Evaluation activity 1 - In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media products? For the duration of the opening sequence that I have produced, I decided to incorporate a number conventions used by many thriller film makers/productions. I decided to follow conventions as they work so well successfully for other films, although I have developed some of these conventions to an extent so that my film is unique and attractive for audiences. The title of the film: The film is titles Hinge, after I brainstormed a number of ideas I had for the film title I finally came to the conclusion that this was the most suitable and best choice for the production. Much like many other thrillers with a similar plot to mine, I chose to go with something simple and easy to remember, it also applies to a part of the film. There is a scene in the film where the main character has to cut of one of his limbs, and everything hinges on his decision. Its not obvious why the film is named this at first, so the audience will be eager to find out and it provokes them to watch the full film to find out. Title font and style: I needed to make the title stand out, but keep it simplistic. The title is in block capitals, and white on top of the black background. The block capitals are to help it stand out show the importance on the word hinge so it stays in the mind of the audience throughout the film. Its white to get it to stand out on top of the black background, and to represent purity and innocence, which is what is actually being destroyed. Also, the white title in the on top the black, dark background giving a dark and bad surrounding, and the white showing some form of purity and good in a dark surrounding. Much like the actions of a character within the film that arguably is doing the right thing in a dark and bad situation.

Genre and how the opening suggests it: You can clearly tell by the opening sequence that it is a thriller, nothing is clear right from the beginning and the whole film is based around mystery. Also, the way the main character finds out information about his current situation and the dilemma hes in at the same time as the audience, this is generally the case with the majority of thrillers, it adds to the element of mystery, keeps the audience engaged, interested and the suspense created is what people find thrilling. The use of non-diegetic sound within the opening sequence helps show mystery and create suspense, the heart beat sound constantly played in the background, which creates suspense, helps show its a thriller, and the sounds used to show the switches to a flashback, and during the flashback, a technique used in other similar thrillers such as Saw, which my production has a lot of similarities to. Setting/location:

The location was specifically chosen to make sure that the mis-en-scene for the film was perfect. A workshop upon the school premises was chosen to be the set for the film. A general trend for the other media productions were houses and a forest, no one chose to use a work shop, the closest was a shed used in one production which looked quite similar to our set, although our workshop was bigger and the extra space allowed us to do more with it. The set expressed the fact that the main character is being tortured and the general theme of the film. All the tools and building equipment on the set emphasised the danger of the situation, its much like other similar thriller film sets, a closed of workshop far from the public with no sight or hope of help from the outside world, helping to make the situation more mysterious, and creates a higher level of suspense for when Joseph enters the scene.

We also chose to use an alleyway for a section of our film, this is to represent danger and mystery, alleyways are often used in a variety of movies across all genres to symbolise a dangerous and mysterious situation. As the main character walks towards it creates suspense, because they know something bad is going to happen. We also use a bunch of bushes beside the alleyway to introduce two mysterious characters that stereotype as the type of people to be found in these alleyways, and they add to the sets sense of mystery and further emphasise danger (both the characters and the bushes do this).

Costumes and props & how characters are introduced:

The costumes chosen for each character were picked out very carefully to portray different factors. The mysterious figures from the alleyway (shown on the left), had costumes to emphasise danger and add to the mystery of that scene and situation. One character is dressed in completely black, black trousers, black shoes and a black jacket to create a sense of mystery and danger, as you have no idea of who he is, what he is capable of although his intentions are quite clear. They are introduced into the scene through the bushes (shown above), this alongside their costumes creates a real sense of mystery and really emphasises danger. The main antagonist is dressed in a casual, which has been torn and blood stained to show that he is has been tortured and abused. His costume emphasises how severe his wounds are and painful his ordeal was. They were chosen to show how young he is, and make him out to just be an innocent young adult, helps to keep the audience blind to the fact he is actually the protagonist. This

character is introduced to into the film right at the beginning, he enters the film on him waking up, bound to his seat, beaten and bruised. This is to keep the audience guessing so they are interested and eager to find out how he got there in that state, and why he is there, and therefore they keep watching.

He walking into the room introduces the main protagonist, and all you see is his smart shoes and suit trousers, both his costume and his entry creates a high level of mystery, and the audience had no idea who he is and barely understands his intentions.

A prop that was used that plays a big part in the film and the opening sequence is the rope that bounds the antagonist to his seat. Its rough, thick and clearly strong material, to show how serious the situation is and that it is was well planned and thought out, emphasises the danger of the situation and shows how the desperation the protagonist has to torture, abuse and keep hold of his victim.

Camerawork and editing: The production uses a variety of shots and angles, with different positions and movements. The film starts with a POV shot to show the main character waking up, and then it cuts to some close-ups, and extreme close-ups of the main characters wounds and his bound position, this is to set the scene and so the audience know what state he is in and his current situation. Then, with the help of some editing, it zooms out from a medium close-up of the main characters face just as he has awoken. Most thrillers use an establishing shot from outside to set the scene, or an aerial shot of the current location, I decided to go against that convention and instead leave the audience wondering

where he is, and only allow them to see the room as the antagonist can, and not really pay a lot of attention to detail. Keeping with the idea of the audience receiving information at the same time as the main character, I paid a lot of attention to the flashbacks, and how much they reveal of the memory and how long they are. During the editing we added white flashes to smoothen the transitions between memories and remind the audience its a flashback, it was vital that the flashbacks were clear and smooth so the audience felt as engaged as possible.

Story and how the opening set it up: These are a few shots from the film to help show how the opening scene sets up the story. From just the opening scene, the audience would believe that this is a story of an innocent young man who has randomly been abducted and tortured. This random mysterious mad act leaves the audience baffled and wanting to find out why the true intentions of the mysterious suited torturer. The fact that the protagonist is acting and dressed so profession makes the audience question how random this act of madness actually is. It sets the film up really well, giving a good sense of mystery and builds up suspense, and will completely shock the audience when the disequilibrium comes, which has been put at the end of the film, its a new approach to Todorovs theory.