EVALUATION TASK 1IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

INTRODUCTIONOur media product that we made is an espionage thriller. Films that we can compare it to, based on genre, are salt, released 18th august 2010 in the UK. starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor. Directed by Phillip Noyce. We can also compare our thriller to Derren Brown’s Russian Roulette stunt. This episode was released in September 2003, starring Derren brown. directed by Stefan Stuckert and Tony Gregory. We found a music video that we can compare our thriller to, which is Rihanna's’ music video of Russian Roulette. This was released in October 2009, starring Rihanna and Jesse Williams. Directed by Anthony Mandler.

OUR THRILLER V SALT

PLOTLINE

PERCEIVED AS INNOCENTThe plot line of our opening sequence is about a female spy being trained by a male spy. She has to decode his voice and listen for changes in his voice when saying the numbers 1-6, in order to find out what chamber the bullet is in, in the gun.

SALTEvelyn salt is a CIA agent and highly respected by all, including her boss, ted winter. Out of the blue, a Russian spy walks into their offices and offers a vital piece of information: the president of Russia will be assassinated during his forthcoming visit to New York City to attend the funeral of the recently deceased U.S. vice president. The name of the assassin: Evelyn Salt. Concerned about the safety of her husband, who she cannot contact, she goes on the run. Winter refuses to accept that she is a mole or a double agent but her actions begin to raise doubts. Just who is Evelyn Salt and what is she planning?This was taken from their IMDb page.

CHARACTEROur female actress in this film is the protagonist. She has blonde hair. As shown by the image adjacent. Our actress and Angelina Jolie have very similar facial features. The blonde hair gives the stereotypical female character. However, they are both to be shown as countertypes in each case of these thrillers. Angelina Jolie is the main female spy in this film. She starts the film with blonde hair, the same as our female actress. But during the film, she dyes her hair black. For the majority of Salt, the protagonist is dressed in all black. This portrays her seriousness, the connotations with black are death therefore highlighting the danger in her profession. In our thriller, our protagonist is also in all black. We chose all black because black tends to be a colour for spies to wear, as it is mysterious and dark. In the same way, she then kills our male actor, therefore making death a theme, which links to her attire. As both the protagonists are blonde and attractive, it makes the audience think stereotypically that they will be dumb. However, throughout our thriller and Salt, the protagonists are both sassy and clever. Representing a countertype of blonde females.

ACTION AND CAMERA

Both protagonists act in the same way. In the images shown, both females are pointing a gun at someone. In this scene both females are holding a gun against someone. the only difference is the method of filming. Our thriller uses a hand held to film this part. Whereas salt uses a static, tripod held mid shot. Both are equally effective in building tension as they both focus on different parts. In ours, the hand held focuses on the twist of the gun against the man. In Salt, the mid shot is used to focus on the female actress.

TITLE FONT

The title sequences of our thriller and Salt are very different. Ours has a plain black background, the font we used is called Adobe Arabic, size regular in white. We did this so that it would stand out. Salt uses Morris Sans, the title fades in from the scene on before hand, having the scene put into the words ‘SALT’ as shown above. With it also in white in the middle of the screen. Same as ours. I think both titles are very effective, as mine keeps the tension, as it is bold and stands out. And Salt is effective as it carries on the end of the scene instead of just cutting it off.

SETTINGThe setting in these two scenes are very similar. In Salt , it is an interrogation room, with a table, two chairs, and the one way windows. In Perceived as Innocent, it is a desk and two chairs. Both set designs carry the purpose of creating tension throughout the scenes. In Salt, the tension is between the two characters and the information that she is trying to get out of the man. In our thriller, the tension is also between the two characters, except the male character is training the female character. Salt’s setting clearly shows an interrogation room at a well established trained forces building as shown by the windows. Whereas, Perceived as Innocent, has black frames around it, this therefore shows that it would be in a top secret training facility instead. Both sets used are very effective, as they both build tension in different ways.

OUR THRILLER V DERREN BROWN

PLOTLINE

PERCEIVED AS INNOCENTThe plot line of our opening sequence is about a female spy being trained by a male spy. She has to decode his voice and listen for changes in his voice when saying the numbers 1-6, in order to find out what chamber the bullet is in, in the gun.

DERREN BROWN RUSSIAN ROULETTE STUNT

In this episode of Derren Browns tv series, he is playing a take on Russian Roulette with a member of the public. He gets the man to place a live round into a chamber of the gun, and place a shield onto the gun, so that the numbered chambers cannot be seen, and you cannot see where the bullet has been place. Derren then asks him to count from 1-6. Derren then has to decide, based on how the man speaks, which chamber the bullet is in.

CHARACTERIn looks, these two characters are clearly quite different, as one is female and one is male. They both have blonde hair. She represents a countertype for a blonde female. As Derren Brown is male, he represents a stereotype as he is clever.Their costumes are also different, as Derren Brown is in a suit, and our female actress is in a top and leggings. Although, they are both dressed in all black to convey seriousness, as what they are doing is very dangerous. However, they have the same behaviour. They both work on the psychology and manipulation of the mind, and are equally clever and quick in these situations. Their actions to do with the gun are also the same. As they are both confident in what they are doing.

ACTION AND CAMERA

In this part of both of the scenes, the male character in our thriller and the member of the public in Derren Brown’s are both placing the bullet in the gun, under the table so that the other two cannot see where the bullet is. There is not a clear photo of this section in our thriller, but the action is the same in the tv series. Both shots used are over the shoulder. Except ours shows the trainees face, and Derren Brown’s shows the member of the public (the one placing the bullet into the gun). I feel that Derren Brown’s sequence was probably more effective, as you are actually able to see that the gun is fully hidden, whereas in ours, we just have to believe that it is all secretive instead.

TITLE FONT

After watching the video on YouTube of Derren Brown’s Russian Roulette stunt, there is no title sequence shown. However, this is effective as it keeps the audiences attention of the mystery that is this stunt. Also, the title is obvious of what the name of the episode would be called. In perceived as innocent, we had to use a name title, because it is a film, and the name is not clear through the scripting and action on screen. Both are equally effective as both convey something different. Derren Brown’s non existent title sequence conveys the continued mystery of his stunt and Perceived as Innocent’s title sequence continues the suspense of the opening sequence, and can suggest what the rest of the film would be about.

SETTINGThe set is the same in these two. Our thriller uses two chairs and a table, so does Derren Brown’s for the main focus of the set. The only main difference is that in his there is a glass wall, and another chair behind it for the member of the public, with a sand bag for Derren to shoot at. Ours uses a plain black background around it, creating a dark and mysterious atmosphere. Derren Brown’s uses an old building, with brick walls and windows. This gives a sense of openness about what is happening, and it creates a softer atmosphere and environment than our thriller has. For this, I think that our thrillers set design was more effective for the purpose of tension build, as all black connotes mystery.

OUR THRILLER V RIHANNA RUSSIAN ROULETTE

PLOTLINE

PERCEIVED AS INNOCENTThe plot line of our opening sequence is about a female spy being trained by a male spy. She has to decode his voice and listen for changes in his voice when saying the numbers 1-6, in order to find out what chamber the bullet is in, in the gun.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE - RIHANNA

This is a music video by Rihanna. The music video opens with shots of Rihanna hooded, lying on the floor of a gas chamber. Three men, dressed in black uniforms and wearing dark round glasses circulate around the singer, attempting to extort information from her. The scene then moves to a dimly lit room in which Rihanna sits at a table with her love interest opposite. On the table between them lies a silver revolver in which, throughout the video, they take it turns holding to their heads. Other scenes include Rihanna in a woodland at night standing in the middle of a highway before a car speeds towards her, quickly cutting to another scene, giving the impression she is run over. Elements of blood and tears and vehicular assault dominate the video. In the final scenes, Rihanna is shown underwater, floating whilst being fired at; one bullet is visually seen cutting her throat. The video ends with her lover apparently committing suicide with the revolver placed between them.This was taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/russian_roulette_(song)#background_and_synopsis

CHARACTERIn these two media products, both girls are very attractive with a brown smokey eye for eyeshadow, and neutral lips. Their colour palette for their costume is the same as it is all black in this section of the sequences. However, Rihanna wears a more complex outfit. This is probably to make her stand out more as being the focus of the video, whereas our female character is dressed to blend in and be subtle as she is a spy and Rihanna is not. Their behaviour is also different as our protagonist is calm and composed about her training and what she has to do. Whereas, in Rihanna’s music video, she is nervous and worried about the bad that could actually happen in this situation.

ACTION AND CAMERA

In this section for each of the sequences, the men in the shot are both holding the guns, they have control over it. This shows a stereotypical man having dominance in a dangerous situation. To show tension, we have used a different type of shot to the music video. We used an over the shoulder shot of our male actor holding the gun to show the expression on the female actress’ face. In the music video, they have used a wide shot. This could be to show that they are together in this and are not isolated from each other. I feel that both shots used are very effective as they both convey tension throughout.

TITLE FONT

Rihanna's Russian Roulette does not have a title sequence during the music video. Whereas Perceived as Innocent does. We used a title to show the name of the film. The music video did not need a title as it would have been shown on the charts and introduced by the DJ and would also have the title already known as it is by a popular artist. Both are very effective, as the title adds more suspense to our thriller as it makes the audience question what the rest of the film would be about. And the music video is also effective because there is no title so it does not take any focus away from the meaning of the music.

SETTINGThe setting in both of these media products are the same. They both include two chairs and a table between the tow chairs. The rooms are dimly lit, and are dark. In Perceived as Innocent, there is a black background which gives the video more of a mysterious, serious tone. Whereas Russian Roulette uses a green which gives the setting a gloomy tone. Both uses of set are equally effective as they both represent a tense situation. I think that the set for our thriller is more effective in terms of having the storyline being able to be carried on. And Russian Roulette is more effective in terms of having an intimate storyline.