Research into similar conventions..

Similar products and conventions research post

Today, we researched into different media products that use conventions that are similar to our sequence. This is so we have an understanding of how they used these conventions to successfully portray a genre to an audience, then we can try and replicate how their techniques. 

The genre of our opening scene is a thriller. What makes up our sequence, including; a nightclub massacre, multiple killings and scenes with blood, fighting and hammers, all represent conventions of a thriller.  

If we were to have a sub-genre it would likely be identified as 'A neo-noir thriller' due using elements like; a cynical hero, neon lights, and the intricate plot to follow afterwards.  

DRIVE (2011) Bold films, Nicolas Winding Refn:

After watching this short clip from the movie drive I noticed how, in similarity to the character in our sequence, this man is a lone wolf. He works alone and looks ambitious in getting the job done. He wears a trendy/staple jacket like ours will, and is also a 'hitman' character (even though he's a getaway driver). The way that Ryan Gosling walks with his eye line straight ahead of him is how I aim our character will also look on camera. 

Regarding the theme, the lights, underground club, lowlights and acknowledgement of the girl are all very similar to our sequence. This is also why I researched into this movie because it includes most of the conventions we have, which is super helpful. The uneasy tension he's created with lack of dialogue and mysterious looks is what our character will do. He won't speak, however, one difference is that the audience won't see our characters face. 

The overall narrative of Drive isn't that similar to ours but has many aspects that are the same. Although, this scene in particular is just like a shot I'm envisioning in our sequence The action of walking through a hallway, taking out a hammer and slightly swinging it as he walks is what our character will do before he kills a struggling victim. The camera angles of the hammer and where they are in placement to him is great inspo for the image want to create. 

Obviously the hammer is a prop he uses that our character does as well but it's a theme, our characters' "thing" that is different about him to any other killer- that he only uses hammers. The jacket gives him more of a personality which is what will be significant about our guy as well as Ryan Gosling's character.

The camera techniques used like, the low angle when he walks down the stairs is very effective to his importance, as well as framing him in the centre of the shot. The symmetry of hallway is satisfying to the eye as an audience member. In regards to our scene, we want to incorporate symmetry as much as possible to create a spectacle that looks almost artistic. I want to avoid low angles where all of him is in the shot because it might devalue his threatening or intimidating character. There is also a slow zoom in as he walks towards the camera, I like this technique and hope we can add this in too. The cut from hikm getting out to camera from behind to infront is also what I want to replicate but with a slightly cleaner cut. 

NOBODY(2021)  Universal Pictures, Ilya Niashuller

After viewing this violent scene from the movie Nobody, I thought about what conventions are similar or the same as our opening sequence. His character in this scene is quite like how i expect our character to be when fighting in our sequence. The man also shows mercy when he gave the man a tracheotomy, and our guy will show mercy to the girl in the club. The man uses a pole from the bus to best up the men instead of a gun, quite like hammer. The difference is that he takes a beating as well, our character doesn't face a matched opponent. 

This scene is very intense and we watch as he beats up all these men on a bus how strong and skilled he is. Similarly our guy is clearly skilled and has done this before because all these people are dead on the floor already with only one struggler. They differ because we watch the man from Nobody beat up everyone, yet we don't actually see that in our scene, the audience almost joins in after all the action has taken place. Perhaps, with a non-linear narrative, the storyline could unfold to how he got to this position including the fight scene before we see an end shot of him sitting with his hammers.

 

Having never seen Nobody, I research the  plot which follows a family man who slowly reveals his true character after his house gets burgled and he then finds himself in a bloody war with a Russian crime boss. Although the plot line is a little different, it still  follows the one man, the protagonist who actually commits many crime yet somehow gets the audience routing for him. 

This scene is set on a bus which, yes, is very different to a club, on the other hand, it's still a remotely confined space with lots of people getting beaten to death, with nowhere to escape to. So, it shares some similarity in the location. 

The costume consists of a typical group of criminals estimated around their 20's; tracksuits and caps, using props like a beer to represent there irresponsible behaviour, whilst contrasting with the older man. The lighting is ill and too bright, juxtaposing the night time. The costumes and lighting don't have much in common with my opening sequence but the porps, like alcohol is what we would have in our night club. Perhaps the group of boys came from a club or pub?

The camera techniques in this scene work in the action genres favour as the quick cuts speed up the pace of this fight. We wobn';t have as many quick cuts because there's less action but cutting from the girl reaction to the man will be similar. The handheld camera is also very effective and gives the illusion that you're in the bus with them. Maybe we will do somehand held in our sequence? They had some really nice close up shots that we will use as inspiration. 

Like this:

JOHN WICK (2014) Chad Stahelski, Lionsgate

 

Watching a scene from John Wick I noticed some aspects to this character as well as location and more that is already similar to my sequence or what I want to add to it. One main similarity is the sub-genre, Neo-noir. 

The character john wick himself is your typical James bond-esk protagonist. Similar to what we would want our character to be like. He is clearly used to these sorts of situations and trained in combat which is, following from an opening sequence, what our character would be too. He kills a lot of people and has no remorse. 

The location here, is the ideal vision for our sequence if we had a much bigger budget, cast, space and more time. We hope ours is similar to this just in a much smaller scale. The storyline of John Wick is about an ex-hitman who comes out of retirement and tracks down the gangsters who killed his dog and took everything from him. Which differs slightly from ours because the protagonist is fighting for his own, good cause whereas our guy could be doing it for money, greed or his own revenge. 

There are a lot of men in suits ad girls in party dresses, even John Wick is in a suit although this costume might be a disguise to blend in. They use guns, and knifes, but it tells us it's set in america how almost everyone has guns in comparison to our sequence, the hammer tellus little about the location but a lot more about our character. 

The camera moves quickly as well as the quick shot duration editing technique. The hand held and sometimes panned camera movements add to the chaos of it all. We want to achieve the same sort of thing. There are some shots/angles i want to incorporate into our sequence.