EVALUATION TASK 1 –

CONVENTIONS OF A THRILLER

By Alex Harris

EDITING

The amount of time allocated to both the killer and basketball player suggests they have equal importance within the thriller.

Dramatic irony was created as the killer is wiping his face and as you see him put on the mask the audience knows something dangerous is about to happen.

Cross cuts were used between the killings and the basketball player which shows action and intensity on opposite sides of a spectrum.

SOUND We used non-diegetic music in order to

create a binary opposition of sounds within both the killings and the basketball player footage. We did this in order to convey a sense of mystery and suspense.

Synchronous sounds were used such as the diegetic enhanced audio of the tap water.

We did not include any diegetic dialogue in our film, as we believed that it would suit the atmosphere much better, as there was constant action during the film so there was no need for any dialogue.

CAMERA

There were multiple low angle shots on the killer, which identify him as a high status throughout the film. This would allow the audience to acknowledge the fact that he plays a major role in the film.

The prolonged shots of both the killer and basketball player indicates their importance in the film, which could be because they have similar traits and may have connections.

A variety of close ups were used in our film such as when the killer is washing his hands in the bathroom, which indicates his emotions as he is a cold-blooded killer.

COSTUME The costume we used for the killer is very

significant as it gives away no emotion from the killer. The duck mask also helps as the people who get killed are panicked as well as confused as they see someone with a duck mask on walking towards them, with a gun in hand.

The basketball player is wearing a kit which immediately shows innocence and makes the actor seem like he is just practising his basketball, but he is not as innocent as it first seems.

We wanted to kill some students in uniform and some in non uniform to highlight that we are in a high school as you have students whom are about 12 years old and those who are in sixth form and around 18.

ACTORS

We employed a teenager to act as the killer so that the storyline of a high school massacre was more realistic and believable. Similarly, we used a teenager for the

basketball player as it would seem odd if the a grown man was in a high school playing basketball during the school day.

We also employed people to play as teachers to emphasize that we are in a school to make the story more believable.

PROPS

We used blood in the opening sequences when the killer was washing his hands. The use of blood gave an indication to the audience that he is a killer and is involved in dangerous activities, and also foreshadowed the horrid events which followed.

The other prop we used was a machine gun, which portrayed the character of the killer as evil and cold-hearted. The gun also conveyed how many people would be killed in the film.

TITLES The change in font for some of the

companies mentioned in our titles were based off a film called ‘Ae Fond Kiss’, which we based our titles off, as certain companies had certain fonts used in the titles. We also decided to include our names that faded in and out throughout the screen, to show the full use of area around the video.