CCR

CCR

• QUESTION 1.

The use of dark lighting is a staple of thrillers. It builds suspense and tension, especially in a high-stakes situation. Darkness usually represents the unknown, linking to things hidden like hidden threats and dangers. In our project we shot the scene at night and / or indoors only using low, warm light inside. Our use of darkness came from the idea that the min characters have committed a crime and now need to hide their actions in the dark, linking the dark lighting to the idea that evil takes place in it. The use of dark lighting, “creepy” music, and dangerous objects are used to build tension, more plot devices, such as the knife, are added into the story as it progresses. The narrative structure of the clip shows a continually building climax going from the frantic body language in the beginning, to the shouting, then the knife reveal, to the climax with the kidnapped girl in the car.

Most of the clip is shot at mid-angles giving the clip a sense of relatability to the audience, as if they are in the clip. This helps build tension. Our group used the convention of mid-angles as well as a few high angles, such as when the camera looks down on the kidnapped girl. The high angle is used to minimise her and portray that she is helpless in her situation. In some scenes the camera is a bit shaky and follows the characters around, this give the audience the sense of being in the situation, participating. The use of having an unstable camera and following the character is a common convention in thrillers as it gives the camera a human point of view. The editing was a more difficult process, the quick cuts showing the dialogue shown. While quick cuts are also a common convention, the clip did not utilise them as much as it could have.

The use of symbols is also a staple of thrillers, either to foreshadow or imply ideas to the audience. In the clip there were many symbolic props utilised to both foreshadow what was to come and imply the ideas of things such as danger, evil, high stakes, etc… There is a style difference in the clothing of the kidnapper and kidnapped; the kidnappers wore worm clothes representing a lower status contrasting the higher quality clothes of the kidnapped. Other symbols include the red cloth used for cleaning the knife – red is commonly associated with danger and the knife is also a symbol of danger and death. There is foreshadowing through the danger symbolised.

• QUESTION 2.

In our production, we have 3 characters: two kidnappers (one male and one female) and a kidnapped girl. The male kidnapper is the one who enacts the kidnapping of the girl. He is joined by his female accomplice. He is depicted as the mastermind behind the crime, the character is keeping the plan together while the female kidnapper is shown as emotional and unable to cope well with the pressure. The kidnapped girl, though only seen for a few seconds, is portrayed as innocent and frightened. This elicits sympathy from the audience as the kidnapped girl is supposedly like anybody else.

The story starts with a meeting between a male and female, arguing about something that is clearly bad in nature. The female storms out, leaving the male in the room full of tools. He takes a knife and starts cleaning it with a red cloth. The fact that he had to clean the knife indicates that it was used, leaving it to the audience’s imagination as to what the knife was used for. Then the story narrative of the clip comes to an end as the main character reveals a kidnapped girl tied up in the boot of a car. The point of view the clip shows is that of the kidnappers (mainly the male), as he enacts his plan. The clip engages the viewer through the high-paced narrative tempo and a build in suspense, creating an emotive response from the audience, investing them in the story. The editing used in the clip was simple and could have used more cuts to create a build-up in tension and slowing down or speeding the clip could have improved the psychological effects created by the high-stakes situation being portrayed.

• QUESTION 3.

I had little experience with any part of production prior to this, where I acted a Director / Timekeeper and Lighting Person. We set up in an underground workshop located next to a covered parking area. We started shooting at 6:00 pm, inside the Workshop, as the clip takes place at night in the narrative. We worked on the scene for 30 to 60 minutes, then we had to wait for it to become dark (about 2 hours), before being able to shoot the next scenes outside. The 6:00 pm start time could have been pushed to 7:00 – 7:30 pm. We finished our shoot at 10:30 pm and packed away the equipment. During our filming, the indoor shots in the Workshop were challenging at times as we covered up tools and machinery with tarps and burlap sacks. Because of a lack of space, placing the lights and reflective board, some shots had to be retaken earlier on in the filming as lights were caught in the shot and some shots had to be edited to cut out where the camera had caught the lights.

In my Peer Review, they commentated on the sound volume saying that the soundtrack clashed with the dialogue as the dialogue was not loud enough.

• QUESTION 4.

I found the integration of technology to be rather difficult in this project, the process of constructing and editing footage was completely new to me. The most difficult part was learning the programme, After Effects. The process took hours to figure out which led me to a use a simple Strobing Title. The upload process didn’t take too long to learn, however, changing the video format from Premier Pro caused me a few problems, such as corruption occurring in the first upload of the video to YouTube. The conversion from music (royalty free, copyright free) on YouTube to audio file was easy, only taking a few minutes.