Critical Evaluation 1

Evaluation part 1

continuity and editing 

we stuck to the conventional editing types in our film, including match on actions, shot reverse shots and 180 degree rule conversations, however developed and experimented with new editing techniques, in our drug trip out scene for example, experimenting with flashing bright light and canted angle shots.

we followed the traditional codes and conventions of both the representation of drugs and typical shot types in supernatural thriller films when filming our drug deal scenes, using dark gloomy lighting, suggesting shady behavior and a sense of uneasiness, and having the location of a street corner, a typical location for a movie drug deal.  However in our drug taking scene, in terms of the lighting of the shots, we slightly break away from the majority of drug use in other films representation, stating off with brightly lit shots, and even the calm lakeside setting suggested that the consumption of drugs is indeed a relaxed happy somewhat good thing to do, however this feeling gets juxtaposed by the resulting events that unfold and the story line development, which gets the film back on track with the conventions of drug use in other films.

another thing we did is apply aspects of the film noir genre into one of our scenes, the purgatory scene, using the use of black and white shots to give the sense of been in a strange location, not of this earth.

Codes and conventions of the genre

Our genre is the supernatural thriller genre, the codes and conventions of this genre include dark/shadowy shots, non human antagonists, simple human main characters, plot twists.

Our film generally sticks to the codes and conventions seen in our genre type. For example, we have a plot twist involved in the end, we have a non human antagonist in the form of agnar, as well as average Joe humans.

In terms of the sub topics and themes seen in our film, we also stick to the conventions, for example the sub theme of drugs, we have a shady, powerful drug dealer character, and stick to the overriding sense that drugs are bad.


pastiche and parody

the main techniques our film borrowed from other media products are shot types. For example, for our chase scene we looked at the chase scene from "point break" and copied some shots from this scene, for example this tracking running shot, as well as observing multiple chase scenes in various films in order to see what shot types are most common in these scenes to create an effective chase scene, other scenes viewed include the parkour chase scene in "Casino Royale"

another pastiche we used was the manipulation of similar thriller story lines, such as the story line from "the sixth sense" in which the main character is in fact dead throughout most of the film, just like in our film, however we change it up a bit by leaving the ending open to interpretation.

we also use the film "American History X" as a pastiche also, using the technique of black and white shots scene in this film when Derek is recalling memories past, using the black and white shots to show that what is happening isn't happening at that moment in the real world, it's in his head, so we use it in our shots in purgatory to show that Alex is no longer on this Earth.

audience pleasure

the main pleasure we are trying to provide our audience with is entertainment, sticking with the main intentions of a thriller film, but drawing away a little from the supernatural genre, as we don't intend to scare the audience. we follow the theory from Richard dyers, having energy in the chase scene for example, intensity which is seen again in the chase seen, but more so in the purgatory scene, we also have some aspects of community, for example Alex taking the drugs with a friend, and transparency, with close up shots of characters faces in the purgatory scene for example.