Evaluation 1

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop, or Challenge Forms of Conventions from Real Media Products?

 

Frame 1: When creating our psychological thriller we tried to stick to the classic conventions which we found through our research. For example, our title is typed out in a font called 'Biro' which is similar to other fonts that are commonly found in thriller genre as it can have a chilling impact. Fonts like our own are often used to create intrigue as the writing is suggestive of communication from children, the terrified, or the dead. As we are making a psychological thriller we had to avoid using fonts that connoted the horror genre, so our audience doesn't get confused. 'Biro' font looks like a child's handwriting, connoting that our characters are vulnerable and innocent, like children, yet they are teenagers. We decided on the title 'Left Behind' as it sounds intriguing and provokes people to ask questions, consequently, it suits the genre. Commonly, existing film titles are short because this allows audiences to remember film names easily. For example, 'The Purge' and 'Se7en' are both really short film titles which makes them vague enough to create intrigue from audiences. 'Left Behind' is a suited title for our production due to the content included within our narrative. In the trailer the main characters best friend goes missing, leaving her left behind. The title is said within the trailer, though, it is misleading to our audience as we have used non-continuity editing which mixes up locations. 'Left' implies that the character has no choice on what happens to her and her friend. Also, the word impacts our audience because it is an imperative verb. Furthermore, it creates intrigue for active audiences as, when analysing the details of the connotations that come with the word they discover that it is compulsory to the film.
Frame 2: Settings used are all homely and comforting at the beginning of the trailer, (like, kitchens and bedrooms) they change to more unfamiliar outdoor settings as the trailer continues. Mid short of Sophie's bedroom is shown to tell our audience that she has vanished. This is so that our audience feel uneasy as the settings change quickly. 'Left Behind' trailer is set in common locations for the audience to  influence an uncomforting feeling. We didn't use any country settings as this connotes the horror genre. Jenny's bed isn't made within the final clip which creates a hostile and uncomforting environment. Middle class locations are relatable to common cinema goers, so they are recognisable.

Frame 3: Our storyline steers away from the horror genre as we have not used any jump scares, or screaming sound effects. Also, we thought about how the trailer ended so that it left our audience confused and intrigued instead of scared/traumatised. Throughout the trailer there is not an obvious antagonist shown, so our audience are lead to believe that there is no blatant 'bad guy'. Whereas, if our trailer came under the horror genre there would be an obvious, terrifying antagonist. Conventional psychological thrillers leave the audience to think about/figure out who the real antagonist is. So, we took inspiration from our research to do the same. Our trailer ends on an ambiguous cliff  hanger that makes our audience intrigued because it leaves the storyline unfinished which will make them want to watch the whole film. Audiences can sympathise for our character Jenny throughout the synopsis because she is a teenage girl who is loosing control due to her friend vanishing.

Frame 4: Props and costumes used links to our research on what is conventionally shown in a psychological thriller. Our characters wear contrasting outfits as Sophie is in a lighter outfit and Jenny is in a all black outfit. We purposely chose these outfits because lighter colours on Sophie connotes that she is an innocent, positive, and hopeful character. Whereas, Jenny wears black as we believe that it connotes she is a serious, intense, and slightly mysterious character. This is due to how she is portrayed during the peculiar events that take place within our trailer. Props we used represent counter typical protagonists as J
enny consumes alcohol & drugs, which is usually what is known from an antagonist. However, we used these particular props to represent that Jenny is going crazy without her best friend connoting desperation. Also, this creates sympathy fro her as she is seen alone, looking depressed within the trailer.

Frame 5: Some of our shots were filmed using a phone stabiliser, but we kept clips that were handheld as they appeared unsteady. This creates an uneasy atmosphere and increases the verisimilitude of our trailer. Also, it makes the footage feel more realistic as if the audience are a part of the narrative. Filming companies have a budget for productions, however, we had to use our phones for filming as we did not have any form of budget.

Frame 6: We have four characters within our film which is unusual as there are commonly more in psychological thrillers, which I know from my research on existing films of this genre. Our cast is simple to avoid confusion from audiences. The antagonist is unknown which leaves our audience in anticipation. This is conventional as antagonists are rarely identified as this adds to the mystery that psychological thriller conventions include. All of the characters are important so it's quite unclear who the leading character is. Although, Jenny has the most screen time and helps the narrative develop so she could be considered most important. The audience never see Jenny and Sophie be best friends but it is implied through the scene where they are taking photos together, and through the footage where we see Jenny scrolling through the photos of them together as she is becoming unstable.    

Frame 7: Special effects included visual filters to individual clips. This is so that our footage looks professional and unique. To create the news report static Zoe used a downloaded static effect, pasted it into different places of the footage towards the end to make it look corrupt. We included a wide variation of different shots within our trailer so they go along with the music that builds up towards the end. Therefore, editing is rhythmic throughout as the pace builds with the sounds. This type of editing is used in many existing trailers of different genres, like 'The Snowman'. Non chronological placement of clips is stereotypical for the structure of generic trailers because it intrigues audiences without giving too much information away. To avoid making the frames unrecognisable, we did not distort them too much. Also, this would have decreased the verisimilitude of the trailer as a whole so, consequently would have reduced the feelings of fear and anxiety. In addition, the technique of distortion was not commonly found in existing trailers we researched so to create he news report in our trailer we used a suitable template in iMovie, then Zoe added a static effect in appropriate places. 

Frame 8: Magazine cover is unconventional as there is no face as the main image. In the magazine covers I have researched there is an obvious main character displayed in the centre. To challenge the common covers, I created a cover that is very ominous as the viewer can only see a silhouette and a window. This creates intrigue as the viewer will wonder what is outside. Also, I thought our film would not be recognisable through a characters face, as the synopsis is what people will remember. So consequently. the main photo used is quite mysterious which links to psychological thriller conventions.

Frame 9: In contrast, the poster I have created displays common conventional information one would see on a  main stream film poster. For example, the actors names are featured at the top which would create star power intrigue if my film was a blockbuster. In addition, there is an obvious release date above the constitutional information that is the billing block which includes an age rating certificate of 12. Also, I have created a tagline above the main film title to ensure my poster links back to my rese
arch on existing psychological thriller posters. Most importantly, the film title 'Left Behind' is written on a biro font that features on all of my products so there is a clear synergetic link. Furthermore, the synergetic link continues as the main photo I have used includes a vodka bottle which is a prop within the trailer, and the bedroom setting is where the hand appears at the very end of the trailer.

I took inspiration from 'The Snowman' to use props from the film in my poster. Also, 'The Purge' influenced what font we decided to use for our film title 'Left Behind' because it has mysterious connotations. In addition, 'The Purge' font is impactful because it's all in bold and capital letters, whereas, we decided to make our title original by using random capitalisation.