Evaluation question 1

Convention defines as the "typical way in which something is usually done", so therefore in the film industry following convention is usually a safe, secure way to go as it avoids taking any big chances regarding customer satisfaction. It can often play an important role in making a film that appeals to the masses and this because by sticking to the well recieved conventions of a film genre you are playing it safe and giving the audience what they are used to, 'ticking the boxes' so to speak.

Often, however, some of the truly best movies are the ones that manage to defy convention.

When looking at the thriller genre there are multiple conventions that are generally associated with it. The aim of a thriller is to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and to 'thrill' them, therefore they often use suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thriller movies often focus around crime in the story and have a complex narrative structure with false paths, clues and resoloutions in order to keep the audience questioning. They tend to feature a protagonist against an antagonist where the antagonist presents multiple obstacles that the 'hero' must overcome be it a problem, an escape or a mystery.

 1. The Title

The title of a film is very important. This is because you have to consider that it has to not only draw the audience in but also represent the content of the film accurately, and this can be seen demonstrated in a number of thrillers names. For example, 'Taken' starring Liam Neeson is a perfect example of this in action. The film centres around a man who's daughter is 'taken' whilst she is on holiday in France and his relentless effort to find her and get her back. So after much consideration we decided on the name 'Gone' for our thriller. Firstly, the title relates to the content of our film (a convention of thrillers as demonstrated above), this is for two reasons. The first reason is that within our film the main characters were going to be picked off one by one leaving just the lead left to find out what was going on and why and where the others had 'gone'. The second reason is that 'Gone' is also a colloquial term for being on drugs, a theme within our film as the characters take LSD. Another reason our title sticks to the convention of thrillers is that it is a blunt, one word title. This is demonstrated often in thrillers with examples such as 'Psycho', 'Memento', 'Se7en' and 'M'. Interestingly, a month after choosing our title a thriller with exactly the same name was due for release, showing that our title was conventional enough to be picked up in mainstream cinema.

 2. Setting/Location 

The setting of a film is important as it is critical to the plot and overall feel you want to convey. Thrillers usually have a variety of changing settings and locations, varying as the protagonist hunts down the antagonist but ours is a slight twist on that. We wanted to convey a feel of entrapment and isolation as our main character struggles to comprehend what is going on, so we decided to have our movie change location as little as possible. The main setting of our film is the school, specifically the school after hours, where it is cold, dark, empty and generally a chilling place to be. 

Whilst we were not allowed to get far enough into the film to display the 'empty school' we did use it at the beginning, still busy to contrast with the later themes of isolation. The 'busy occupation building' is generally a convention in thrillers such as 'The Silence Of The Lambs', where the crowded CIA headquarters can be seen visited by Clarice at the start. Another convention of thrillers is portraying areas of crime, and sticking to this notion our film features a short drug dealing scene behind a rough and gloomy building, complete with leafless tree and old, dirty generators. 

 3. Costumes and props 

Choosing the right costume and props is essential to any film wanting to convey or represent something in a specific manor, which is why its crucially important, particularly in thrillers to select the appropriate ones. As thrillers center around providing the viewers with tense and drastic emotions they need the costumes to be realistic and relatable so that the audience can associate with and put themselves in the eyes of the protagonist. Equally, the selected props tend to foreshadow future events and raise certain questions, for instance the multiple props utilized in the opening to Se7en.

We had one big and clear prop in our opening, the drugs being handled by an anonymous figure. Drugs are are frequently found in thrillers as a prop, being used to portray the common occurring themes of depression, insanity, obsession and the impending danger that links to these. Our film stuck to this idea, using the drugs to connotate danger and the handling of these drugs to raise questions. Who is the handler? What are his motives? The drugs also foreshadow future events before we know they happen, for instance the drug consumption later in the film and the further danger it brings about. 

The costumes chosen for our main characters were selected to be representative of mainstream teenagers, as they are meant to be in the film. Representing the character appropriately is a fairly standard technique used in thrillers. We also chose this casual attire to (as previously stated) draw the audience further into the film. By putting our main characters in clothes that any of us could be realistically wearing the next day our audience feels more of a part in the movie and is easily able to connect with the characters and their emotions, a common method of thriller films for example.

The costume chosen for our 'dealer' was designed to connotate danger and ambiguity, two common themes of thrillers. We wanted to keep the audience guessing, so his face was covered and clothes completely blacked out. 

4. Camera work and editing 

Camera shots and editing in thriller movies usually tend to focus on building tension and atmosphere and this was no different in our film. For the first half of the opening the shots are slow and long, creating the sensation that time is going slowly in the exam and matching the eerie, steady music playing in the background. 

After the titles there is a brief and chaotic moment. The camera shakes around and the clips change quickly as clips of the drugs and outside flicker on and off shakily.We thought to implement this to catch the viewer off guard as it contrasted heavily with the slow paced, dragged out shots of the first scene and created a scary and disorientating moment of confusion. This is seen often in thrillers, by disorientating the viewer the film makes them confused and keeps them guessing. 

From here on out the shots are fairly standard and play out continually and steadily. The continuity is most noticeable in the scene where the two main characters are walking out of school. The camera follows them from many different angles but it always manages to seem realistic and flowing. We even went as far as to include the same person walking away in the distant background of a shot to retain the continuity. Continuity editing is a method seen in not just thrillers but all films and without it they wouldn't flow or generally look 'right'.  For example:

 Here our character can be seen walking.

Here he can be seen again, this time in the background of the next shot.

Towards the end of the intro we began to make the shots correspond in time with the music. This is something also seen in a lot of thriller movies, helping to increase the tension by matching the shots with the score.

 5. Title font and style

We wanted the font and style of our title to match other thrillers by appearing creepy and dramatic. Using Adobe After Effects I animated the writing so that it would flicker, looking scary. Then I added an animated graphic flame over the top and coloured it grey. By going to this extent we made our titles stand out and look professional, whilst avoiding looking cheesy. Over the top we placed an eerie sound effect using imovie and that helped to increase the tension and mysterious style of the film. 

 6. Story and how the opening sets it up 

Our story is quite typical of the thriller genre, but with a slight twist. A group of kids have just finished their examinations and to celebrate they decide to take LSD together in the school after sneaking in after closing time. Little do they know somebody is following them. One by one the group starts to go missing and it is up to the remaining girl to find out what is going on and track the kidnapper down. But is there even a kidnapper or is it just the drugs playing tricks on her mind? Our story sticks to the thriller convention of a protagonist against an antagonist but then shakes things up a little by adding the twist that our main characters reality is temporarily bent and her senses are untrustworthy. 

The opening sets this up appropriately. The shots inside the school set the basis of our location and are also there to contrast with the school again later in the film when it is empty. The shots of drugs being handled foreshadow the events to come.

 7. Genre and how the opening suggests it 

You cannot label your film within the thriller genre if it does not appear to be a thriller. To suggest that our film was this genre we did a number of things. Firstly we turned the coloring of all the clips down to make the film grayer and stylized. This helped to create a more serious and dark atmosphere found commonly in many thrillers. We also included mystery and enigma in the form of the hands wrapping the drugs and the mysterious drug dealer himself, raising questions for the audience to take a guess at.