Forms and conventions of media

texts Ciaran Chineah

Camera shots

I have chosen to compare my film with “silence of the lambs”. The camera shots used in ours were quite similar in ways, such as close up on the antagonists. However I felt that we didn’t include enough of them because in Silence of the lambs they did use multiple which did increase the intensity of the film. We used camera shots such as close ups on the antagonist which was a commonly used shot it the film silence of the lambs (used on the antagonist). Overall I feel that there is a lot of comparison with the camera shots with our film and silence of the lambs.

Camera angels

In our films our camera angels were genially different because it was harder for us to get the best camera angels considering the circumstances. However we did try getting some high angled shots of the protagonist to show that she is venerable just like they use in the Silence of the lambs. We did get low angled shots of the antagonist to show that they are superior which is what they done is silence of the lambs. However the things we did do similarly is angled the camera so it is not head on with the characters. Also we used close ups on the antagonists as they did in silence of the lambs to create the affect that the antagonist are dangerous.

Sound

The sound in both of the films were different. This is because in our film we needed sound which was of high intensity because it was a chase scene meaning we had to use sound to fit the situation. In “Silence of the lambs” they have a more quiet composition because it is a creepier film but both of the sounds have a classical aspect to it. Also a violin was a primary instrument in both which I believe is a appropriate instrument to use in psychological thriller. We wanted to create a similar affect with the sound as they did in Silence of the lambs.

Mise-en-scene

The environment within our film had close comparisons to the environment in silence of the lambs. However in our film we did not use props but we carefully selected locations which would be appropriate for our genre. The clothing however has a direct comparison as Manny where’s similar clothes as Hannibal Lecter. The prison cell in silence of the lambs is very dark and gloomy and if you compare that to our film; we have used an ‘abandoned’ car park to create the same affect. We wanted to re-create the prison cell affect as a source of danger and we believe we have done that we have done that successfully by using a dark and empty car park.

Narrative (plot)

As our film is only an opening scene it is hard to take comparisons from silence of the lambs. However the only real comparisons that we can take from silence of the lambs is that we used two antagonist, which is the amount they used in silence of the lambs. Also the other comparison is that the antagonist have sick minds and have no real motivation for what they do as they are not after anything of value. In both films (our film and silence of the lambs) is the antagonist only wan to watch the world burn.

Challenges to the genre

Our film challenges the physiological genre through character representations. The main character ‘Jade’ can’t realise the difference between a dream and reality. Also the fact that she is a female keeps in line with the genre as the majority of films within this genre by using females as the protagonist as they are seen as venerable. Also the use of two males being the antagonist also give the similarity to other psychological genres. The plot also being intense and mysterious because not everything is what it seems gives a good indication to what our films genre is.