LU CID A2 MEDIA EVALUATION AREK STEPANIAN & ALEX MACLEAN

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

Choice of Genre PSYCHOLOGICAL / THRILLER What inspired us: Enter the void Blow

Psychological Thriller codes and Conventions Psychological thrillers is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller and horror genres. It also often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, in addition the the typical traits of the thriller genre. Themes: Reality Perception Mind Existence/Purpose Identity Death Conventions: Shadows Low Saturation Lighting Fast Paced Shots Sound (Suspense / Drama) Iconography (pills) Narrative (Un Chronological) Flashbacks

Reality The quality of being real. Characters often try to determine what is true and what is not within the narrative.

Identity The definition of one’s self. Characters often are confused about who they are and aim to discover their true identity

Perception A person’s own interpretations of the world around him through his senses. Often characters misperceive the world around them, or their perceptions are altered by outside factors within the narrative.

Mind The human consciousness; the location for personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. The mind is often used as a location for narrative conflict, where characters battle their own minds to reach a new level of understanding or perception.

Existence / Purpose The object for which something exists; an aim or a goal humans strive towards to understand their reason for existence. Characters often try to discover what their purpose in their lives and the narrative’s conflict often is a way for the character to discover this purpose.

Analysis of chosen thriller Zodiac is a thriller created by Fincher. The codes and conventions of the Zodiac trailer are typical to an extent, however it can be argued that the trailer disobeys the typical codes and conventions of a thriller trailer. Central to the convention of the thriller is the use of Music. Zodiac obeys the norms of a thriller trailer in the opening of the trailer. The opening includes loud sound which contributes massively to creating suspense and highlighting the genre of the movie. On the other hand, the second half of the trailer uses non-diegetic old-school funk music which portrays the move as a more relaxed action movie. The choice of music may have been chosen as an anchor to the era of the film; the 60s. Therefore, to some extent the Zodiac trailer disobeys the codes and conventions of a thriller trailer through the use of music. Despite being more conservative and old fashioned in the introduction. Additionally, Fincher successfully uses dialogue in the Zodiac trailer to create tension. Fincher is often described as a modern day Hitchcock for his use of dialogue – which is depicted in this trailer. It is packed with dialogue, especially in the opening where the plot is unveiled. The lack of music in the opening of the trailer puts further emphasis on the dialogue – making dialogue an important part of the film.

LUCID FILM TRAILER Quick cut edits of camera angles Low level lighting, saturation Sound / Voiceover Development of codes and conventions

Trailer Structure Part 1 - Introduction – Mise en scene – sets the tone of the film (London) Part 2 – Plot – Voiceover Part 3 – Montage of shots

Mise en scene – introduces the theme of the movie.

Voiceover unveils the plot. As the trailer develops the shots change faster and music comes.

Narrative Conventions The Hero The Villain The Donor The Dispatcher The False Hero The Helper The Princess The Father Vladimir Propp’s Narrative Theory suggests that any story is built up around the guidelines of 8 types of central character roles. Lucid challenges Propp’s theory as there is only one central character in the movie, James.

Camera Work The conventions of camera work in psychological drama and thriller movies reflect the themes of the film itself.

Close up shot Make the audience feel introspective as the character is. The audience look closely into the character, reading into the characters facial expressions and therefore feeling more emotion.

Point of view shot Help make the audience relate to the character. Let’s the audience take a step into their shoes, and relate the situation to their own lives.

Long shot Creates deeper meaning by showing the scenery of the film. In this case it shows a gloomy London sky, which highlights the mood of the film which is depression and anxiety.

Film trailers often use review quotes, giving credit to the actors, directors etc. Datelines and straplines are also used as a device to make viewers more interested.

Soundtrack ‘Illest Alive’ by Clams Casino. We felt it fit perfectly with the fast paced shots we had. We only used this in the ending of the trailer because we wanted more emphasis on the voice over which unveiled the plot of the film. Psychological dramas often use suspense filled sound that puts the audience on edge. We did this in the introduction of our trailer. In trailers it is common for there to be little dialogue, to make what’s visible on screen have more importance. Shame was a movie we looked at for inspiration, as it showed us how to make a trailer effective without using dialogue.

Character Portrayal

-Strapline “All in the mind” -Release date -Lighting / Tone (saturation) -Setting -Body language / Facial expressions -Font

Thank you.