Q7 from Connor Southwell
Saturday 25 March 2017
Thursday 23 March 2017
Tuesday 14 March 2017
Wednesday 8 March 2017
Friday 3 March 2017
Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (UPDATED)
The title of our film was ‘Torpidity’ and our sub-genre of choice was a psychological thriller. In terms of location, we shot our film in a nearby woods (an overhead shot seen), as psychological thrillers use locations such as woods and isolated area’s to test the audience through location. This is achieved because of the intimacy of the woods, as this creates an enclosed area in which the action is taking place in a place of deep mystery and intrigue due to its enclosed nature, also, the clockwork nature of the woods (how everything is manufactured and seems to complement each other, an example of this is a stinging nettle and a doc leaf) grows and develops is similar to human minds, however, for our protagonist, it’s completely different and as a production company, we wanted to reflect this through our use of establishing shot, as the main character overlooks the rest of the woods in a way that is highly metaphorical, this shot symbolises how our main character, Joshua Masterson, is an onlooker to the rest of society and is unsure how to get in amongst society because of his troubled thoughts and feelings in a time of uncertainty and provides connotations of mental fragility and isolation, which are themes we wish to explore in the narrative of our film progressing forwards. Woods or forests, are described here as "Retreating into the forest is symbolic death before initiatory rebirth." Traditionally, in texts such as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Snow White, woods are seen to have a special magical power or be a place of protection, however, our film challenges the conventions in which woodlands have been used previously, and is used more in away against the traditional connotations in presented and in a more sinister way much like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters does, and although our film doesn’t feature the magical aspect of the forest, it is a dark, literally and symbolically and that’s why we chose our location because of the darkness that is present and the way the enclosed nature of it can be used to connote different things, like mental fragility and isolation and that is absolutely our focus in terms of feelings. Another highly important film that inspired our use of location was Silence of the Lambs. This film also features a forest at the beginning in a way which is of a dark undertone and in a way which provoked negative connotations which is similar to our thriller. These two films influenced our decision over location significantly as they are films which we enjoyed as a production team but also they match our intentions that we strike to achieve in our thriller.
Another location we used to film our opening sequence of our thriller was a garage, we chose this space as it was enclosed and fairly dark, with the right light we could manipulate the space to replicate a mental asylum which our protagonist was locked up in due to the issues he explores mentally. The compact nature of this space allowed us to use silhouettes and use natural light sources such as a burning candle to create different atmospheres which created meanings and connotations with in our film, so from a production point of the view, the location achieved everything we wanted it to. This location conforms to the genre of psychological thriller, as it tests the audience on an intellectual level and the use of small, conformed space shows the trapped state of mind felt from our protagonist. Author Wayne Dyer is quoted as saying ‘"The body is the garage where the soul is parked”, we decided to base our location around this quote, and instead of basing our location around film references, this is a quote that inspired location choice and the significance of the body being the garage of the soul is a really interesting concept which we decided to subtly with this locational choice. We drew inspiration from the Dark Knight, where the Interrogation Scene is set in an intimate, naturalistic and dingy setting similar to a mental asylum or a police interrogation room, it was a scene in which we drew great inspiration from, because although Batman is a completely different genre, we decided that the desaturation from the garage created an atmosphere that made our audience think intellectually, which coincides with the convention of our psychological thriller opening. To summarise, I think our locations conform to the psychological genre where locations are usually isolated, urban areas which is something that is replicated within our opening sequence.
Mise-en-scene is a significant part of our film. It is highly significant as costume, lighting and props are a huge part of our thriller. It’s highly significant as it adds textured details and reality to our thriller which makes it a higher quality due to these factors, and it was highly important for us to ensure all parts of Mise en Scene were done correctly to our film conformed with the typical conventions of the Psychological thriller. For example, our lighting that is used is predominately dark and this conforms with the idea that psychological thrillers are dark in nature and also in terms of lighting, this is just one example of us conforming to the genre of the film and that was something to high importance for our film to have identity and meaning, as well as being entertaining and coherent. One part of mise-en-scene that was highly important to the complexion and texture of our film was our choice of costume and the connotations that was created by these.
Costume
Costume is an area of mise-en-scene that provoked a range of thought from our production team, as we wanted a costume that reflected the enclosed setting and trapped feeling that is being felt by our protagonist, with all these factors taken into account, we decided to have Josh Masterson (our protagonist) in a coat with a hood, showing how feels trapped and enclosed in a society that he simply doesn’t feel a part of, and the size of the coat and hood reflect a key theme for us which is the idea of how colossal the world is in relation to somebody experiencing mental health illnesses. In terms of colour, Josh’s coat is black to match with the desaturation of the scene to foreshadow the depression and struggle experienced by Masterson throughout the opening but also progressing forwards into the body of the film. This costume does conform to the conventions of the genre as it presents dark connotations and is carried out with the intention of distancing the audience from the character of Masterson by not letting them immerse in his features and facial expressions, and this piece of costume is vital to creating important connotations and also aide characterisation.
Tom Rush is an interesting character in terms of costume, once again, we thought about what costume Rush could wear and the connotations that his costume provided, and his costume allows us to do several things, including representing young people stereotypically and using regressive attitudes that that been evident in TV, film and written press since the 1950s. The connotations of the jeans present a normality compare to Josh’s grey trousers which have no personality or presence, Rush’s jeans are metaphorical of the normality of society and his inclusion with that, Josh’s is unique and shows how he is at a distance with society. Rush’s ‘chavy’ top shows the audience his age and presents the idea to the audience that he is rough around the edges which connotes violence which gives the audience an anticipation around the antagonist and that is something that we wanted to achieve. In terms of colour symbolism, generally, Rush wears darker colours, to symbolise that all his future is lifeless and dark; if that is, he is real at all.
Characters
Characterisation is something that we placed a huge amount of emphasis on throughout the opening sequence of our thriller. Our characters Josh Masterson (antagonist) and Tom Rush (protagonist), are interesting in terms of how they suit our genre and the regressive and progressive attitudes that the characters create. Josh Masterson is a progressive character, as he explores issues of mental illness which isn’t something that fragile attitudes began to form on until arguably, the last 10 years. The vulnerability of Masterson conforms to our genre, as often, innocent victims are involved with in Psychological Thrillers, however, another character type evident in psychological thrillers is psychotic individuals, and Masterson definitely falls into that category, he is a troubled individual and isn’t in a good place mentally. Masterson’s body language is tight and tense, often his shoulders are tightened up which is metaphorical to the weight he feels on his shoulders due to the mental illness he is suffering from. Also, when Masterson is walking through the forest, he is seen itching his face erratically as his panic as to whether he is being chased or whether it is merely fantasy in his own mind. One article that really inspired me to characterise Josh as a mentally ill character was this article featured in the Daily Mail which raises loads of questions over the treatment of mentally ill patients (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-46084/Why-I-killed-daughter.html) in the UK. The girl in this article was extremely influential to how we characterised Josh and ensured our actor (on this occasion, myself) knew the story we were explore but also to provoke an emotional response from the audience in a way that highlighted the lack of support given to people with mental illness and how Josh requires that support, so there is definitely questions asked of the political system alongside mental health attitudes. To ensure the audience are aware of Masterson’s illness, his eyes are erratic and this connotes vulnerability and worry that makes the audience feel sorry for Masterson’s character throughout the opening sequence of Torpidity. The way we portray Masterson is distanced but the audience feel sorry for him and are anticipating what he is walking into, as his fear grows and the itching becomes more frantic and constant, his breathing intensifies to show his unease at the situation unfolding in the forest scene. As the scene develops and the location changes, Masterson is seen to be even more troubled and this is evident as he is seen rolling his head around as thoughts begin to drown him. This is complimented with the panting noises which is manufactured by the production team to amplify it and emphasise it so that it is evident for the audience when watching Torpidity. As the scene progresses into the enclosed institution, Masterson’s movements become slow and almost ritualistic, which is perhaps a more realistic portrayal of mental illness than the fast paced, franticness of the scene beforehand that was more dramatised and exaggerated for the entertainment of our audience. The character of Josh Masterson was influenced by the character of Trevor from the film The Machinist, Trevor suffers with an extreme case of insomnia and is plagued by a mind state that operates poorly due to the mental illness he is suffering from. Another inter textual reference for the character of Josh Masterson is the character of John Nash from the film A Beautiful Mind. The film shows John’s struggle with slow development of paranoid schizophrenia. Nash isn’t depilated as a monster, but merely a flawed human being, and that was something we wanted our film to be about, and this biographic film gave us a character in which we couldn’t help by use strands of in our film.
Tom Rush's character is a regressive character type who we based around the juvenile delinquent teenage character model which is explored in the TV Drama Skins, where the character of James Cook, a youthful character who is on a path of self-destruction through excessive alcohol and drug taking is highly involved in series 2 of the popular TV Drama. Whilst Rush isn’t involved in drugs and alcohol, his violent nature is something that could lead to self-destruction much like James Cook from Skins. Rush conforms with the genre of a psychological thriller as it is evident that the antagonist has some sort of relationship or connection with the antagonist and exploitation of a character who is vulnerable are key conventions of psychological thriller, not only this, but the theme of reality is also extremely evident throughout the opening of the thriller. Rush’s broad shoulders and forceful walking that we see in the forest sequence of the film, shows the aggressive manner that you would expect from an antagonist in a psychological thriller. Despite his aggressive demeanor and forceful characterisation in this section of the opening alienates the character from the audience as Rush's features aren’t revealed to the audience which again, presents dark connotations. Also, in dreams, scientific studies have proven that you don’t see faces in your dreams, to develop this further and having conducted research on this matter, dreaming of a faceless person can be a reflection of how confused you are about yourself and your direction in life. You might also have this feeling that other people fail to appreciate you.
Props
In terms of props, we kept these quite minimal in order to simplify the scene and not overload the audience in terms of external sources. Our main prop of choice was that of a candle. This is was prominent in the garage part of our scene, as we used it as a diegetic source of lighting as well as in a way that provided symbolism and a sub message distanced from the narrative itself. The candle was seen mainly in use of our antagonist Tom Rush, as he looked to physically torture protagonist Josh Masterson in that particular scene. In terms of metaphorical message, at the end of our sequence, Rush is seen blowing out the candle, which is representational to the juvenile delinquents lifestyle, as he is running out of hope and his life will end up in the darkness of prison. It conforms to the genre of psychological thriller as it provokes thought from the audience and would become a motif throughout the film, if we were to carry it on. The candle is highly significant throughout the garage scene. The candle is a unique prop in our thriller and something that has high metaphoric and symbolic meaning, we decided to include the candle with the idea of making a new convention of psychological thrillers and it gives a unique feel to our film. Also prominent throughout the garage scene is the use of a white chair connotes the purity but vulnerability of Masterson.
Lighting
As a production team, lighting was something we discussed and put a lot of thought into to ensure it conformed with the genre, but also that it created the right mood and atmosphere to ensure our film created the atmosphere that we wanted to create. In the forest part of our scene, we aimed to ensure that the lighting complimented the narrative structure and atmosphere. We decided to use the diegetic lighting of the forest due to the difficulty of creating artificial lighting in an urban, outdoor environment without risking our own safety. However, the diegetic lighting and the warmness of the sun shows how Josh Masterson's personality away from his illness is warm and gentle which is being shielded by the hood he wears, thus metaphorical of the darkness he feels which is being created by his mental illness. Also, the diegetic lighting from the sun was being blocked out by the enclosed nature of the space we were using to block our actors with in, and so it created an atmosphere where silhouettes could be used, but these seemed more Film Noir than thriller for our production team, and in the end we decided to opt against this created decision to ensure our film had the identity of a psychological thriller. The fragmented specs of light are reflective to that of Masterson’s mental state, finally, it conforms to the cinematography style of naturalism.
In the scene that transitions into the more enclosed space, we opted to use low key lighting as it doesn’t dominate the screen like high key light does. In using a lamp, we got a hard and crisp hard light which gave the set and characters definition which creates an alienation from the audience as the shadows create a sense of mystery and connotes the dodgy past and imperfectness of Rush, but also how Masterson mental illness is always following him wherever he goes. The hard light created by the hard light gives a more natural and unflattering look to characters which enhances the realism as characters wouldn’t be made up in reality, not only this, it also highlights the imperfections of the characters which is a highly significant reason as to why we chose the non diegetic hard light of the lamp. We are conforming to the genre as low key lighting is a key convention of psychological thrillers as they create tension due to the scene of torture being seen on screen. Side lighting, which we used in this part of the scene, only highlights half the face, which creates a sense of mystery and also creating a shadow upon the face, which in turn, creates a sense of danger and mystery that is present in the film V for Vendetta, where the mysterious and dangerous character of Hugo Weaving is portrayed with a side light and we drew inspiration from this to use. It’s also metaphorical for the battle that Josh Masterson is facing between sanity and insanity, and the ritualistic head movements compliment this metaphoric wonderfully. In terms of the effect it makes for Rush, it creates a sinister effect that connotes violence and toughness, which as previously mentioned, is a big part to his character. This conforms to the genre as it allows us to cast shadows and use metaphors for both characters. The second key lighting choice we made was the diegetic lighting from the burning candle, and this is used by Tom Rush and distorts his face, until giving him real identity as his character is fully introduced to the audience, thus proving he is real and not a figment of mentally ill Masterson fragmented imagination. This sequence features pictorial lighting techniques which are manufactured by ourselves to create an alternative atmosphere than the naturalism style did, and in our research we read good films do both to achieve different atmospheres in different parts of the film.
Sound
Sound is something that can make or break a film. For us, it was something we planned meticulously our approach on sound and although this plan may have been diverted (i.e. wanting to use sound effects, and then concluding they weren’t relevant) for whatever reason. To comply with the genre of psychological thriller, we concluded that we would use uncopyrighted eerie music to create tension and suspense within our chase sequence in the forest. This underscore creates intrigue for the audience which increases curiosity and from that, suspense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XyW7791kCQ is one piece of music we considered at it is a curious and intriguing piece of music, and would provide the scene with more of a psychological thriller feel and complexion, however, in the end we decided to use a track that is slow in pace but builds up to a climatic part which complements the action on screen as it creates tension and suspense which conforms to the genre of psychological thrillers and is seen in films such as Silence of the Lambs, Inception and Psycho. Intertextually, we make references to a lot of other psychological thrillers, such as Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs, as these are highly successful films in the industry, and studying their soundscapes in great depth and detail we concluded that eerie and tense music was the best way to go about this, however, at the point in the sequence before Masterson gets punched, we use silence to make a climax at this moment in the scene, and it’s this point that it falls to black which increases the audiences suspicions and curiosity as to why this unknown and unidentifiable character is chasing the protagonist, which is highlighted by the silence. The diegetic sound of the stick breaking in the forest provokes a new, more fragmented and paced piece of music become introduced to show that the diegetic sound was something that should cause alarm and panic amongst members of the audience and the transition into the underscore creates a new, quicker paced and more atmospheric sound. We aimed to create a sound motif in the diegetic sound of the protagonist’s heavy breathing and this is repeated in the enclosed space in which the ritualistic movements begin and it helps with characterisation and identification of character from the audiences prospective. When Rush closes the door, a more climatic underscore is matched with the synchronous sound of the door being closed. The door being shut and locked is also metaphoric of how Rush is getting in the mind of Masterson is locking himself firmly into the thoughts of Masterson. The silence is reintroduced as the close up of Rush and he blows out the candle at the end of the scene.
Camerawork
In the sequence, we use a range of tracking, POV, close ups and extreme close ups. The variety of shots creates an intimacy with the audience and makes them curious, which is ultimately the aim of a psychological thriller. Tracking shots are used to position the audience in a place where they can see nobody is behind the protagonist and thus delve into the character of Masterson deeper. The tracking shot also emphasises Masterson’s persona because of his illness, the tracking shot is Masterson’s healthy self losing the battle of control over his mentally ill persona, and that is the reason we decided to use a tracking shot. The positioning of the audience was something we wanted to think about as well, because we wanted to comply with the 180 degree rule as this was something that wasn’t achieved successfully in our preliminary task. The position of the audience is following the character. This complies with the convention of psychological thrillers, as small details in the background of shot can make a huge impact to the narrative hook of the film. Tracking also keeps the audience guessing, as they can only see where the protagonist has came from and not where they are going, which keeps an air of tension over the film intact. The use of POV when Rush appears to put his hand upon the shoulder of Masterson forcefully, it ensures the identity of the antagonist isn’t revealed in a dream state, which was important to ensure the theme of the film was kept intact. It positions the audience in the position of the antagonist, which is something we were keen to do as it enhances the realism of that particular character, but once the shot goes back to Masterson, there is nothing there, which provokes the audience into thinking, it’s a good use of shot in my opinion. The use of close ups convey emotion and allow the closer, more delicate movements, such as eye rotation and movement, to be captured in this shot, where as a mid shot wouldn’t of added as much texture or detail to the shot. It also pinpoints Masterson’s vulnerability and mental instability with his erratic and frantic movements, which are repeated in the enclosed space. The close ups and extreme close ups also highlight how intimidated and enclosed Masterson feels by today’s society. The use of eye level shots provides the connotation of a sort of standoff commencing between the two characters. This conforms to the genre of psychological thriller as it builds tension and is used in a series of films such as Psycho and Inception. At points within the opening sequence, Masterson is shown with a slight high angle, to show the pity and empathy that the audience should feel towards a very vulnerable and fractured character who is clearly drowning in his own thoughts, this is conventional in psychological thrillers, as characters are often shown with a slight high angle to show they are being looked down upon by the audience which is metaphorical of society's and most important, the governments viewpoint on mental health. Rush is shown with a slight low angle upon his character, as he is obviously the antagonist, and whilst identification alienates the audience, the angle at which they are position when Rush is featured is significant as it only highlights the aggressive antagonist and his superiority complex due to his juvenile delinquency displayed with in his character. The use of establishing shot at the beginning of the scene sets the scene for the audience, not only this, but Masterson is looking down upon a word of perfectly woven nature, which he simply cannot grasp due to the block of his mental illness, it's a wall in the way of touch to society and realism and that's what we are setting straight away with the use of this shot. Intertextually, we link directly to Inception, by replicating one shot of Leonardo Di Caprio’s character, Cobb, waking up after a sleep, and we replicate this as Masterson wakes up in the same way in the enclosed space. It's a subtle but clever intertextual reference that fans of psychological thrillers and Inception will enjoy. To summarise our use of camerawork, our shots conform with the genre as well as provide unique connotations that correlate with our theme, and it's a highly technical but important part of our film.
Composition
Complying with the rules of composition was something we found extremely challenging in our preliminary task, and thinking back to that, we caused a huge amount of disorientation by breaking the 180 degree rule, and we wanted to ensure this was complied with in both of our settings. In the establishing shot to begin the film, the rule of thirds is being used as Masterson is placed just right of centre of the shot, this is complimented with a balanced shot that doesn't contain any clutter or mess, it's a clean shot and the different shades of green being provided by the trees creates a beautiful, well composed shot. We cinematographed shots to ensure they were well considered and continuity was evident throughout, we attempted to use things such as leading lines but these simply weren't possible to the irregularity of trees and clear pathways throughout our location. In the enclosed space, we looked to make the shots balanced, to ensure they were lit consistently, complied with the 30 degree and 180 degree rules and agreed with the rule of thirds as these are the basic composition guidelines to ensure a film is of the correct quality. They conform with the genre as they compliment camerawork and give camerawork a foundation to be worked upon, they also provide clarity and for the audience, make the film more aesthetically pleasing to view than if the rules of composition weren't applied.
Narrative Structure
Narrative is a hugely important part of the filmmaking process and can quite easily make of break a film into being a blockbuster or a complete shambles. Our narrative questions the difference between dream and reality, if there is one, and uses a linear sequence to present things in a chronological order. This isn't conforming to our genre, as films in the psychological thriller genre tend to be unordered to intellectually challenge the audience in a different way, however, we didn't want to over complicate and over think the narrative because of the importance of the technical aspects of film making, for us it was key to strike a balance, and whilst our narrative is clever and successful, it's not our main focus. The narrative begins with a dream sequence which could be argued is a flashback, in this part, Masterson is being chased by someone, or thing. At this point the identity of the antagonist isn't known due to a scientific study claiming that faces are clearly recognisable in dreams, thus providing us with inspiration. As the pair encounter one another in the forest, Rush seemingly puts his hand on the shoulder of Masterson, to which he responds by turning round, as he turns his head back, Rush throws a punch towards Masterson and the sequence cuts to blackness. We then cut to the shot of Masteron ‘waking up’ much like in Inception, and this is followed by collective groaning and ritualistic by schizophrenic Masterson who begins having an episode which is broken up by the arrival of Rush who lights a candle and seemingly begins to both mentally and physically torture Masterson who sits on a chair, helpless and lost in his own thoughts. The scene ends with Rush blowing out a candle before the screen cuts to darkness. It's all centred around the theme of reality, which conforms to our genre as it's something commonly explored by psychologists and psychological thrillers. We drew inspiration from Inception, a film keen to question dream and reality, which is highly evident in our film also, so it's a modern, engaging narrative which is progressive in terms of attitude towards understanding mental illness and how easy it is to be exploited due to suffering from a mental illness. To summarise, the narrative intellectually challenges our audience by questioning the key workings of the human mind, the sun genre of psychological thrillers support this action as a convention and this shows we have conformed to it to ensure our film is easily identifiable as a psychological thriller.
Titles
Titles are important to films, as they provide a unique brand name and provoke thought from the audience as to what the film is about. Our typeface is Avenir Light, as we felt this was a Sans Serif typeface (due to it not containing no embellishments) that didn't reveal to much about our film, as we wanted our audience to be more engaged by dramatic elements and technical phases of our film, not being able to identify the film through typeography in the opening 10 seconds. I would argue this is probably one of the only parts of our film that doesn't conform to the genre due to the lack of identity compared to films such as Psycho have in their title sequence. Positionally, we placed the font in the centre of our screen as it is vital to be readable to our audience, and the text is all displayed in block capitals, meaning there are no descending or ascending topics which would dominate the typeface should this not be presented in block capitals. This is metaphorical of the equality that should be evident in society, and the colour of the typeface (white) on a black background makes it clear and easy to identify. The line under the typeface gives the typeface boldness and identity which makes it easy to read and neatly presented. The kerning of the typeface is consistent throughout and that's important for presentability and consistency in our typography. The typeface contains vertical stems in characters such as ‘T’ and ‘I’ which is good for clarity and precision but also looks presentable and while simplistic, it's extremely effective. I think if you've seen films such as Seven you'll realise our typeography isn't as flashy but that's due to the low budget of our production and lack of specialism in this area. That's not to say that it isn't effective, the animation that supports the typeography is very effective and keeps the film moving. Does it conform to our genre? No, but it is present, clear and provides good connotations, which is all that's needed
Editing
Our editing conforms to the genre of psychological thriller as it is quick in pace and intellectually challenged the audience. In the opening, Masterson is seen walking and glancing over his shoulder from a variety of angles which is good, simple match on action as continuity is present and match on action is displayed, however, to make these shots of walking more dynamic and better viewing, short, sharp bursts of a character sprinting is played during this moment, which not only makes the scene more tense and exciting, but is reflective of the fragile mental state of Masterson, who is struggling to adjust with his mental illness and that symbolises this moment in particular. The quick paced cuts match the action as it psychological thrillers should be quick in pace both through narrative and editing, and we did debate using a series of jump cuts, however, we didn't want to conform to horror film conventions rather than that of psychological thriller.
We use cross cutting to cut to snippets of a character sprinting. Generally, our shots are immersive and edits quick and leave plenty of intrigue for the audience who want to be left with mystery from this opening sequence. The 30 degree rule allowed us to get a range of perspectives on the same thing at a given time, for example, when Masterson is walking and glancing over his shoulders whilst a tracking shot is being used, as this allows the audience to fully survey the scene but also creates the illusion that the audience are hiding from the unsuspecting Masterson ready to attack him. Short, quick, simple cuts are the main source of cuts evident, as that's is conforming to the genre of our film, and also, using a dream or a flashback is something that happens in a lot of psychological thrillers and that's something we were well aware of when considering editing.
To summarise this question, I think we have conformed with the genre a huge amount, and that's hugely important when grieving your audience identification and expanding branding opportunities. Also, it is something that has been inspired by a lot of media in all its forms and has been subtlety referenced one way or another in the opening 2 minutes of our film. Conforming to a genres conventions was something we found extremely pleasing and creativity, it gave us a set of easy rules and guidelines to follow in order to make this film a success.
Wednesday 1 March 2017
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