Evaluation

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

My media opening sequence has taken inspiration from the ideals and conventions of influential director Alfred Hitchcock, and adopted some of the ideals from films such as psycho, shutter island and the SAW franchise.

Hitchcock's Influence

Hitchcock believed in the implicit over the explicit, and it was the unknown which created the most anxiety and tension in the audience. I tried to use this ideal from by using point of view shots in my film, and to give a voice without a face, because without an identity, the audience have no knowledge of the person, but the awareness of their presence can be particularly unnerving and unsettling for a member of the audience.

Hitchcock also stated about the importance of music, saying "Music cannot stand apart from the movie. It's function is to set the mood and give continuity to separate strips of the film."

The music I decided to use was a non-diagetic piano piece which I felt helped create an eerie atmosphere within my film as the pace of the music quickens as it progresses, which I felt helped build up to what was going to be the climax of my opening sequence.

As well as music, Hitchcock also believed in the power behind silence, to which I did decide to use as I felt it broke up the film well, one of the reasons I chose the music I used was split in to two parts which a brief moment of silence in the middle, I felt this would help create more anxiety, because the silence is timed so as the main protagonist comes up the stairs, the audience know there that there is also someone else upstairs, and the moment of silence comes so the audience can hold their breath for the safety of the protagonist, and when the second half of the music begins again, its at a slower pace so the audience can feel a bit of relief as they may feel that the protagonist is at least safe for now. But the main point is that the moment of silence can evoke genuine worry in the audience for the character at this moment.

Alfred Hitchcock frequently incorporated themes of mistaken identity, twists and red herrings . I used these aspects in my media film, as the audience only know the protagonists name after it was spoken by the supposed 'villain' of the film. The audience will later discover that his identity isn't as straight forward as initially seen in the film, and the villains name isn't at all mentioned, all the audience know is a face, an this will unsettle the audience as no-one, including the protagonist do not seem to know the identity of the malicious-looking character. Both identities of the characters will be revealed at the end of the film which will provide the major twist that Hitchcock planted in many of his films.

A figure running past the door creates uncertainty and
anticipation of imminent danger

One of Hitchcock's most prolific ideals was his Ticking Bomb Theory. He said "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation in it." I used this theory prominently in my media opening sequence by using and identifiable presence that lurked within the house, to which the audience wasn't even aware of his location, i also gave the impression that there could be more than one figure in the house, and the audience not knowing creates the anticipation that they don't know how many people are there, and it's the unknown that causes the terror for the audience.

"It's better if we know who the perpetrator is and the characters don't" I decided to challenge this convention as I felt that the perpetrators true identity is left as the twist at the end of the film, although the convention isn't completely challenged as the twist means the audience may have already in a way known the perpetrator's identity from the beginning.

A convention to most thriller films, and particularly prominent in Alfred Hitchcock's greatest movies is the setting of a derelict, eerie and isolated locations. I decided to completely challenge this typical convention by setting my film entirely in an ordinary home setting. I felt this would create more terror and tension as all of the audience can place themselves in their own homes, and imagine themselves realistically in the situation as my protagonist, and I felt that enabling the audience to do that would create more terror for the audience, than situating my film in somewhere like an old abandoned house for example.

I drew ideas from this iconic characters aesthetics
and tried to incorporate them within my won characters.

Protagonist's
'Ordinary' look

Another typical convention in thriller films is the the villain is typically a male figure. In my media film I conformed to this convention as i felt there will be a physical and psychological battle between my protagonist and the villain, and I felt with them being the same gender it would seem the two would be more equal. Although in terms of the way they look I decided to make them look like polar opposites, with the protagonists dressed smartly, then mire casual, then for the villain I took inspiration from 'Joker' in 'The Dark Knight' as i felt his psychological imbalance is reflected in his aesthetics. 

The protagonist is completely unaware
of the other person's presence.

I also subvert Hitchcock's frequent use of an unrestricted narrative style by using a restricted style for my own media production. For example, upon the return of the protagonist, you can hear a character say "Finally." But the protagonist has no idea that there was another person in his home.



Hitchcock also said that blondes make the best victims, and that "Blondes make the best victims, they're like virgin snow that turns up in bloody footprints." and although he didn't say this was specifically about female characters, I feel that this was in fact explicitly about female characters, and therefore i didn't feel it was relevant to my media opening sequence.

The most common trait in most thriller films is the lighting most typically dark in order to try and shadow things from the audience and try to further evoke a sense of the unknown. I think what stands out most, and the most obvious defiance of common convention in my thriller is how most of my thriller is set in daylight. I felt this would be an opportunity to see if the same kind of terror can be evoked in light, as in darkness. I went forward with this on the premise that an audience can relate and easily put themselves in the same position as the protagonist and how easy it is relate that I'm reliant on for my film to be effective.

In my film I used a multitude of different camera shots including point of view shots, extreme close-ups, high angle shots, low angle shots, medium shots, zooming shots, long shots and very long shots.


In premonition, I used an extreme close up of the villains mouth at the end of his monologue. I took inspiration from the 'SAW' franchise, in how the villain presents himself in on a television, and therefore lets the audience think something truly bad and terrifying may be about to happen to our main character.




I then used a medium shot to cut between the video and the protagonist, using these reaction shots to show the audience our protagonists obvious dismay for the situation he's unwittingly found himself in, and is obviously confused by.

I used multiple long angle shots on the main character, this was to emphasise repeatedly the vulnerable position he is in, and will find himself in, although he has no concious knowledge of the danger he is in. You can see the similarities drawn from my media piece, and Hitchcock's infamous scene in 'Psycho' with a low angle shot on the stairs.

"Finally" the only indication of an identity
for this character's P.O.V shot.

p.o.v shot from another angle in
Paranormal Activity 3, this angle
makes the character look more
powerful, I used the opposite.

I used a point of view shot in order to show the audience what the expected perpetrator can see, and this was also to initially show the audience that there was an additional presence, and this was used to allow the tension to begin rising. Also using a point of view shot to introduce another means the audience cannot put an identity, creating a nervousness for the audience. Also the angle of the shot belittles the other character and makes them look vulnerable. I took this idea from supernatural-thriller 'Paranormal Activity 3' but I also switched the ideal. In Paranormal Activity 3, it had the point of view of the victim, which made the enemy look more powerful, I decided it would be better if I had the point of view from the eyes of the perpetrator, so I both conformed and challenged the convention.