Final Thriller

This is my final thriller; Thou Shalt Not.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? (Task 7)

Below is my Prezi presentation that I have created which looks at my journey from my first prelim task to my final thriller. The Prezi describes the processes of both my prelim task and my thriller and how what I had learnt during my prelim task influenced and therefore helped me to improve upon my final thriller, Thou Shalt Not.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? (Task 6)

As a group we discussed the various technologies we used during the production of our thriller and what we had learnt from using these new technologies. In order to reflect on our understanding and what he had learnt about these technologies we created annotations for our YouTube video which describes which technologies we used and how we used them.

(Please play video below with annotations on.)

Overall we used a range of technologies such as cameras including the Sony NX5 in 1080p HD format, editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, for sound technologies we used a shotgun microphone as well as the sound editing software included in Adobe Premiere Pro, IMovie, embedding YouTube videos as well as posting videos to YouTube where some other skills I acquired from the production of my thriller. In addition to this speed adjustion was also another skill that I learnt during the editing process as well as portable lights to enhance the lighting in our thriller. 

From using these various technologies I feel like I have really improve my knowledge and skills of using different technologies and I have also had the opportunity to get to use them well which had enabled me to be more creative on the course. Before I started the AS Media Course I had never used any of these technologies or skills before and so I believe that I have really improved my skills and learnt a lot about technologies and software from the production of my thriller and I am now able to use all of the above software and technologies successfully and creatively. 

An example of this is the use of Adobe Premiere Pro, as before the course I had never edited a sequence before and now I have the skills to edit shots together using rushes, a timeline, a razor tool as well as change the colour grading and edit sound using the software. Another example is how I have been able to learn how to set up a tripod carefully, use the Sony NX5 and film a sequence as learn how to frame shots and decide on an appropriate camera angle or movement depending on the shot. Finally, I have gained a better understanding of all the technologies I have worked with over the production period of my thriller and I feel like from this understanding I have successfully improved and developed upon my skills with technologies. 

How did you attract/address your audience? (Task 5)

How did you attract/address your audience?

Below is a script I have created for an interview between an interviewer and the director of my opening sequence. The script addresses all of the questions which will help to convey how we attracted and addressed our audience in our opening sequence.

Good evening everybody today I am going to be interviewing the director of the upcoming psychological thriller entitled Thou Shalt Not which stars Mike Niland, Mike Timpson and Hannah Lane. I am here talking to the director Victoria Maximova about how she attracted and addressed the audience in the opening sequence she created. So, Victoria, firstly what will your target audience like about your opening sequence?

I believe that our target audience which is males aged between 15 and 20 will like the violence, the action, the thrill, the treat and of course the mystery that the opening sequence contains. In addition to this I believe that the audience will particularly like the fact that there is a dominating male character as well as the psychotic and deranged character of the psychopath. The weapons and torture element will of course be enjoyed by our target audience and finally the use of climax in the opening sequence will really engage our target audience. All of these elements s have really enabled us to attract and address our audience and draw them into the film.

What genre have you made?

We have made an opening sequence to a thriller film; however our opening sequence also happens to fall under the subgenre of a psychological thriller. A psychological thriller is basically a thriller story which puts an emphasis on the psychology of its characters as well as their unstable emotional states.

So what other films might your audience have been interested in?

 From our research and taking into account the plot line, genre and characters involved in our opening sequence, I would say that our audience would also enjoy films such as The Dark Knight, Taken, Se7en, Swordfish, Shutter Island and As good as Dead. These films are all similar to the one we have created and so our audience would be people who enjoy these type of films as if they were attracted to and engaged in these thriller films then they are going to love Thou Shalt Not! This leads me to think that if they have enjoyed the action and the characters in these films then they will certainly enjoy ours because we have played upon expectations that they have had from other films.

Where have you set your thriller?

We decided to set our thriller in a Church.

Why did you choose this location?

We decided to choose this location due to the fact that we really liked the juxtaposition between the narrative and the location as our plot is very violent, creepy and thrilling however this is sharply contrasted against the purity, holiness and sanctuary of a church. In addition to this we also felt like a church provides a very creepy atmosphere and it also provides a very aesthetically pleasing location which works well at attracting and addressing our audience.

Do you think your audience will respond to this location and if so why?

I believe that our choice of location will work effectively at attracting an audience because it will cause contradiction as it will make the audience feel uncomfortable due to the fact that the narrative and the location are being juxtaposed against one another. This will ultimately put the audience on the edge of their seats which will therefore attract the audience to come and watch our film.

What is your plot line?

Our plot line follows a deranged psychopath who is holding a young girl hostage in a church and torturing her. However she is soon rescued by an inspector who come sin to negotiate with the psychopath.

How would this attract your audience?

In my opinion, this would attract an audience because it is a thrilling and mysterious plot line which will put the audience on edge and is also allows the audience to pose questions. This leads me to think that this is attract and audience because they will want to know what happens to the characters and where the narrative goes which will ultimately attract and audience to watch the film.

How would that address what they are expecting as an audience?

They are expecting to see something thrilling and suspenseful and in addition this they are also expecting to feel engaged and surprised through an intense narrative. I believe we have given them everything they expect to see within our opening sequence therefore this will work effectively at addressing the audience expectations and therefore attracting an audience to watch our opening sequence.

 

What are the characters like and will the audience like them?

The first character is the young girl who is being held hostage. She is innocent, naïve and very vulnerable. I believe the audience will like her because she is helpless and therefore they will feel empathy towards this character. The actress is also very attractive and so this will appeal to our target audience. The next character is the deranged psychopath and I believe that the audience will like this character even though they know that they shouldn’t simply because he is creepy yet engaging and mysterious. This character will attract our target audience because they will be intrigued by the unpredictability of the character. Finally, later on in the sequence the audience are introduced to the character of an inspector and I believe that they will like this character because he is he good guy however they won’t find him as engaging and intriguing as the other characters from my point of view.

What narrative devices have you used in your thriller?

We have used the narrative device of suspense throughout our opening sequence in order to attract and engage our audience as the use of suspense will keep the audience on the edge of their seats and intrigued to find our more and have their questions answered. In addition to this we have also used an unexpected reveal when the young victim stabs the psychopath which is the pivotal point of the sequence and provides the most suspense and tension within the sequence as well as being the climax of the opening sequence. This will definitely attract an audience because it is a pivotal moment in the sequence and contain all of the elements that the audience were expecting as well as an unexpected moment which will intrigue them even more. However we also used the narrative device of an anti-climax when the psychopath holds a torture weapon to the young girl’s mouth and threatens to pull out her teeth. This again will work well at attracting our audience because it will keep them on the edge of their seats and make them want to find out more.

Which social groups are you appealing to and how?

My opening sequence is appealing to 15-20 year old males, which is our target audience for the film. We are appealing to this social group through the use of suspense, action and thrill as well as an attractive female character that is almost like a damsel in distress. In addition to this we also used weapons as well as an engaging and intriguing plot. All of these elements not only appear to our audience but they also work effectively at attracting and addressing our audience to watch our film.

Do you have any music in you thriller? If so what kind and why?

Yes we have used music in our thriller in order to build the world of the film. We used 2 different non-diegetic soundtracks as well as the diegetic sound effect of church bells. We did this not only to build the world of the film and create a sense of atmosphere and add to the tension and suspense created through the narrative but also to reinforce that the film is set in a church. I believe that the audience will enjoy the use of sound and music in our film because it will creep them out as well as put them on the edge of their seats and allow them to immerse themselves into the world of the film.

What do the titles suggest about your film?

The titles we have used in our film suggest that the actors used are very well known and that our production company is a big institution. We have done this in order to intrigue and attract our audience. The use of the title cards being on top of the images rather than splitting up the narrative and putting them on a black background suggests that the people and the institution are famous and important. This is reinforced due to the fact that we have used first names as well as surnames which make the actors appear more important and the use of the professional font also reinforces this. The use of the unique logo for our production company also suggests that we are a big institution that is very famous and overall the use of the titles and the fonts/logos will help to attract and address our audience to our film.  

What editing techniques have you used?

We used a variety of editing techniques in order to engage and attract our audience. We used short shot duration in order to keep the audience interested and intrigued and this also added to the tension and suspense created in the narrative. In addition to this we also used colour grading which made the sequence a lot darker which added to the suspense as well, therefore attracting an audience. We edited our sequence in a linear way meaning that it played in chronological order which allowed the audience to engage with the narrative as well as being a very familiar style for the audience. Despite the fact that we used short shot duration throughout the majority of our opening sequence we decided to use a longer shot duration for the shot where the psychopath cuts his tongue on the knife in order to make the audience feel uncomfortable, which would ultimately attract and address our audience effectively.

What genre conventions did you use?

We used a variety of conventions of thriller films in order to attract and address our audience. Genres usually have specific elements that that the audience expects to be used due to the fact that these elements have been used very frequently in previous films of the same genre or sub genre. For example, in a thriller film the conventions could be weapons, violence and sometimes action or mystery depending on the sub genre. We used the conventions of weapons, violence, action, mystery, suspense, tension and thrill in our opening sequence which enabled us to attract and address our audience. Genre conventions are very important for both the producers and the audience of the films because they are used to engage an audience and in order to be successful the conventions need to be appropriate for the specific genre.

How have you used conventions in your thriller?

Our opening sequence uses the conventions of the props of the torture weapons and the knife and fake blood used for the stabbing to create the action and violence in the scene and this works well with the genre of a thriller.

The title font that we used for the titles in our opening sequence was a long, thin font which helped to connote the thrilling and dangerous aspects of our opening sequence. We decided to create a logo for our production company. This not only gave our brand a unique look but also helped our opening sequence to appear more dynamic and added a professional look to our sequence. The use of the long and narrow font not only provides a clear and legible font for our titles but the actual font itself works well with the thriller genre as the font works well as a conventions of a thriller film.

We decided to use a dark costume for the character of the psychopath in our opening sequence as this is a typical convention used for a villain in a thriller film because the villain usually wears dark colours as these dark colours work well at providing connotations of evil, danger and a negative character.

Our opening sequence used a variety of camera angles and movements in order to make the scene engaging and interesting for the audience as well as showing the action of the scene from various angles and perspectives.

In addition to this our opening sequence used a lot of close up shots of the victim in order to portray her emotions through the detail shown in the actor’s facial expressions. We also used a lot of mid shots and long shots of both the inspector and psychopath in order to show more character detail and the sue of the wider camera angles worked well at providing connotations of the importance and the status of each of the characters.



How have you challenged these conventions?
We challenged the convention of the young female victim being weak and powerless when we have the unexpected reveal of her stabbing the psychopath. This challenged the conventions as it subverted the stereotype that young females are incapable of such acts and that they are vulnerable and weak. However, I believe all other conventions of a thriller that we sued in our opening sequence were either used in their normal way or they were developed upon therefore improving them. 

Overall, from my point of view the various conventions that we used throughout our opening sequence worked well at conveying the genre of a psychological thriller, but they also served effectively at attracting addressing our audience.  

Thank you very much for your time Miss Maximova. This interview has been very helpful at helping us to find out more about the different ways in which you have attracted and addressed your audience in your opening sequence to your thriller film.

Who would be the audience for your media product? (Task 4)

My Target Audience

The video above displays the different people I asked in order to discover what the target audience would be for my thriller opening sequence. We decided to ask a range of open and closed questions in order to find out more about the different age and gender categories and whether they would enjoy watching our thriller and whether our thriller would appeal to what particular category. The questions we chose to ask provided us with information about what the audience actually enjoy about this genre, what grabs their attention and we also described the plot of our thriller briefly and asked them whether they we likely to go and watch our thriller in the cinema. The answers to these questions provided us with adequate detail as to what exactly an audience look for in a thriller and it also gave a great indication as to whether they were likely to watch and enjoy our thriller. 

I have been conducting some research in order to discover what the target audience is for our opening sequence thriller film.

I have conducted this research by creating an interview with a range of open and closed questions in order to find out more about different people's opinions on thriller films.

In order to find out what our target audience was it was important that the interview was conducted with a range of ages and with both genders.

Here are the categories that the people we asked fitted into:

Girls 15-20

Boys 15-20

Women 21-39

Men 21-39

Women 40+

Men 40+

Here is a video that I made which visually presents the interviews that I conducted.

I asked a range of open and closed questions which would help me to figure out what gender, age group, likes and dislikes of our target audience. The video is at the top of this post. 

Below are the answers that the participants of the interview gave, which helped me to obtain my results, and ultimately figure out what my target audience is from the research. 

Girls 15-20

Age? 17

Fav genre of film? Comedy

Do you like thrillers? Some not all, more action thrillers. Why?

What grabs immediate attention? Unique twist

How do they make you feel? Something  exciting and something you  don’t expect happens

Would you watch our film? Yeah if there’s lots of action

Age? 17

Fav genre of film? Fantasy or romance

Do you like thrillers? Not a big fan, depends on what kind Why?

What grabs immediate attention? Interesting storyline interesting concept and has to grab attention quickly

How do they make you feel? Creeped out. Action= excited

Would you watch our film? Quite interesting to see that concept because I haven’t heard of it before.

Age? 17

Fav genre of film? Action thriller

Do you like thrillers? Yes, engaging Why?

What grabs immediate attention? Interesting and fast paced plot

How do they make you feel? Good, exhilarated good endorphins

Would you watch our film? Sounds amusing yes definitely.

Age? 17

Fav genre of film? Action

Do you like thrillers? Yes Why? Because they make your heart race

What grabs immediate attention? Plot line and the cast

How do they make you feel? Confused usually

Would you watch our film? Yeah sounds like fun

Men 21-39

Age? 21

Fav genre of film? Comedy or Sci-Fi

Do you like thrillers? Yeah but I’d rather watch something else Why?

What grabs immediate attention? The premise, franchise e.g  comic book

How do they make you feel? Depends on the sub-genre but usually good

Would you watch our film? If cast right and had a decent build up then yes.

Age? Late 20’s

Fav genre of film? Action

Do you like thrillers? Yes Why? Engaging, not obvious and have you thinking about them afterwards

What grabs immediate attention? Really good opening sequence something mysterious with a really good interesting character.

How do they make you feel? Good storyline= shocked, taken aback. Ambiguous or misleading.

Would you watch our film? Depends on the actor. Sound cliché so would have to be good actors. Sound action which I like.

Women 21-39

Age? 26

Fav genre of film? Comedy

Do you like thrillers? Yes they’re alright Why? Particularly gory thrillers

What grabs immediate attention? Hard to work out storyline, I don’t want to be able to work out the plot line too quickly. Cast

How do they make you feel? Emotional or bored

Would you watch our film? Sounds good but probably not

Women 40+

Age? 48

Fav genre of film? Psychological thrillers

Do you like thrillers? Yes Why? I like the excitement, tension, not knowing what will happen next

What grabs immediate attention? The tension, the actors, the opening scene

How do they make you feel? Relieved depending on the outcome, excited

Would you watch our film? Absolutely

Age? 75

Fav genre of film? Criminal

Do you like thrillers? Yes Why? The suspense and hoping I can solve the problem before the end of the movie

What grabs immediate attention? The actors, atmosphere and opening scene

How do they make you feel? Looking for more- sequel to the action

Would you watch our film? Yes I would

Men 40+

Age?  50

Fav genre of film? Thrillers

Do you like thrillers?  Why? Anticipation, build-up of the story, the opening scene and seeing how things develop and the twists and the turns. Soundtrack and atmosphere.

What grabs immediate attention? Opening scene is the most important but also unexpected twists & unpredictability

How do they make you feel? Scared

Would you watch our film? Yeah, sounds interesting

Age? Over 40

Fav genre of film? Dark comedy or music

Do you like thrillers? Not really Why?

What grabs immediate attention? Got to be interesting straight away.

How do they make you feel? Intrigued

Would you watch our film? No probably not

Below are some pie charts which display the results of the interview. These pie charts show that despite the fact that the most popular film genre across all of the groups was comedy, the next popular was action films, predominantly with males. This helped us to figure out that males would probably enjoy our thriller film more because they would enjoy the action of our film and would be able to engage better with the narrative of our film. Here are the pie charts displaying these results:

I was not surprised that the most popular film genre across both genders and all ages was comedy although it did surprise me as to how many people liked action films as I didn't expect action films to be so popular among a female audience. 

I was very surprised at the amount of female who like thriller and I was particularly shocked that our results revealed that the percentage of females who enjoy thrillers was higher than the percentage of males who like thriller films. I was expecting the results to be the other way around. However, despite this result our target audience still ended up being a male rather than female. 

After conducting our research, we have found that although different people from each of the age and gender categories could represent our target audience, we have decided that our main and selective target audience is males 21-39 years old as the people we asked from this category seemed the most intrigued by our plot line and we believe that the level of gore and violence would work better for a slightly older audience however, the amount of action would work better for an audience below 40. 

We discovered that males would probably enjoy our thriller more because most of the males said that they enjoyed action based thrillers whereas the females said that this bored them at times of frightened them. Although our thriller film could have a wide target audience ranging in ages and from both genres, it would work best with an audience of males between the ages of 21 and 39.

After discovering that our target audience for our thriller film would be males between the ages of 21 and 39 due to the fact that the people that we interviewed from this category showed the most positive results as they seemed to be interested and intrigued with our idea. They also showed the best results for enjoying thriller films and how they make them feel. 

Therefore in order to represent our target audience I decided to use social media to represent a typical member of our target audience. 

Below is a Facebook page that I have created that represents our target audience. This is a Facebook page for a 25 year old male, Danny Denotation. 

I created the Facebook page that represents our target audience by liking and sharing posts that were relevant to the likes of a typical member of out target audience. I liked posts that were to do with similar films to mine as well as pages to do with Tarantino, who is known for his thriller films and also pages to do with Action Thriller films.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? (Task 3)

Created with Padlet

Above is a padlet that I have created which describes what institution would make my film as it is; an opening sequence. 

Below is a padlet that I have created which describes what institution would make my film as a whole film/blockbuster.

Created with Padlet

I looked at two separate institutions in order to establish what institution was likely to make my film as a whole film and which institution was likely to make my film as it is; an opening sequence. From this, I decided that a big international institution was likely to make my film as a blockbuster because they would be able to use a big budget to produce my film as well as use big names for the actors and directors of the film. However, on the other hand, I decided that a small independent institution would be more likely to produce my film as on opening sequence as it would only require a very minimal budget and could use first time directors and actors or not very well known ones. This aided my understanding as to what kinds of institutions produce what kinds of media products in terms of their budgets, scale of production and above the line costs including directors and actors. This is why I have chosen two contrasting institutions to create my film as an opening sequence and as a big blockbuster. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups? (Task 2)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The representation of gender and age in this opening sequence presents both adhering and subverting stereotypes. Some of the representation show binary opposites between both males and females or between the different age groups. However, the representation and the stereotypes created dramatically shift at a point in this extract.

The use of the close up camera angle of the victim at the beginning of the sequence provided the connotation of her vulnerability and innocence. This allowed the audience to connect with the character emotionally right from the beginning of the sequence. The audience can see that the victim is a young girl and that she is innocent and vulnerable, which provides an adhering stereotype of a young girl. This is also an example of an adhering stereotype of a female because she is being represented as young, weak, naïve and vulnerable, as well as providing an adhering stereotype of age as the younger character has less authority and power.

However, this was juxtaposed against the close up camera angle of the psychopath in which he appears crazed and threatening to the audience which is further conveyed through the use of the prop of a knife and his facial expressions which connote that he is not of sane mind and that he is teasing and torturing someone. This close up camera angle provides an adhering stereotype of a psychopath and works well at providing character detail for the audience which will help to reveal the narrative and the characters involved. The use of the close up of the psychopath also provides an adhering stereotype that men are more dominating and in control and that because he is the young adult in the scene that he is slightly childish and immature and is behaving younger than he is which provides a subverting stereotype of young adults as this representation is suggesting that they are irresponsible and immature.

In addition to this, the use of the mid shot of the psychopath cutting his tongue on the knife and the victim looking away from her torturer implies that he is evil and menacing and further suggests that he is the villain in the film and it also indicates that the young girl is being victimised and held hostage.

Another example of a camera angle which provides an adhering stereotype of a psychopath and a victim is the long shot which is filmed at a slight low angle. This shot provides connotations that the psychopath is a villain because he is towering over her making him appear more menacing and this suggests he has the control which is an adhering stereotype of males being in control and dominating and also the older generation having power and authority over the younger generation. The use of this long shot also allows the audience to see the interaction between the two characters as well as providing more details about the location and setting.

The use of the over- the -shoulder shot of the victim was very effective at providing an adhering stereotype that young girls are victimised and innocent and her facial expression in this shot implied that she was afraid and felt scared and vulnerable which again provides an adhering stereotype of young girls.

The mid shot later on in the extract of the inspector and the young girl shows the difference between the two characters in terms of age and gender. The young girl is being represented as being scared and seeking protection from the older, respected and in control male character. This provides an adhering stereotype that young females are weak and require the protection of males. The fact that the older male character is putting his arm out to protect the young girl and the fact that he is holding a gun provides an adhering stereotype that older males are in control of the situation, care for younger people and also that they are responsible and that they know how to handle situations like the one shown in the extract.

In the shot of the victim girl being held by the psychopath with a tool to her mouth the character positioning is connoting that the male is dominating and in control and that the young girl is helpless and being tortured. This provides an adhering stereotype that males are dominating over females and that the older generation has more power and authority than the younger generation. The suggestion behind this character positioning is that the male is dominating over the female and that the male is teasing and tormenting the female because he is shown to have power over her.

Another example of how the character positioning in this extract helps to create representations of the different characters is in the shot of the psychopath sitting behind the young girl victim. This is an adhering stereotype of a psychopath and victim as by him sitting behind her it means that he can watch her and he has the control over her. This character positioning implies that the young girl is being treated like a doll and the fact that he is holding a knife to her neck and holding her head back further connotes that he is in control and that the young girl is helpless and highly vulnerable providing an adhering stereotype of a young girl who is a victim, and a young adult male psychopath.

In the shot of the inspector holding back the victim when she is escaping the psychopath the character positioning of the inspector and the victim demonstrates that he is a protecting, responsible figure of authority and that the young girl is naïve, scared and requires protection from others. This shot provides an adhering stereotype that the older generation care for the younger generation and also that males are caring for females as well as the fact that females require the protection and care from males and that they are weak and vulnerable.

The facial expression used in this opening sequence gives the audience a good indication of what the character is feeling or thinking and their relationship with the other character as well as the situation at hand. In the shot at the beginning of the sequence of the young girl looking at her torturer she appears frightened and unsure of what he is going to do next. This suggests that she is weak and vulnerable, providing an adhering stereotype that young girls are weak and vulnerable.

 

The facial expression of the psychopath in the close up shot of him at the beginning of the sequence connotes that he is not of sane mind because he is smiling, however he is holding a knife which juxtaposes the smile and makes the character appear menacing and evil. The psychopath’s facial expression provides an adhering stereotype of a psychopath; however it also provides a subverting stereotype of young adult males as it suggest that all young adult males are psychopaths and have crazed minds.

Another example of how facial expression is used to represent gender and age in the extract is the facial expression of the inspector when he is holding the gun at the end of the sequence because the implication behind this shot is that he is in control and responsible, although he is slightly anxious as to what the psychopath is going to do next. This provides an adhering stereotype that older males are protecting, in control and have high authority.

The location for the sequence was an old church. This provided an atmosphere of ritual, religion and holiness. This was juxtaposed against the action of the scene as what the characters were doing was not appropriate behaviour for inside a church. The location of this scene helped to create the sense of danger, suspense and tension as well as providing a creepy and unusual atmosphere. The location of the church used in the opening sequence provided a subverting stereotype of a church being used for a thriller film location.

The use of lighting in this opening sequence worked well at aiding the representation of both age and gender. The use of the dark lighting on the psychopath connotes that he is a villain and that he is evil, which is an adhering stereotype of the male psychopath. However, this is juxtaposed against the bright and colourful light coming from behind the psychopath when he is at the altar. This bright and colourful lighting represents the innocence and life of the victim which is juxtaposed against the dark and mysterious light used to represent the psychopath. This works well with the representations of the victim and the psychopath at creating adhering stereotypes that the victim is colourful and bright yet this is being stripped away from her by the dark and evil lighting mirroring the presence of the psychopath.

The use of the rope used to tie up the victim’s hands represents that she is a victim and that she is helpless and being controlled by someone else. The rope also symbolises that she is trapped and cannot escape the psychopath’s torment and torture.

The use of the torture weapons also connotes danger and violence especially when the psychopath uses these props against the victim. The implication behind the torture weapons is that the psychopath is irresponsible and dangerous and that the young girl is vulnerable and subjected to danger or harm.

The use of the knife prop against the psychopath provides connotations of danger and violence again and the use of this prop also changes the dynamic in the scene because it is used by the victim when she fights back against the psychopath. This prop used by the victim provides a subverting stereotype as you would not expect the victim to use a knife against her torturer. However, when the knife is used by the psychopath it is an adhering stereotype of the psychopath because you would expect the psychopath to use a knife against his victim.

In addition to all of these props, the use of the gun prop by the inspector signifies danger and violence as well although it is an adhering stereotype of an inspector because it represents authority and responsibility.

Costume can be a very useful indicator of what a character is like and can provide both adhering and subverting stereotypes for characters. The costume for the victim was a white dress. The colour white suggests vulnerability, innocence, naivety and purity which are adhering stereotypes of a young girl.

The costume for the psychopath consisted of a white shirt and a black coat with black trousers. The colour black suggests that the character is a villain, evil and has a sinister quality which is an adhering stereotype of a psychopath.

The costume for the inspector consisted of a white shirt, black coat, black trousers and a black tie. This made the character appear very smartly dressed which added to the impression of him being in control, responsible and a figure of authority which was an adhering stereotype not only to the fact that he is an inspector but also to the fact that he is the oldest character in the scene.

In addition, the make-up in this scene also aided the representation of age and gender. The use of the make-up for the young girl playing the victim was very minimalistic which made the actor appear much younger. The use of the stage make-up creating the wound on the victim made her appear even more vulnerable and this added to the connotations that she was helpless, weak and in pain as well as being vulnerable and innocent. The use of the make-up for the blood on the psychopath also indicated that he was in pain and wounded however in this case the use of the blood was a subverting stereotype because this character is supposed to be strong and powerful. The fact that he appeared weak and injured was a subverting stereotype as it suggested he was inferior to the victim.

This sequence has been edited in a linear fashion so that the scene plays in a chronological order. The opening sequence uses shot/reverse shot where the camera cuts from one subject to another and back and forth, this mirrors the fact that the action in this scene is quick and goes back and forth between the three characters. The use of the shot reverse shots works well with the different interactions between the three characters and helps with the continuity of the scene and also at mirroring the fact that when the inspector and the psychopath are talking, the victim is untying herself. This suggests that the older generation are oblivious and the younger generation are quick to act and are smart enough to figure out how to get themselves out of situations like the one shown in the extract.

The use of the match on action of the inspector putting the gun down made the action appear uninterrupted and this connotes that the inspector knows what he is doing and is very controlled and careful in his movements as he is aware of the danger that the psychopath could potentially cause.

The shot duration of this sequence represents the mood of the sequence. The use of the fast shot duration when the victim stabs the psychopath with the knife provides connotations that the younger generation are quick to act and that the older generation move much slower than the younger generation. However, this is a subverting stereotype as you do not expect the young girl to stab the young adult male psychopath which shifts the dynamic in the scene. The fast shot duration of this shot makes it appear to the audience that it happened a lot quicker than it actually did which presents the young as agile and quick and the older as slow and unaware of their surroundings. The use of the fast shot duration also serves to convey the urgency of the scene.

However, this is contrasted with the long shot duration of the psychopath playing around with the torture weapons at the altar and the purpose of this is to enable the audience to focus upon the small details providing character detail. The long shot duration also creates anticipation in the scene and makes the character of the psychopath appear more intimidating and crazed because the audience are unsure as to what he is going to do next, providing an adhering stereotype of the psychopath.

The use of sound was very effective in the opening sequence. The use of the diegetic sound of the humming of the psychopath was very effective at setting the tone of the scene as well as providing connotations that he was insane and made him appear immature and childish which is a subverting stereotype of a young adult male. However the fact that he is humming implied that he is crazed which is an adhering stereotype of a psychopath.

The use of diegetic sound of the sound effect of the knife stabbing the psychopath was very effective at building the world of the film for the audience and it also made the stabbing appear much more realistic. The sharp, harsh sound that the knife made was very uncomfortable for the audience and connoted pain and also mirrored the victim’s terrified and anxious quality.

In addition to this, the diegetic sound of the dialogue in this scene works to give character detail and also hints at the plot. The dialogue of the psychopath helps to imply that he is insane and his dialogue also serves the purpose of telling the audience that he is holding the young girl hostage and he is torturing her. The psychopath’s dialogue is very fragmented and repetitive which further connotes his crazed mind.  In contrast, the inspector’s dialogue is very controlled with a calm manner which alludes to the fact that he is a member of authority and that he is responsible and knows how to handle the situation. The dialogue also suggests that he has done this before and so his speech appears very natural which provides an adhering stereotype of a wise older male who is an inspector. The fact that the young girl who is the victim has no dialogue adds to the fact that she is frightened, weak and vulnerable.

The use of the non-diegetic soundtrack playing underneath the entire sequence works well at creating the mood and atmosphere of the scene and the crescendos and diminuendos in the soundtrack worked in sync with the tension in the scene. The non-diegetic soundtrack was used as parallel sound which supported the narrative. The soundtrack that was used was a very tense, atmospheric and creepy soundtrack which worked well with the action happening in the scene.

In conclusion, the representation of age and gender are shown as both subverting and adhering stereotypes with the representation changing when the victim stabs the psychopath. This is demonstrated throughout all four of the areas of representation; camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. The young girl is usually represented as being weak, vulnerable and innocent which would be an adhering stereotype of a young girl and this is sharply contrasted against the subverting stereotype of the young adult male playing the role of the psychopath who instead of representing a responsible and sane young adult male represents a deranged and menacing character. This explains how there are a range of subverting and adhering stereotypes of both genders and ages used in the representation in my opening sequence.