In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our movie borrows aspects of many tropes of the psychological thriller genre. It follows the typical plot line, with two adversarial forces opposing each other; it also stays with the typical themes of the genre- these being murder and revenge. These make it easily recognisable as a psychological thriller to the audience.
For example, our main character is given the majority of screen time and introduced with his appropriate themes first. This also pushes that he is the driving force behind conflict within the movie. With the film revolving around three teenagers finding a dead body and the aftermath, we felt it appropriate to show Charlie more frequently. This identifies with typical psychological thriller works as they have a main character that the film follows in order to show their arc. An example of this would be in The Machinist, which I had researched before creating the film. Trevor is given the most action and on screen time within the first 15 minutes, accompanied by dark shots whenever he is involved. Direct parallels can be drawn between our opening shots and the ones from The Machinist.
Furthermore, we used multiple close ups to show facial reactions to the major event of finding a dead body; this mirrors reactions to events similar to this such as in films like Stand By Me. This is typical of the genre, as it keeps the audience in suspense while informing them of the characters' emotions. Our linear narrative, while clear, perhaps breaks from the traditional mould as the majority of psychological thrillers involve flashbacks to add context. In Tarantino's pulp fiction, flashbacks are used from two perspectives to illustrate the two-sided nature of a psychological thriller. Whereas, in our film, the linear nature adds context as it moves through dialogue, eliminating the need for flashbacks.
During the above shot, music plays to intensify the build up to the event. This is typical of most psychological thriller movies. This is shown in Jaws, when the music grows louder and faster up to the appearance of the shark. As such, the pace of the editing grows to finding the body. Longer shots are used in the earlier scene, followed by a fast series of the shot/reverse shot technique later on. This is typical of the genre as fast paced editing signifies intensity and importance, something that the genre relies on to be interesting.
For example, our main character is given the majority of screen time and introduced with his appropriate themes first. This also pushes that he is the driving force behind conflict within the movie. With the film revolving around three teenagers finding a dead body and the aftermath, we felt it appropriate to show Charlie more frequently. This identifies with typical psychological thriller works as they have a main character that the film follows in order to show their arc. An example of this would be in The Machinist, which I had researched before creating the film. Trevor is given the most action and on screen time within the first 15 minutes, accompanied by dark shots whenever he is involved. Direct parallels can be drawn between our opening shots and the ones from The Machinist.
Furthermore, we used multiple close ups to show facial reactions to the major event of finding a dead body; this mirrors reactions to events similar to this such as in films like Stand By Me. This is typical of the genre, as it keeps the audience in suspense while informing them of the characters' emotions. Our linear narrative, while clear, perhaps breaks from the traditional mould as the majority of psychological thrillers involve flashbacks to add context. In Tarantino's pulp fiction, flashbacks are used from two perspectives to illustrate the two-sided nature of a psychological thriller. Whereas, in our film, the linear nature adds context as it moves through dialogue, eliminating the need for flashbacks.
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