feedback the chosen music helped to indicate what style of film they were watching which also helps them get into the mindset of a Crime Thriller. There was only one song used throughout the entire opening however once a character began to speak the sound of the music minimized allowing the audience to focus on the dialogue rather than the music. 

Our style of opening credits are also well associated with some hollywood thrillers including 'Se7en' which begins with a psychopath preparing himself for his next murder with breaks between each shot revealing the names of the actors and actresses involved in the film, which is where we got our inspiration as we believed that this style of opening helps to spread shots which adds to the suspense right from the beginning which is a typical convention for a thriller film as the audience must be thrilled from the beginning. 

Our opening also included our production company intro which is traditional for all film openings as it presents what company they are working with and who helped them create their film, which is why we decided to show it at the begin.

However, after looking through our chosen movies for research we decided to go against the idea of beginning with an actual murder taking place or an action scene to begin with, as we decided to begin with a slow pace which set the scene for the film as it shows a previously murdered couple so this shows that this may be thriller as they do not know how they died or why. By simply doing this we go against some conventions within Thriller films as we have missed the actual murder taking place which is not usual in most thriller films, but we chose ours as we believed that it would also intrigue the audience as they will begin asking questions, as they will create an enigma to start with. 

We also decided to try and develop a particular convention within some thriller openings, again like 'Se7en', which was having pictures of the killers victims within the first few scenes as it creates a better understanding of the villain as the audience are able to know about what he has previously done and know that he is a very dangerous person. Our film opening consists of the killer crossing off his 4th victim whilst 'Se7en' also shows pictures of the killers victims.

Another way that we followed conventions of other thriller movies was the way that we used camera angles and lighting. We had used a wide range of camera angles to give different portrayals of characters, whilst following a key aspect of most thriller movies which was the use of close ups to enhance the characters facial expressions and add importance to certain aspects, as well as low angles to show the characters importance within the frame. We also used a pan of the family pictures which then led onto a shot of 5 pictures on a wall which gave a connection between the shots as they both include images that are important to someone, and this connotes that Rick is the antagonist right from the start. The lighting that we had chosen was especially chosen for the scenario as we had to try and portray Rick as a sinister man with darkness within him , therefore the choice of a single filament light on the floor was ideal as it gave a much more menacing look about him. However we went against some generic conventions of a thriller movie as the normal use of cameras in most thrillers is that they sneak around the rooms to show that something is hidden and something could happen, yet we chose to we open with our shots with no movement as we wanted our audience to clearly see what had happened but not reveal too much. 



According to our audience feedback, the way that we had portrayed our film, they were able to understand that they were watching a crime thriller, which is exactly what we had hoped for as we know that our film is portraying exactly what we want.

Final Product

Storyboard- Amended

Storyboard- Original

The script

The script for The List

Connor: Hey darling, how’s it going?

Harri: Not too bad. We both miss you, its been too long.

Connor: Yeah I know it has but I’m home soon.

Harri: Good we can’t wait to see you.

Connor: Anyway, how’s Robby and school?

Harri: He’s great and fitting in well.

Connor: Aww brilliant. Is he looking after you?

Harri: Yeah of course but he misses you loads, well you’re back tomorrow so we can have a good catch up

Connor: But I have to go now but I’ll see you tomorrow, I love you.

Initially we had planned to speak to ‘Robby’ the son, however due to casting problems we were unable to do this, therefore we changed the script so the conversation was only between Harri and Connor, rather than with a third person.

Character Profiles

Character Profiles

RICK WEAVING (VILLAIN)
Rick is the villain in our narrative, he looks psychotic – he has long hair, that covers his face, rough clothes and looks generally very untidy - which is ideal because he’s an ex-convict. He’s seeking revenge on the 5 police officers who put him in jail, at the start of the narrative he’s already had revenge on 4 of the officers and the last police officer, Robert Shaw, is who he’s seeking revenge on, he does this by kidnapping Robert’s son and killing his wife. Rick is a very a aggressive and angry person, most think this stems from the fact that his father was very abusive and both his mother and father were alcoholics, so his only way to turn was to crime. His character is a generic convention of a crime-thriller as and audience expects to see a villain and when looking at the audience survey, it was clear that the audience expected the villain to be an ex-convict.

ROBERT SHAW (HERO)
Robert is the hero in our narrative, he looks innocent – neat hair and clothes, he looks friendly and is polite – which is expected because he’s the hero, and his son plays the ‘damsel in distress’ (Propp), his wife also plays the victim as she is killed by Rick. He’s the 5^th victim of Rick’s; he’s the last one on his list that Weaving is planning on getting revenge on. His character is also a generic convention of a crime-thriller as the audience expect for a police officer character to appear, this was made clear by the audience survey as a police officer was one of the top choices from the people asked.

We have based the characters on Propps’ narrative theory as we have used a villain and a hero, which according to Propp are the stock characters within any film and can be applied to all. We’re also using Strauss’ theory of binary opposites as we have two characters that have different aims within the film.

Synopsis

Synopsis

Rick Weaving is the bad guy in our movie, after previously escaping from prison. Throughout the film Rick will be pursuing police officers who were responsible for his recent time in prison. On the wall in his derelict shelter, Rick has five photos of the police officers who are his selected targets. These five police officers are the people who he wants to kill. In the opening of the film, there are shots of the fourth police officer murdered with his wife, and then following shots of his face being crossed form the list and the fifth officer being circled.

Robert Shore, who is our fifth police officer is seen on the phone speaking with his wife whilst holding a photo of his wife and their child. This scene shows that Robert has been away for a while as he seems to idolise the picture and this is also backed up by the dialogue with his wife. This is the equilibrium at the beginning of the film which is essential. Rick has decided to go after Robert’s family while he is away which causes there to be a disruption in the storyline which ultimately carries the story forward.  

As for the disequilibrium, Robert returns home the following day to find his wife dead and his son having been kidnapped. In replacement he finds a note saying ‘Revenge is sweet…R’. This angers Robert and primarily convinces him to track down Rick and save his son. Whilst on his quest, Rick attempts several attacks on Robert which are unsuccessful until one attack almost ends Robert's life. However, Robert comes back stronger against Rick.

In the final scene Rick is brutally murdered in a wood chipper attack performed by Robert in the final scene. After this encounter has happened, he establishes a new equilibrium as he rescues his son.