EDITED 07/01/14: Q1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My thriller falls in to the category of British Gangster. Throughout my piece I have both used and challenged the conventions of this genre to create and interesting and original piece of film.

Opening of 'Essex Boys'

Locations

The locations of British Gangster films are bleak, gritty, common places that are synonymous with the industrial outskirts of British cities. By using these locations, the dark, hopeless tone of the films are better created. In my thriller, I took heavy inspiration from these kinds of locations and adopted the idea that gritty locations help portray the dark nature of the film.

Figure 1

Figure 2

In 'Essex boys' locations are used effectively to convey a bleakness which epitomises the tone of the film. The locations of my thriller such as those seen in figure 1 and 2 imitate this as the locations are extremely bleak and common around England. The large brick walls in figure 1 create connotations of hopelessness as the audience recognises them from the countless high rise developments that are present in the outskirts of all British cities. In addition to this the presence of the small character in the centre of them makes them seem very consuming as if the bleakness if swallowing her. In Figure 2 the combination of the dirty, gritty bridge as well as the grey, uninspiring building behind and the equally grey overcast sky all convey a desolate tone as if the character is trapped in a world of bleakness and grey. Furthermore the sky, traditionally a symbol of freedom and escape, is overcast and grey and so epitomises the lack of escape the character faces. 'Essex Boys' was the inspiration for the choice of location in my thriller as it highlights the way British Gangster films use locations to portray the tone of their productions. Additionally the use of vanishing points in figure 2 was also inspired by 'Essex Boys'. Throughout the opening of 'Essex Boys' obscured vanishing points are used metaphorically to portray a hopeless and bleak tone as if the audience can never quite see out of the dark, criminal world the characters inhabit (see photo of Essex Boys opening). By integrating obscured vanishing points in to our locations and shots such as in figure 2, they are made to seem

even more hopeless and bleak; they have the same impact on our audience making them feel as if there is no way out.

Costume

Alice Creed

While my thriller uses the conventional locations of a British Gangster, the choice of costumes challenges and develops the expectations of the genre. In British Gangsters the costumes worn are usually dull and dark to portray the unglamorous and un-stylistic nature of the films. Costumes such as these are used throughout 'Alice Creed'; the main characters are either in very common attire or in all black with balaclavas. However in my thriller I wanted to use costumes that conveyed messages and meanings about the characters who were wearing them.

 For the main character, I wanted a costume that both inferred her broken and disjointed life and personality as well as her resilience and desire to still be glamorous and attractive. For the broken part of her character I used costume conventions of British Gangster. She wore very ordinary, slightly damaged clothing: a black hoodie, ripped tights, dark top and wore her hair in a every day messy bun. However for the resilient part of her personality I decided to use costume conventions of film noir; red shoes and red lipstick. These costume features are heavily associated with film noir and typically portray a sense of danger as well as femininity. I think the hybrid costume that she wore in the final product perfectly conveyed the two sides of her personality: broken and damaged but resilient.



For the detective character I decided that using costume aspects that link to film noir would work well in regards to challenging and adapting the conventions of British Gangster. The detective in my thriller opening wore a long, brown overcoat, dark sunglasses and a large wrist watch. These are all things the typical film noir detective character would wear. However to develop this traditional character design, I decided the detective character should be female and thus an original development was created. By making the detective female, a more modern and so more British  Gangster like character was created. Whilst the costume still retains the majority of its influence from film noir, it is still a hybrid between the two genres in the way it is adapted.

By challenging and adapting the costume conventions of real British Gangster films by merging them with aspects of film noir costumes, my thriller opening has an original and modern feel.

Sound and Titles

During my thriller research I looked closely at how the British Gangster film 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' titles are used to enhance the opening of the film. Instead of in more modern, sleek looking thrillers such as 'Layer Cake' where the titles are integrated in to shots and are even swept in via movement in the scene, British gangster films such as 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Essex Boys' have titles behind black screens which are in no way integrated with the shots. The effect of this is a cold, brutal title sequence which helps connote the tone of the film that follows. I took inspiration from this and adopted this kind of sequence for my thriller opening. I think this conventional title sequence both helps creates a slow build of tension as well as connotes a sense of brutality; in this film things are either black or white. The font I chose also helps to portray this. Typically, British Gangster films use bold, sans serif fonts in their title sequence to help portray the hard, bleak nature of the film; there is no stylish font. I stuck to this convention and for both my credits and the title of

my thriller used sans serif fonts. These worked well with the unintegrated, black background to give the opening a hard, bleak tone. My thriller took inspiration font-wise and title sequence-wise from "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". The font we used for credits was also highly contemporary in it's style; a bold, clear font is very fashionable in the modern day. This contemporary, modern font links to the fact that our film is also very modern. The grittiness and realism of it is a style common in modern day thrillers as it allows the audience to engage more with the film. Additionally the gender roles of my film are original and challenging convention further strengthen the contemporary feel to my thriller. By using fashionable, modern fonts for our credits the audience immediately understands better our thriller. I decided that the standard conventions would work well for my thriller. I was heavily influenced by the way the dietetic sound in 'lock stock' carried on underneath the titles. This technique allowed the opening to steadily build tension and made it less like a dramatic trailer for a large, block buster action film. I used this technique in my thriller and kept the wild track of the toilet location underneath my titles. As a whole my title sequence adopts many of the common techniques found in British Gangster films; in this aspect it is a very conventional.

Sound

As well as using conventional sound editing techniques in the title sequence of my thriller, as a whole the use of sound in my thriller follows the rules and conventions of thriller films. One way it does so is by the using fake atmos tracks to give a constant sound to the scene location. For example in the scene when the main character is walking over the bridge above the heavy traffic, the audience can hear the sound of a busy wet road with vehicles driving along. As well as this there are distant sirens. This sound was not recorded on location and was instead added during editing to make the scene feel more realistic as well as to give it a slightly bleaker, more hopeless tone via the addition of the distant sirens. The sirens make the audience feel as criminality and darkness is omnipresent in the city the main character resides whilst the traffic sound simply adds to the harsh realism of the opening. This technique is used in almost all thriller but is especially noticeable in the thriller "Se7en". In the opening to "Se7en" the sound of the city including traffic, sirens, rain and shouting can always be heard. This makes it seem as if the dark city is always seeping in to Morgan Freeman's character and is inescapable. While not the focus of the film, the fact that the bleak sounds of the city can always be heard means that the film constantly has a dark, hopeless tone. By taking inspiration from "Se7en" I integrated this technique in to my thriller and it helped to both add a quality to my thriller by making each shot transition smoothly but also helped to maintain a bleak tone.

Additionally, my thriller also uses non-diegetic sound-beds and drones to help gradually build tension. This technique is regularly used in countless films and is a simple yet effective way to let the audience know that something bad is about to happen. By gradually building up the volume of the intimidating drone, the audience becomes more aware of the threatening tone and so assumes something bad is about to happen. this is another example of how my thriller uses sound conventionally. I took inspiration from "Se7en" and other thrillers, using techniques common in film to add to the quality of my own production.

Camerawork

In my thriller opening I use a variety of shots and camera angles to both portray meanings and messages but also to link to some conventional and unconventional aspects of British Gangster films. Throughout my thriller, I use compositional techniques such as quadrants and rule of thirds to portray to the reader deeper meanings and messages. This technique is used in all sub genres of Thriller films including British Gangster films as a subtle yet effective and professional way to infer information about characters to the reader.

Alice Creed

Figure 3

For example in this shot from 'Alice Creed' quadrants are used to portray to the audience both the differences in the characters as well as the two story lines that are happening simultaneously on screen. This subtle and effective technique is used throughout 'Alice creed' to infer to the reader the multiple intentions of the characters. Taking inspiration from this, I implemented this technique in to my own thriller. As shown in figure 3, on one side of the shot in the distance is the main female character and on the other an imposing figure. This helps highlight the good and bad that is present throughout my thriller. By adopting techniques such as these in to my opening, the audience can infer deeper meanings than the ones clearly on show. Additionally using conventional, modern techniques such as this help help my thriller fit in to the genre of British Gangster.

However while I chose to implement these more modern compositional techniques I also included shots that make reference to other genres of thrillers such as film noir. In the scene where the main character is walking through an under pass I used a shot type that takes direct inspiration from 'The Third Man'- a film noir classic.

Shot from the third man

In this iconic shot from 'The Third Man', vanishing points, chiarascuro lighting and off centre composition all help to create a shot which connotes a bleakness and lack of hope. By having obscured vanishing points and a character placed slightly off centre the shot implies to the reader an imbalance that in turn creates an uneasy tone. The shot is representative of the tensions in Europe of the time, a feature prominent in most film noir. The shot is highly stylistic and an icon of the genre. In my thriller, I created a shot of the main character walking in an underpass that is heavily influenced by this shot. There are several obscured vanishing points, high contrast lighting and a character placed slightly off centre which all combine to create a shot that emanates unease. This shot comes directly

Shot from my thriller

before the death of the main character and so
 works well in building tension and creating an
 unnerving tone.

By taking inspiration from both conventional British Gangsters as well as Film Noir, the shots in my thriller have a wide variety of inspiration. This in turn creates an interesting and engaging opening that both adopts and adapts conventional British Gangster techniques.

Toilet Scene

figure 5

figure 6

figure 7

In the opening scene, a combination of shots are used to create a feeling of claustrophobia. The opening shot for example (figure 5) is directly above the main character and shows her in a grimy, small toilet space. As well as creating an uncomfortable tone of surveillance as if the audience is observing the character without her knowing, it also is a very claustrophobic shot as there is little space around the main character: she takes up most of the shot. This sense of claustrophobia is maintained throughout the opening scene. The use of obscured shot for example (figure 6) maintains this feeling of entrapment. half of the shot is taken up by the corner of a wall leaving only a very small space for the character. As well as this this shot helps maintain an uncomfortable tone as if the audience is watching her without er knowledge. The use of closeups also helps strengthen the tight, claustrophobic feel to the opening scene. Figure 7 shows the closeup of the main character applying lipstick. By providing the audience with an intrusive closeup of the main character doing something that would normally be private the uncomfortable, claustrophobic and overall gritty and harsh tone is maintained. By refusing to give the audience a long shot of the main character, the audience always feels incredible close to her strengthening the trapped, enclosed tone of the scene. By creating this harsh tone immediately, the audience quickly understands the nature of the film that is to follow allowing g them to engage with it more effectively. The inspiration for this claustrophobic opening comes from the film "Pi". Throughout "Pi" tight, claustrophobic shots are used to create

Shot from "Pi" that highlights the claustrophobia of the film

an uncomfortable tone that helps portray the
darkness and mental state of the main
character. We decided that we could adopt this technique in to our thriller to portray a darkness and harshness in regards to the main character and the world she inhabits.
 






Lighting and colour

High contrast, no key lighting

In thrillers the lighting and colour is used to portray meanings and messages about specific characters as well as the film as a whole. I adopted this convention and in my thriller I used both lighting and a specific colour palette to enforce the tone of my British Gangster thriller. The lighting throughout my thriller is not extreme in anyway: in almost every shot there is an equal balance of key, fill and back lighting and the effect of this is a lack of deep shadows. By keeping the lighting very natural throughout the bleak tone of the film is enhanced; nothing is too dark or too bright and instead everything is very average. As well as maintaining the bleak tone of the film, my keeping the lighting as ordinary and natural as possible the realism of the film is enhanced. The audience therefore can relate to the film more effectively as it feels even more realistic and harsh. The only time my thriller breaks this rule is in the final scene where the main character enters the underpass. At this point the lighting changes and becomes more artificial. There is minimal key lighting in this scene and so the characters face becomes shadowed and non-visible. By doing this, the lighting becomes more similar to film noir, chiaroscuro lighting and so the reference to "The Third Man" becomes more apparent and effective. Additionally this change in the lighting balance has metaphorical connotations. As the character nears her death, the shadowing of her face symbolises how the darkness of the city and world she lives in is finally overcoming her and engulfing her. While the lighting before this symbolised how her resilience was balancing the bleakness and hopelessness of her situation, as she nears her end the change in lighting represents the change in balance. In a way the lighting used in my thriller is conventional. The lighting prior to the final scene is common in British Gangsters such as "Essex Boys" and "Alice Creed" while the more high intensity lighting in the final scene is conventional in film noir such as in "The Third Man". However the use of both in one opening and the change between the two is not so conventional and more unique to my opening.

De-saturated colour palette makes everything seem bland and bleak

The colour palette of my thriller is very de-saturated and void of any bright colour. The effect of this is a very bleak overall look to my thriller. In the bathroom scene, this increases how dirty and grimy everything looks and in the outdoor scenes it makes the grey overcast sky more enhanced. To the audience it feels as if the hopelessness of the main characters situation has not only drained the happiness and hope she once had but is also taking away the bright colour of the world they see. Using a de-saturated colour palette is common in British Gangster thrillers such as "Essex Boys" and "Alice Creed" and so by using this technique my thriller is in this sense conventional.

Narrative

Throughout my thriller the main narrative code that is used is enigma. I used handful of other techniques used such as the foreshadowing created by the high pitched white noise in the title screen and then again in the murder seen but having researched thrillers extensively I decided that the main narrative code that I wanted to integrate in to my film was enigma. In almost every sub genre of thriller from film noir to neo-
noir, from British Gangster to crime thrillers enigma is used to captivate and engage with the audience by making them ask questions. By providing a sense of mystery an audience is immediately more interested as they have a desire to find out the answer. I decided to use this traditional convention of thrillers and use enigma throughout my thriller.

The opening scene immediately makes the audience question my thriller; they want to know why this woman is seemingly getting ready to go out somewhere in a public toilet. This combination of something that is normally done privately in a place that is very public creates a kind of confusion hat eventually leads to enigma. The audience know nothing about the main character and so can't know why she is preparing herself in the toilet. This enigma combined with the claustrophobic, uncomfortable camera shots makes the opening an effective and engaging way to start my thriller. The enigmatic tone of my thriller is continued as the main character meets with a detective. When the two meet and interact there is no dialogue. Having watched and studied "Essex Boys" I discovered that having two characters interact with no dialogue such as in "Essex Boys"' opening, is a fantastic technique for creating enigma. This is because the audience feel excluded: the two characters know exactly what's going on and as result do not even need to talk where as the audience are expecting to gain information about the situation from dialogue and do not get this satisfaction. To further enhance the enigma of my opening I decided to not use any dialogue at all. This leaves the audience with no way of getting their questions answered and so engages them more and more.

The envelope is symbolic of my thriller's enigma

Finally, I used a prop to optimise the enigmatic tone of my thriller: an envelope. An envelope is an item that holds information and can be opened to obtain that information and so metaphorically was a perfect choice to add further mystery to my production. The initial opening of my thriller combined with the lack of dialogue throughout means that even before the audience are introduced to the envelope they already have several questions that they are looking for answers to. When the envelope is introduced however, the audience feel as if this is what can bring light to some of their queries. However when the envelope is finally opened the audience only get to see the contents of it for a second before the screen goes dark and the main character is killed. By doing this the mystery and enigma of the thriller as a whole in intensified. The audience presume that the envelope will answer the questions that they have regarding the character and her situation while in reality it simply heightens the enigma.

Mystery and enigma is an essential part in all thrillers and by raising many questions in the opening of my Births Gangster thriller, I have engaged with and intrigued the audience making them more likely to watch and enjoy the rest of my film.