Evaluation of Use of Genre Conventions

Title

• A red text with a horror element to the style which appears on dropped envelope mysteriously as if written by a paranormal entity
• Red is a common colour to use in our genre as it has associations with blood and violence.
• An effect used to make it appear gradually as if handwritten
• Suits the thriller feel of our genre

Classic red horror title

Slow appearance

Directing Credit

• A pale grey text with a horror element to the style which appears on the letter next to red roses
• It stands out as the grey represents a dark colour suiting a psychological thriller and contrasts with the red roses as well as the white letter
• Suits the thriller feel of our genre

 

Other Credits

• Grey text appears next to, below and above the different scenes when there is a new shot
• We aimed for simple credits so it portrayed a dullness and sadness into the film immediately
• The credits are the same font as we wanted to keep them simple yet effective, they appear in allocated spaces to look as if some outside agency is in control.

Characters

·        Victims and Villains are used in psychological thriller to create a tension between them.

·        A mother who is the villain which is very stereotypical in some narratives e.g. (evil stepmother) yet very beyond stereotypical as mothers are often represented to have the nature to be caring and role models

·        Two sisters who have a varied relationship, being close and trustworthy with each other as well as being stereotypically irritating as siblings are seen to be like.

·        We cast one young girl as more of the vulnerable victim as she is young and therefore doesn’t know what goes on or is going on.

·        And one slightly older girl who has a wiser approach to the matter and is seen to be the one looking after the smallest. Stereotypically as big sisters do.

·        The mother seems to portray two sides, one caring, as she cooks for the girls, but the other, slightly suspicious as she’s never at home and is distant from the girls showing no relationship.

·        Having victims in a thriller is very common. Especially younger people used as victims as we see in ‘Insidious’. Having a younger person or people as the victim causes a sense of sympathy, connection and worry from the audience.

Ambiguous character of not

Use of young, vulnerable characters

Mise-en-scène

• Typically, thrillers are set somewhere abandoned, or unknown. We have tried to twist this stereotypical look on thrillers to make it into a house down a street to make it more surprising.
• An unknown cast is used to create a sense of reality and quite normal features and mainly look at least a tad alike to make it more believable and relatable to the audience.
• Used props such as flowers, and kitchen use to create a ‘normal life’ atmosphere.
• Main location used was the house where the family lived in. We made it homely within the bedrooms and kitchen to show the family seems normal yet we made the corridor bare to show the contrast and raise suspicion of what is going on beyond the door.
• The second location we used was the path towards an isolated religious tomb place to pray, the mother places flowers there showing remorse and again raising suspicion of why she is doing that. It has religious iconography which is often used to create a creepy atmosphere.
• The costumes were used were conventional for our genre, the way they were dressed were what you’d expect any girls/mother to dress like as fear is enhanced when odd things happen where there seems to be normality.
• We attempted to use low key lighting whenever the girls were on their own to show they’re not safe, another key convention.
• Another prop used was the letter where the credits appear and also leads you towards the shot of the door. The letter itself isn’t significant but t where it brought the girls to is.

'Ordinary' family home

Soup could have sinister ingredients

 

Camera work

• We used a lot of close ups in our film to show emotions and significance, such as the door handle to show there is more to what is seen - often used in opening sequences,
• Two shots between the girls show their different relationships whether it was the intimate conversation about their mother or simple them irritating each other.
•  Shot reverse shot was used to show the reactions on both of their faces in the bedroom and on the sofa to show how they behave with one another which will eventually show how much they’d do for each other within the film.
• Over the shoulder shot of the soup and close up of it shows the POV of the mum and also the fact something may not be right within the soup, this also shows significance.
• The shots associated with the genre as thrillers bring out the characters emotions as well as significance in objects or people.
• These shots are also common in film openings to establish characters and atmosphere.

POV shot

Tracking shot of mother - feeling of being followed

Editing

• We used fade to black to show a different place or a time difference within the film.
• We used crosscutting to show the difference within scenes from the graveyard to the house. It displays to the audience what is going on as well as builds tension within the film.
• We used shot reverse shot in our conversation scene between the two sisters. It allows the audience to see both the reactions of the girls as the other one talks.
• Again, these are not necessarily genre-specific techniques but are common in film openings.

Shot / reverse shot

Beginning of fade transition

Sound

·        The main sound element was the non-diegetic sound which plays and stops throughout the first two minutes and it lowered when a significant sound happens e.g. (door handle) - long low sound which is a classic convention in the thriller genre.

·        The music builds and adds to the tension and uncomfortable atmosphere the characters feel. Not only does it show how they feel but it hints where something may arise in a negative way. Heartbeat sound under door handle also works to create sense of fear.

·        The dialogue used is essential as it demonstrates the relationship between the characters, mainly the two sisters.

·        The sisters speak rather quietly and softly apart from the argument they have whilst the mum shouts at the girls for dinner. This may show the difference and feeling between the sisters and their mother.

·        The noise of the door handle shows there is something behind the door which is the main part in our film. The close up and quick latch sound portrays a creepy element which is in there.