Evaluation Activity; One

My film, ‘The Package’ helps to develop the codes and conventions of a thriller due to the quick cuts used in editing and the different close ups in cinematography shown in the above pictures. We used a lot of close ups to help create that intensity that is shown in thrillers. The picture above, the extreme close up of John's face, shows the full emotion on his face once he has been kidnapped by the antagonist. It helps the audience to see and understand the feelings John is going through. Most of the shots associated with thrillers in editing are quick to help create excitement and enigmas. Since this is what we used in our film, it helps it look more realistic and easy to generalise to this genre. However we did manage to challenge typical conventions via cinematography by using a point of view shot. Not many thrillers consist of shots like this. We thought it would be interesting to add as we can get a sense of the emotions and views the protagonist is going through making the film all the more exciting.

Although our story line may seem like a typical thriller linked with crime and gang life, our protagonist isn’t an obvious character for the codes and conventions. Most protagonists in thrillers are people who previously worked for the government in some sort of way, or have intense specific skills which help them become successful towards the end of the story. Our protagonist is a lot younger than most and is just a typical teenage boy caught up in a bad lifestyle. The picture of John crouching on the floor shows us the mise-en-scene and setting, it is easily recognisable that John is not a typical protagonist from a thriller. The setting is clearly an educational environment. We wanted to let the audience know straight away that we was challenging the codes and conventions. We decided to have our film challenge this code to try and create a slightly unique storyline, also to make our film more relatable and accessible to the younger generation but also enjoyable for those who are older aswell. As our sequence is only two minutes in length we had to make sure they characters could be distinguished quickly into protagonist and antagonist.

We set the scene pretty quickly in our sequence. We chose a college because we have a much younger character playing and we wanted to connote the audience the difference between this thriller and most thrillers. The long corridors and stairs are perfect for a chase creating obstacles for our protagonist to face. We used a small simple briefcase to make the audience question about the importance of this bag. It is not stated what is inside it if anything. This allows the audience to question what kind of trouble this boy has got himself in and what consequences will he suffer because of this.

Our title name is shown near the beginning of the opening sequence, just after 20 seconds. It gives the audience an idea of what the story will be about and also to prepare them for the quick pace of the film. It also contrasts to the majority of thrillers as they usually wait a bit longer in the opening sequence to show the title. We used very simple yet effective colours; black and white. The font is in block form but also slightly blurred to give it an edgy shaken effect.