Alicia - question 1

1.      In what ways does your thriller use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real thrillers?

·         Films and productions of a ‘thrilling’ nature must convey the same themes and techniques in order to fulfil the requirements for a genuine thriller. One of the most essential requirements for a thriller film is that it creates ‘enigma’ for the audience. This fills the criteria for the thriller genre as it adds a sense of mystery and suspense for the audience. This applies to my final product of ‘Payday’ where the opening leads the audience into the unknown as enigma is created. I have achieved this by restricting the narrative in order to leave the audience ‘guessing’ i.e. whether the character dies or gets kidnapped etc.

·         This also helps with audience interaction and involvement as it leaves them wanting to continue with the viewing experience in order to find out what happens next. This is relatable with real thrillers as restricted narrative contributes to the creation of enigma as the spectator waits in anticipation for something to else to happen or be revealed.

·         In order to achieve the effect of restricted narration, we have used no dialogue or speech, as other thrillers do, to demonstrate the fact that there is mystery to be solved and uncovered. This relates to other thriller openings in particular where bits of narration are left out and speech is minimal so that the spectator feels the need to find out more, thus continuing to the end of the film.

·         Another technique used to contribute to the realism of a thriller film, is the use of iconography. This is appropriately used in our film where props such as weaponry (spade) and dark nights are associated with the thriller genre. This is seen in other films as well in order to capture the genre and themes of the film, in which we have done so accordingly.

·         Another contribution to meeting the forms and conventions of real thrillers is our use of the four elements; mise en scene, camerawork, editing and sound.

·         MISE EN SCENE: we used appropriate props for both the series of narratives (cross-cutting of actions) happening within the clip. It is important within a thriller that everything is perfectly framed within the shot in order to convey that particular genre. For example, in films such as ‘Batman: the dark knight’ in the opening if the Joker’s make-up was perfectly applied, he wouldn’t portray this eerie character whom gives off a distressed, troubled image. This is also relatable to our film where the kidnapper is wearing a distressed business suit which suggests he’s in the middle of a crime/up to no good; appropriately conveyed in relation to mise en scene. This also relates to ‘Hanna’ where she is portrayed as a dangerous, skilled young girl who clearly has the skills of the use of a bow and arrow, whereas if she used a gun it wouldn’t portray such a dangerous character. Again with our film, if the kidnapper used a gun rather than a spade, it wouldn’t portray this character as someone who’s willing to torture and brutally murder rather than quickly fire them with a bullet.

·         CAMERAWORK: this is important with a thriller as the different uses of the camera can portray a ‘thrilling’ sequence. For example, canted and hand-held shots make a shot seem very distorted and eerie for the audience as it doesn’t apply the elements of normality. This again is used in ‘Hanna’, a real thriller film, in the opening where she is viewed as distorted from behind the trees as she is shot hand-held. This gives the sense that she is a dangerous character within the sequence. We again used the same technique when the kidnapper is looking down on the victim in the ditch in order to portray this idea that he is of a distorted nature and characterisation. Also, a worms eye view is used in the same shot described to add to the effect of the kidnapper’s ‘thrilling’ nature as he looks down superiorly.

·         EDITING: in order to challenge the forms and conventions of a real thriller, editing choice is essential to the effects created within the narrative. For example, in order to create a feeling of suspense for the audience, if in post-production the shots are made shorter and quicker it creates enigma for the audience as they watch in anticipation as to what happens after the shots are ‘cut’. We achieve this by making our shots shorter in order to create restricted narration for the audience.

·         SOUND: finally, our choice of non-diegetic sound is typically used in other real thrillers. This is because this type of music climaxes with the footage in order to add to the suspense and create tension. This ‘music’ begins when the shot of the kidnapper taking out his spade appears. This follows the conventions of a typical thriller as it adds to the effect of the footage and makes the climax more intense.