Evaluation Question 1- Comparing and Challenging Coventions

Falter

Falter

Saw

This is the very beginning of the scene in Saw 1, where the man who has been caught is trapped. Comparing this convention to our thriller (Falter), we have used a similar technique by revealing just one character at the very beginning of the thriller. The reason we have used this is to create tension by leading the mystery further than say using a wide straight away revealing the whole room. However, we used an extreme close up on our actors face compared to Saw as we believed the less revealed about the characters built the most tension for the viewer. Also, lighting wise, we decided to use the convention similar to Saw by having the lights off and then show the lights being turned on, however, we decided to have the audience know who our main character is straight away by turning them on at the beginning compared to Saw turning them on after about 30 seconds. The camera angles and framing of Falter shows much less mise-en-scene compared to Saw. However, Saw used the contrast of dim lighting which doesn't show much which builds tension, however we decided this would not work as well for Falter, so we used the letterbox technique to remove the pink flicker lines and do an extreme close up on his face.

Falter

Saw

In Saw 1, the victim is able to get out of the area they are sat in very easily. I believe that Twisted Pictures have done this because it creates more action for the audience as this is featured part way through the film. However, as ours is an opening title sequence, we felt it would build more tension to let the audience in gently with the action that is about to unfold. Additionally, our lighting is much brighter than theirs as we thought that having the lights off for just a split second would be more effective for an opening title sequence than it would if the lights were off for longer as the audience may think that the film is not working. 

Saw

Falter

In the sequence from Saw they have turned the lights on for a much longer delay than our thriller. The makers of Saw have done this as the symbol of the beginning of their ‘game’; the lights turning on as it then reveals the next main character and the dead body. However, with our thriller, we did not need to use the symbol of the lights turning on to begin the game as we used a phone instead of a dead body as we felt that would create more tension as our characters are much less vulnerable then in Saw as they know why they are here due to the non-linear opening.  The phone ringing is the beginning of the game as this is where the action starts to take place, likewise with Saw where the lights turn on.

Saw

Falter

Both thrillers then reveal the problem in which the characters have to overcome. In our case it is a phone and in Saw’s case a dead body. We decided to use an extreme close up on the phone as we felt this lead to more mystery by not giving away much of the rooms surrounding, where Saw has done the opposite by revealing the whole bathroom. Moreover, our characters both know they are fighting over the phone as they have been there for a long time, comparing to Saw’s confused characters. The mise-en-scene in the screenshot from Saw is more visible due to the wider angle.

Falter

Saw

In both thrillers a second character is then revealed, both at a mid-shot. However we decided to challenge the convention of our character being asleep/unconscious as opposed to Saw’s awake and scared character. We thought this would add more tension that the characters were both brave, athletic and heroic as opposed to Saw’s scared and deluded characters. Once again, the mise-en-scene is much more revealing to where they are in the Saw screenshot compared to ours where we just show a brick wall due to the fact it is an opening title sequence and we don’t want to reveal too much to the audience. Similarly we used a mid shot to focus in on the character himself rather than a long shot which may have broken the tension that had previously been built. Additionally, we decided to use LED lighting but from under the characters faces which make them look much more tired and drained compared to Saw’s over head lighting. We also thought that the floor lighting would give the audience the idea that the person who has set the characters to do this is not someone to mess with, instantly engaging them into our thriller.

Falter

Alien Isolation

The text from the video game thriller ALIEN ISOLATION is similar to ours in which both thrillers use a black background with white writing to make it clear to the audience what the text states. Black and white is also a connotation of boldness and helps engage an audience. However, we have used a slightly different font to Alien Isolation as our spacing is much closer together as it is called Falter so therefore there can be no mistakes. Whereas Alien Isolation maybe referring to the word isolation in which they are ironically adhering by spacing the letters far apart from each other. I believe that both of these are effective as they both reflect what the film/video game is going to include.