Evaluation Activity 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products of film openings?
The 9 frame represents a summary of our thriller opening in 9 stills from the production. These 9 stills i feel represent the most impactful moments in our film, for example the shaving scene where he looks menacing in the close up which disturbs the audience, the original picking up of the sharper knife which hints at his violent nature, the sick smile of the protagonist from a low angle shot, the dead body and the final title and last credit shown at the end of the opening.
The opening to our thriller in some aspects is typical, several psychological thrillers begin with the subject in a domestic setting which adds an element of surprise as we are introduced to the protagonist's unsettling nature in a setting which would usually be perceived as normal. In our group we chose to have our opening in black and white which today isn't typical of the thriller genre or even mainstream film for example the most successful non-colour production in mainstream film in recent years was perhaps 'The Artist' (2011, Hazanavicius) which was of the drama genre , however we thought it would be affective at subverting the appearance of this kind of film whilst paying homage to films of this genre such as 'Psycho', 1960 from the director Alfred Hitchcock. I felt that the black and white effect on our imagery added tension to the production as the Mise en Scene becomes more cold as you only receive whites, greys and blacks appearing before you.
Apparent from the 9 frame are the type of angles and shots used to track the protagonist throughout the opening of our thriller. The establishing shot is of the shower head hanging in the shower, this shot is used purely to set the scene and give the audience a feel for the domestic location/ setting. In the shots involving the bread and the knives we were specific in filming to make sure our shots weren't directly POV shots, we were attempting to give the audience an insight of the character yet keep them at arms length so we are on the outside looking in as appose to feeling connected with the subject.
1st Frame
This is the establishing shot, it is a close-up of a shower head.
2nd Frame
Low-Angle shot featuring a medium-close-up of the film's protagonist.
Close-up of the protagonist shaving.
4th Frame
This frame features a closeup of a watch as the protagonist gets changed, the shot is met by the films title 'More Than Meets The Eye'.
5th Frame
Close-up of the main character clutching a carving knife.
6th Frame
This frame is a close-up of the protagonist from a side view depicting the protagonist eating breakfast.
This Frame features a low angle shot of the film's protagonist. The low angle shot empowers him and his menacing expression heightens his dominance in this shot.
8th Frame
The camera is at a high angle, thus creating a high-angle shot as it pans down toward the subject in the shot - the dead body.
9th Frame
This frame features a closeup of the victims eye and is the concluding frame of the thriller opening.
The protagonists positioning is subtle yet key during the opening, the rule of thirds connotes how the audience are positioned with or from a character, our subject is often positioned slightly left or slightly right of the frame telling us he isn't a pure character one who shouldn't be trusted however this is subconscious yet it is a subtle clue that may add up in ones head when the dead body is discovered. Affectively the only time in the 9 frame when the suggested killer is central to the frame is moments after he stumbles over the dead body, yet the low camera angle prevents us from being positioned with him which is also heightened by his menacing grin thus putting the audience at an uncomfortable disposition once more.
Shots similar to that of existing productions...
Our establishing shot features a shower head. This shot is similar to the infamous shot of the shower head in the 1960 production Psycho from the director Alfred Hitchcock. The similarities are heightened as both productions were done so in black and white yet there are subtle differences between the two depictions, our shower head was more or less suspended and facing directly down which i feel was less aggressive as it rained down on our protagonist where as the shower head in Hitchcock's production was at an angle which i believe emitted a powerful response as the water droplets were more clearly seen and appeared to flow with more of a purpose and conviction.
Our shaving scene can be likened to the shaving scene in the 2001 comedy/drama 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (Wes Anderson). Although a quirky, colourful film this scene stands out as one of the most recognisable. The actors (Luke Wilson) intention of suicide combined with an disturbing audio 'needle in the hay' make for an extremely unsettling scene.
Like The Royal Tenenbaums our production features a character grooming himself by shaving his facial hair. There are few differences however such as the character's intention, our protagonist is simply going through a daily routine of shaving his beard whereas the other character is looking to cause himself harm. Although each characters motives are different at this moment in time you can still identify uncanny similarities, both scenes try to capture an element of danger which is heightened not just by the actions of the protagonist but heavily by the unsettling non-diegetic audio playing.
Our 9th frame can be likened to the shot in the 1960 classic Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock). Both shots feature an extreme close-up of the film's victims played by Janet Leigh and Morgan Noel respectively.
The shots are focused predominanlty on the eye of the victims in order to evoke a sympathetic response from the audience, in order for us to recognise the innocence of which resides within the deceased. Films tend not to dwell on guilty characters who have been killed therefor when the camera spends extensive time on a victim and zooms in or out it is often because they were innocent and didn't deserve to die in this manor. The innocence of which is captured immediately and puts us at a unsettling disposition and immediately positions us away from the protagonist who is responsible or who we believe to be responsible. One of the differences of the two scenes is that our production zooms into the eye from a view of the body whereas in contrast Hitchcock's production fades into the eye from the plughole then zooms out of the victims eye, both techniques end up achieving the same result however.
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