RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR METHODS AND CONVENTIONS
Initially we got together as a group and confirmed the genre of our piece, which we concluded was a Thriller Drama.
Following this I am going to be researching into 'The little things' , 'A Time To Kill', 'Still Water', 'Happy Killer' and explore how these 4 different media products are similar to our opening title sequence. As shown below through the research the similarities are largely in response to the usual conventions.
The Little things
- Theme- The Little things has a theme of No one is truly good, this links into the themes of our opening title sequence due to the mum usually being a character whom people trust whereas as in our sequence it is implied she has carried out a killing.
- Genre- Thriller crime, our sequence is both a thriller and in most aspects a crime to due to our whole scene being set on a crime scene.
- Narrative- Follows Jim Baker searching for a killer- similarly in our sequence it is all about the detective work of whom killed the child. The film is inspired by real life detective work, consequently by looking at this media product it could inspire and help us with some aspects.
- Costume- Realistic clothes.
- Lighting- yellow, set at night- Our original plan was to set our sequence at night with yellow lighting to create a sinister feel, however this wasn't realistic due to us filming in. the day.
- Characters- Police officers- however set in America so our costumes, protocol will be different for the officers in our sequence.
- Killer- man, dressed in dull colors. Opposing to the fact we went against the stereotype and had the murder blamed on a woman.
A TIME TO KILL
- Narrative/ Characters- Set in the town of Canton, a ten year old African American girl is raped, abducted and beaten by two local white men, she is dumped in the river after failing to hang her; she survives.- Although the narrative is extremely different both this film and my groups opening sequence base the film of pain placed on a child.
- Genre, a drama thriller- the same genre as our opening sequence.
- Setting/ location- Mississippi 1990's , so times were fairly different, unlike our scene which is in modern times.
- Lighting- use low lighting.- Not used so much in our piece due to it being set in day light.
- Killer- man, dressed in dull colors. Opposing to the fact we went against the stereotype and had the murder blamed on a woman.
Still water
'Still water' is an 2021 American crime drama which was directed by Tom McCarthy. The production company it was produced by was Dream works pictures and it was distributed by Focus features. Additionally This film has large similarities to the opening sequence we are creating including:
- Narrative- Follows story of a father travelling to France helping his daughter who's in prison for a murder she claims she hasn't committed- Likewise our sequence follows a mother whom is b
eing put up for murder which she's denying committing.
eing put up for murder which she's denying committing.
-Characters- Dad and daughter- Our sequence consists of mother and son and what their relationship actually was, did she murder him.
-Themes- Both explore a murder.
- Genre both dramas exploring crime.
- Killer- man, dressed in dull colors. Opposing to the fact we went against the stereotype and had the murder blamed on a woman.
HAPPY VALLEY
'Happy Valley' is the 2014 American documentary film which was write and directed by Amir Bar-Lev. Yet again has lots of similarities due to being the same genre including:
- Narrative/ theme- tells story of murder, seen through the eyes of a 15 years old- Our sequence also follows a murder.
The other leads consist of police officers, consequently so do ours.
- The story is fictional however police have praised it due to it being a clear representation of how the police force is- This would be helpful for our scene due to us wanting everything as realistic as possible. Therefor this is a good source of media to look at.
- Killer- man, dressed in dull colors. Opposing to the fact we went against the stereotype and had the murder blamed on a woman.
To conclude, It has been made clear of the similarities that cross over across all these Media products. That is that due to the majority being thriller drama's, or crimes they all consist of a murder. Moreover they all follow at least a few of the key drama thriller conventions, including creating suspense and excitement the audience, having tilt shots which helps to create the discomfort especially when showing a murder. Additionally, it was seen to be clear that all the killers in each individual were all men, this highlights how as a group we decided to subvert from the stereotype and blame the murder on a male and instead blame it on a female. By blaming it on female it helps to leave the viewer with the question on
whether she actually did it which is our intention.
whether she actually did it which is our intention.
There is also a great use of the Producer using colour is a way to trick the audience into thinking a certain way. For Example, all the men whom committed the murder in these films were dressed in dull colours mimicking the darkness hidden within, with females being dress in lighter colours.
Are opening title sequence also differed from these films as, In the films where there was a parental figure and a child there was almost always a positive relationship shown. Whereas in our sequence we dont know but we assume the mother had such hatred she carried out this sin on her son again subverting the motherly stereotype.
One way in which this range of media products helps to inspire me improving our idea and help us with filming. Is by several of them using different aspects of crime and police in a way that appears realistic, justifying the realness of their film which we as a group wish to achieve.
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