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Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Title
With our film having focus of time and time running out which is apparent with the two CU shots of clocks as well as the sound of the ticking clock throughout we decided to name our film One Less Hour as this creates a sense of time running out. The genre we chose was Crime Thriller, therefor we chose a narrative of a teenage girl being followed and subsequently abducted by a male character. Not having a typical abduction film name such as "Taken' or "Abduction"creates a stronger sense of suspense.
Our research showed that the typical conventions of crime thrillers is that they have disjointed typography, for example in David Finchers Se7en. We also liked the white on black colour scheme as it will simplistic, easy to read and didn't give too much away. From this research we decided to have our title fade in from black. This also connotes something or someone coming out from the dark, which relates to our genre and narrative. We found several typographies that we liked and fitted the genre, we audience tested these and we settled on a font we liked.
Credits
We chose a typography called American Typewriter for the credits, each word appears on the screen as if it is being typed, which adds a level of ambiguity to the film and credits. This text is more bold than the title as it has to stand out on the screen, not just a black screen. We researched films such as Shutter Island and the Talented Mr Ripley and they share the same conventions of typography in how they appear on the screen and how the text is constructed. Again we audience tested these and we chose one that was most favoured.
Conventionally film openings contain credits that have a style that reflects the narrative, for example Se7en has credits that have a scrappy, twisted look that represents the tone of the film. The title also conventionally reflects the narrative and themes, for example Se7en's title reflect the narrative as the seven deadly sins are prominent in the film. Furthermore credits conventionally appear in an order to show the importance of the cast/crew, we did this in reverse, therefor subverting the norm.
For the content of our credits we went back to our research and found what credits were mostly used in film openings. We found these to be:
We used several props in our opening, we used these to represent a crime thriller. Our biggest prop was the planning board, this was used to foreshadow the events of the abduction to the audience and show the systematic approach of the antagonist.
In our research we found that V for Vendetta shared a similar opening to ours as having a dual narrative, in this film the two narratives are linked together via a TV screen. We decided that ours should be linked together by the props of a laptop clock, phone clock and a watch. The element of time is strong within the narrative.
Location/setting
The bedroom set was used to represent a teenage girl, we used props of a dressing table and make up to represent the character of the teenage girl. These props are relatable to the audience and makes the set up more believable. Again we took Inspiration from V for Vendetta where Natalie Portman is seen getting ready to go out with a similar set up. Unfortunately we had some issues that required us to change our filming location from where we had originally planned to film, however this not hinder us too much, we found issues with the smaller space however we found overall this location suited the narrative better.
Shots
We used a large variety of shots in our opening, close ups were often used to show a point of particular importance in our narrative, for example the watch, and the shots of the two characters getting ready. We used mid shots to show the characters getting ready. As well POV shots to show the relationship between the characters as well as show the audience what they are seeing. We used long shots in several places to establish a location. Particularly when the characters are first seen in a shot together. If we were to redo this project we would like to put an extreme long shot or an establishing shot to try a solidify the location for the audience more.
Conventionally in film openings the characters are introduced through a variety of shots, antagonists are conventionally introduced in a dramatic sense, or during a criminal act. One example of this is the Joker in the Dark Knight (2008) and Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). Conventionally films have a wide variety of shots to avoid a monotonous viewing experience. The first shot that fully shows the antagonist is a panning shot that partially shows the face, this is to keep a sense of mystery. A technique which is used in The Departed (2005) where Frank Costellos face in partially obscured within the opening.
Editing
To show the narratives were happening simultaneously we decided to add a transition that smoothly links the two narratives together, this takes place at 0:27 and 0:35, the camera appears to go through the wall and emphasises the dual narrative. We took inspiration from the V for Vendetta opening for this transition. We also used a fade to black at 1:02 to show time has passed and that a new location is being established. In our editing process we also added a bleach bypass 2 filter for the antagonist to show that the locations are different and to emphasise the dual narrative. Conventionally films use linear editing, jump cuts are used to show a progress in time. The Star Wars saga is an example of this as they use a variety of transitions, such as circle open and close, and swiping transitions.
Narrative
Our narrative is a dual narrative with two characters and further on in the opening they meet. The first character seen is the protagonist then it switches back and forth from the antagonist, this gave the audience time to work out what was going to happen between the two characters. We also used the non-diegetic sound of a ticking clock to suggest that the two narratives were simultaneous. Although dual narratives are not conventionally used
Title
With our film having focus of time and time running out which is apparent with the two CU shots of clocks as well as the sound of the ticking clock throughout we decided to name our film One Less Hour as this creates a sense of time running out. The genre we chose was Crime Thriller, therefor we chose a narrative of a teenage girl being followed and subsequently abducted by a male character. Not having a typical abduction film name such as "Taken' or "Abduction"creates a stronger sense of suspense.
Our research showed that the typical conventions of crime thrillers is that they have disjointed typography, for example in David Finchers Se7en. We also liked the white on black colour scheme as it will simplistic, easy to read and didn't give too much away. From this research we decided to have our title fade in from black. This also connotes something or someone coming out from the dark, which relates to our genre and narrative. We found several typographies that we liked and fitted the genre, we audience tested these and we settled on a font we liked.
Credits
We chose a typography called American Typewriter for the credits, each word appears on the screen as if it is being typed, which adds a level of ambiguity to the film and credits. This text is more bold than the title as it has to stand out on the screen, not just a black screen. We researched films such as Shutter Island and the Talented Mr Ripley and they share the same conventions of typography in how they appear on the screen and how the text is constructed. Again we audience tested these and we chose one that was most favoured.
Conventionally film openings contain credits that have a style that reflects the narrative, for example Se7en has credits that have a scrappy, twisted look that represents the tone of the film. The title also conventionally reflects the narrative and themes, for example Se7en's title reflect the narrative as the seven deadly sins are prominent in the film. Furthermore credits conventionally appear in an order to show the importance of the cast/crew, we did this in reverse, therefor subverting the norm.
For the content of our credits we went back to our research and found what credits were mostly used in film openings. We found these to be:
- Producer
- Editer
- Cast
- Director
- Studio
- Music
We included these in our film opening. and positioned them in places that they would be most visible and not to obscure the narrative. This came as quite a challenged because of the dark costumes and the black typography.
Props
We used several props in our opening, we used these to represent a crime thriller. Our biggest prop was the planning board, this was used to foreshadow the events of the abduction to the audience and show the systematic approach of the antagonist.
In our research we found that V for Vendetta shared a similar opening to ours as having a dual narrative, in this film the two narratives are linked together via a TV screen. We decided that ours should be linked together by the props of a laptop clock, phone clock and a watch. The element of time is strong within the narrative.
Location/setting
The bedroom set was used to represent a teenage girl, we used props of a dressing table and make up to represent the character of the teenage girl. These props are relatable to the audience and makes the set up more believable. Again we took Inspiration from V for Vendetta where Natalie Portman is seen getting ready to go out with a similar set up. Unfortunately we had some issues that required us to change our filming location from where we had originally planned to film, however this not hinder us too much, we found issues with the smaller space however we found overall this location suited the narrative better.
Shots
We used a large variety of shots in our opening, close ups were often used to show a point of particular importance in our narrative, for example the watch, and the shots of the two characters getting ready. We used mid shots to show the characters getting ready. As well POV shots to show the relationship between the characters as well as show the audience what they are seeing. We used long shots in several places to establish a location. Particularly when the characters are first seen in a shot together. If we were to redo this project we would like to put an extreme long shot or an establishing shot to try a solidify the location for the audience more.
Conventionally in film openings the characters are introduced through a variety of shots, antagonists are conventionally introduced in a dramatic sense, or during a criminal act. One example of this is the Joker in the Dark Knight (2008) and Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). Conventionally films have a wide variety of shots to avoid a monotonous viewing experience. The first shot that fully shows the antagonist is a panning shot that partially shows the face, this is to keep a sense of mystery. A technique which is used in The Departed (2005) where Frank Costellos face in partially obscured within the opening.
Editing
To show the narratives were happening simultaneously we decided to add a transition that smoothly links the two narratives together, this takes place at 0:27 and 0:35, the camera appears to go through the wall and emphasises the dual narrative. We took inspiration from the V for Vendetta opening for this transition. We also used a fade to black at 1:02 to show time has passed and that a new location is being established. In our editing process we also added a bleach bypass 2 filter for the antagonist to show that the locations are different and to emphasise the dual narrative. Conventionally films use linear editing, jump cuts are used to show a progress in time. The Star Wars saga is an example of this as they use a variety of transitions, such as circle open and close, and swiping transitions.
Narrative
Our narrative is a dual narrative with two characters and further on in the opening they meet. The first character seen is the protagonist then it switches back and forth from the antagonist, this gave the audience time to work out what was going to happen between the two characters. We also used the non-diegetic sound of a ticking clock to suggest that the two narratives were simultaneous. Although dual narratives are not conventionally used
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