Evaluation

1. Evaluation Question One In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (ie: of film openings)

2. Introduction Overview of our OTS “Follower” As a group we were challenged to create a new OTS for a new Thriller film. After brainstorming ideas of what could be included in our OTS, we came to a decision of a title; this was “Follower”. Our main inspirations was from Se7en – because the actions that occur had more importance than the character itself - and Collateral as the main character unwillingly gets themselves involved in danger, as well as being in an Urban setting, where extraordinary events take place. Vincent doesn’t stand out as a villain in the Urban setting, as he looks business like with his brief case and suit, which goes for Sam in Follower, as he looks like a typical young person, in a hoodie, who’d typically be apart of a gang (although his not, that’s how it looks to society). Moreover, both fonts in both films, took inspiration to us as they had the edging, rustic, homelike affect that we were aiming for, and the dominant and bold look of the main title that draws the audience in amongst others. The concept of the film is a young man is stalking his ex girlfriend after a disaster break up because of his drug abuse which slowly gets out of control, leaving him with no one. He obsesses over Laurie, keeping possessions that were returned from her to him and tracking her every move over social networks and physically. Our overall aim was to create great suspense, which would be a factor that would support the fact of “Follower” being typical of the Thriller genre.

3. “Follower” – How is it typical/atypical of the Thriller genre? Frame #1 Follower is typical of the Thriller genre and is categorised as conventional. The simplistic name that we had come up with, has a lot of meaning. The proper definition for Follower is “someone who is tracking a particular person, group, organization, etc. on a social media website or application.” which fits in perfectly to the narrative of our sequence. Follower can also often suggest hidden identity, which was our attempt to make nerving connotations to our audience as the antagonist/threat is unknown; you will see in our OTS that our “Follower” /stalker, is hidden all throughout the duration of the sequence, creating mystery (making the subgenre of our film a Psychological Thriller), his character only identifiable by his costume. When you see the title in “Hacked” font at the end – image attached below – it is appears after the antagonist identity is finally revealed, which is a close up of Sam’s eyes, slowly closing. From the beginning it slowly builds up the tension, and at this point, our aim is to make the audience feel extremely tense. The music rises alongside with the climax build up; Follower appears over the top of a close up shot of Connor walking past, which links into the “Following/Stalking” side of things. We have chosen a red and white font as it suggests the danger of the following and also suggests anger and aggression, Sam’s personality. The white font mirrors Laurie’s personality, where she is innocent and “normal”. Overall, our OTS, I believe, is typical of the Thriller genre.

4. Setting and Locations; Frame #2 Our groups aim on the setting and location side of things was to ensure that whatever location we decided, fitted the Thriller’s urban theme. Living where we do makes it not-so-difficult to find these referenced locations. We located them at – Brighton Beach, Chynna and Florence’s house’ and any alley ways close to these settings that had some sort of eeriness about them, and created a sense of claustrophobia and anxiety. The shot I am going to as an example is on Brighton Beach. We decided to shoot on Brighton Beach, just under the pier. This particular shot is of the stalking action physically taking place, after map marking process of Sam. This is a long shot, therefore the location is easily identifiable. This location is typical of the Thriller genre as it is in a isolated part of the beach, looking fairly run down and unmaintained, however in an urban setting, which is what Thrillers, most usually, consist of. The rustic, un looked after area has potential significance as it suggests our antagonists weaknesses, and reflects his identity of allowing himself to be left out of control, alongside not getting help to clear up his messed up self.

5. Costume and Props; Frame #3 We used a range of materials for the mise-en-scene micro side of the OTS. From the atypical mobile phone, computer, social media, heart necklace side of things, to printed photos and hoodies. The shot of the heart necklace in the antagonist hand, arguably, I feel is both typical and atypical of the genre. Heart necklaces are used in lots of other genres, for example – a romance, or horror – it depends purely on the narrative. On the other hand, you could say that it is conventional of Thriller’s as the locket contains a angel, that symbolises many of things, in this case, death and is a psychological process that makes the audience want to stay on to watch the rest of the film because of the angel’s depth meaning. This can be debateable to our viewers, however, this was our aim, conventional or not. The technological side of our OTS is atypical of Thrillers. It’s not referenced to be typical just of the Thriller genre, as these props are used in every kind of genre for various reasons. On the other hand, it is typical of the reasons why we are using mobile’s and computers – the stalking and map plotting, which our idea was to make the idea of stalking “modern”.The clothing that we were wearing was typical of the genre because there was a massive contrast in the different characters costumes. This was to show the differences in personality, and as the identity isn’t revealed until the end of the OTS, the clothing had to suggest mass amounts. For example, the red dress that Laurie is wearing suggests the danger she has put herself in (subconsciously), now that she has left the “safety” of her own home.

6. Camerawork and Editing Frame #4 Not all of our cinematography was conventional of Thrillers, however, we do have enough shots that are. The typical camera shots that we used were handheld (which made the stalking feel more literal, and closer to home), extreme close ups (in order to create a discomforting emotion to the audience) and kept low angled shots. It was important that in our edit with disclosed all accidental shows of the protagonist and antagonist’ face, unless it was purposed, for one case the beach scene, where the audience see a quick glance at the victims face. It was more important for us to ensure that the antagonist’ face wasn’t shown until the very end shot, when his identity is revealed. The editing of “Follower” is typical as it is slow paced, creating suspense throughout. However, this is debateable; some may say it is more typical to have fast paced editing rather than slow paced. We felt as though it was important for it to be at a slow pace so you get a wider understanding of the storyline rather than just snippets of various things/locations. During the filming process, we took into consideration negative space to place titles in the edit, so no important footage was covered.

7. Title and Font Style Frame #5 The font we had chose for our main title “Follower” was in font “Hacked” from www.1001font.com. We chose this font as it fitted our storyline perfectly – social media wise. It’s had an edge to it that every member of our group liked, and seemed typical of the Thriller genre. It seemed perfect overall, as looking at it, you wouldn’t think of the film being of any other genre. Our second font for our other titles on the other hand, I’d say was not typical of Thrillers. It is a typewriting font, which doesn’t fall under any particular genre; again it fitted our computer aspect. We deliberately didn’t fit it to this font into the genre of the film, we stuck to the events that take place in the narrative. Our inspiration for our font was from Collateral, for the dominance and boldness, and Se7en for the edgy feel.

8. Story and how the OTS sets it up Frame #6 “Follower” is a drugs fuelled thrill ride which follows the disintegration of a young man, who believes he’s doing the right thing but his actions may be questionable. Follower is about a young boy in his late teens, early twenties, whose relationship falls to pieces after his beloved girlfriend discovers that he has an addiction to drugs, and she would only continue and move forward in the relationship under the circumstances that he gets help. Sam eventually loses Laurie as his addiction on continues to get worse, even falling to alcohol. Sam obsesses over Laurie and is fragmented by her departure, as well as how things were left between them. Throughout the story you discover the mental illnesses Sam copes with alone, resulting into stalking through social networks such as Facebook, and tracking her every move physically, even to the safety of her own home. It is unknown what happens to Laurie, which keeps spectators on the edge of their seats, in order to carry on after the OTS to find out what Sam is capable of. After the OTS, if we did continue on with it, the scene would start in their shared home that now only Laurie lives in, together, happy in their relationship. We see flashbacks to show Sam reminiscing throughout the OTS of their positive times. Our OTS is typical of Thrillers, as it builds suspense right till the end, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats – what Thrillers would do to make you want to stay on to find out more. Hints of what could happen are slowly released throughout the duration of the sequence, for example, the angel that suggests death, heaven and hell, in relation to what may or might happen to Sam, or Laurie. Our OTS is introduced by a mid low angle of a cigarette, alcohol and a map on the table with de saturated low key lighting which introduced the narrative, personality of the antagonist as well as the genre. Viewers will question why he got there in the first place and so on which makes it psychological.

9. Genre and how the OTS sets it up The overall story of our OTS is conventional of the Thriller genre. Examples to support this is the slow rising intensity that is created throughout the scenes, when at the end, antagonist’ Sam’s, identity is revealed to the viewers after all spectating. The way our story is enforced to the audience is Sam having flashbacks, and thoughts of his past, that introduces character Laurie and so on. The OTS seems all based around Sam’s mentality, and you are hinted at what has happened with the first shot of drugs and alcohol. What makes it psychological is that you are questioning and doubting yourself as a viewer of how he even got there in the first place and so on, that would have been introduced in the film. Follower is set forward in time. The desaturated lighting really reinforces the genre - the orangey, dark tones. Scenes such as the alley way stalking provokes fear and anxiety of being in a closed in area, however, in an Urban City, which really suggests the genre of the film in general. Frame #7

10. Characters and their Introduction Frame #8 Our characters are introduced slowly, from main character, to second main. This is typical of the genre, as it happens slowly alongside a build up to reveal the identity of them (mainly Sam). If you look at an OTS like “Se7en”, it is completely different, which is why the actions in our sequence have more importance than the actual character, which happens to be why Se7en is one of our inspired films. Protagonist Sam is first introduced after the long/establishing shot of the alcohol and cigarette/tray on the table, alongside a map. He is introduced with his hood up, shadowing half of his face, looking down marking the map. You don’t see Sam’s identity until the end of the OTS; you can only identify them both by their costumes. Antagonist Laurie is first introduced in Sam’s first flashback/hallucination when the couple were happy and had a stable relationship, which is hints that it had failed, hence having the flashback. It quite obviously falls under this Thriller category as the lighting and behaviour may suggest.

11. Special Effects – Frame #9 Our group only have decided on two special effects. One in particular was a cross fade, where Sam and Laurie are on the bench together, however, as this is just Sam’s mental illness playing on him, it’s not actually happening. Mid way through Sam getting a heart necklace out, Laurie disappears gradually out of frame. This special effect really reinforced Sam’s illness, and how much his imagination plays on him. It also reinforces his obsession with Laurie as he won’t let go. Personally, I feel as this is unconventional of Thrillers, however, fits in perfectly to the narrative of our own. The second effect was a jump cut. This was atypical of the genre also, we just used this to reinforce the stalking of Sam, as it wasn’t as noticeable that someone was behind Laurie; again it just made our sequence make more sense by using this effect. People may suggest that because this is the first side we saw Sam physically stalking Laurie, it’s been made for spectators to draw their attention to this particular action. This connotes and questions, what he really can be capable of, and his true obsession.