Research Into Conventions and Similar Products

 Research Into Conventions and Similar Products

The genre of our opening sequence is a thriller with the sub-genre being crime. To further improve our understanding of how the thriller/crime genre uses conventions in various film and TV. In the post I will explore 4 different Film/TV media products and which conventions they use and how they relate our sequence.

Would You Rather

This film is about a group of strangers who enter a 'harmless game' with the chance to win a large sum of money which they all desperately need for various reasons however it is run by a sadistic rich psychopath  who forces the strangers to play a deadly game of would you rather to win the prize money.

Firstly the rich man (in charge of the game) 'Shepard lambrick' is very similar to the character of the man in the opening sequence I am working on as they both enjoy watching other people suffering immense pain and suffering and it gives them a euphoric sense of glee. The core of the narrative is also similar as they both centre around an 'insane' man carrying out torture and then killing their victims although in would you rather this is on a much larger scale.

Secondly, the editing techniques used in this film are quite similar in what i hope we will be looking to substantially include in the final product. Specifically in the scene where the party guests are forced to make a choice to electrocute themselves or the person sitting to their right, the scene as quick cuts from the clock and between all the different people panicking; i feel this style of editing would work perfectly in our sequence by cutting between the man's leisurely activity of getting the poison read intercutting with the woman with the funnel acting distressed. This would look especially dynamic as the man would have longer shots where you would get short sharp shots of the woman to build tension effectively.

Line of Duty

These seasons of TV are focuses on corruption within the police force and the issues they encounter. Instantly the character of Tommy Hunter stands out to me as
being similar to the man in our opening sequence as once again they are both psychopaths since tommy has rapped people which is absolutly disgusting and the man in our sequence is killing his sister. The genre of thriller and subgenre of crime is exactly the same as our opening sequence so in terms of themes and general concepts such as involving the police.

And Then There Were None 

This three parter TV mini series (based on a book by Agatha Christie) is about a group of 10 strangers who are invited to an island however there are no hosts to welcome; in the course of their stay they discover that there is a murderer amongst them who is picking them off one by one in very specific ways
according to a poem marked all over the mansion they are staying in. The subtlety of the killer and how he gets away with every kill until admitting at to his guiltiness at the end with one person remaining, this is something the man in our sequence is also capable of since he murders with poisonous berries so he frame it as a suicide whilst making sure the woman looks unharmed from the outside but can also joy his process of killing her.

Secondly I feel the overall aesthetic of this minis series really is what I would like to achieve in the opening sequence as it really captures a story in which every shot is intriguing and dynamic at also has a beautiful set to perfectly pair with it. The focus of the series is the subtlety of the killer and the how hidden the danger is which amps up the tension by leaving the audience in mystery, this what we want to do with our sequence; make sure the audience are constantly trying to figure out what exactly is going on and the intentions of the murderous man.

Silence of The Lambs

This film features a crazed killer called 'Hannibal Lecter' who eats his victims and skins them, this can once again fundamentally relate to the psychopathic man in our sequence however there are also some big differences such as the fact that the
'man' is not a cannibal and doesn't eat his victims but does dissect their bodies and use bodies as 'decorations' and he is also significantly more unsuspecting which therefore means he can fade into the role of a perceived normal person.

Finally, this film's fear factor is also something that is comparable to our opening sequence as the pure horrific idea alone is enough to strike terror but seeing a man force feed a woman poison through a funnel whilst he is gaining satifaction from it is extremely disturbing, just like the narrative essence of silence of the lambs. I know the genre of the our sequence is a crime thriller but this horrific aspect with the funnel is what really pulls in the audience and makes the sequence thrilling to watch.