UNIT G321 EVALUATION

NATHALIE SAMENAS MEDIA STUDIES

2013/2014

QUESTION 1:

IN WHAT WAY DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND

CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Our film of the thriller genre Snatched is somewhat inspired by Taken, directed by Pierre Morel in 2008, and the revenge neo noir thriller Dead Man Down, by Niels Arden Oplev in 2013. In addition, we took inspiration from Guy Ritchies’s London based films for it’s use of cinematographic gritty realism.

INSPIRATION

Snatched is a conventional thriller as it deals with a revenge mystery, where the life of a young girl is at stake. In this film, we learn that people aren’t who they claim to be, and we are left in a situation where we question each character’s intentions.

Our film follows Todorov’s linear narrative theory: Each new scene is the result of the precedent one. By following this convention rather then breaking it, it makes it easier to grasp the plot of the story, and entices you to solve the mystery you are eagerly asking yourself. This, thus, makes it accessible to a wide age range of people.

What makes our film a thriller is how during our opening sequence we are presented with several enigmas: Who is the man who is threatening the father? What does the nanny have to do with the girl’s kidnapping? This is typical for a thriller genre to have.

LOCATIONFor the location of our film Snatched, we set it in my friend’s

high end house, in one of the wealthiest parts of London; Knightsbridge. The house we used fitted perfectly with the stereotypical views of how a wealthy Russian mob-man would live.

For the most part of our opening sequence, we used the spacious living room as the office, which emphasized the Russian’s status and power.

We then moved to the streets of Knightsbridge when the young girl is rushed into her driver’s car by her nanny. Filming outdoors created a sense of urgency to the situation.

Ilya entering his spacious and well designed office; velvet doors extravagant.

PROPS AND OBJECTSWe used high end products in the mis-en-scene to

emphasize the wealth and power that Brodsky, the protagonist, has, and the family’s financial status. We used props that were commonly known as expensive, in order to ensure viewers would recognize what their money could buy them.

We purposely used the Bang and Olufsen Be0 phone in gold to highlight his wealth, as they are only affordable for the elite, and its phallic shape accents Brodsky’s masculine power.

We also wanted to get the bar in the frame, as it is stocked with valuable crystal glasses, and the finest of spirits; more elements that further stress their wealth and luxurious lifestyle.

In addition, we were lucky enough to use a rented Mercedes with a chauffeur as the daughter’s driver. We wanted this as it supports the idea that most wealthy families will have a driver for their children, and also highlights that their life is comfortable.

EXAMPLES OF PROPS USED…

The Mercedes we used as the driver’s car; a well known car, and expensive one too. (And this is just the driver’s car!)

The image on the right shows the range of colors for The Bang and Olufsen Be0 phones. We used the gold one; the color that symbolizes wealth, and is frankly quite ostentatious.

CHARACTERS

There are four characters in our media product. Each of them are of different age groups, and each have different morals then the other, and individually play a role in the storyline of our media production.

We were fortunate enough to use friends from the LAMDA performing school to play our characters. This ensured we’d have a sense of professionalism to the film by having somewhat experienced actors. This added to the overall verisimilitude of circumstances.

ILYA BRODSKY:

Ilya Brodsky is a extremely wealthy man from the notorious Russian community.

Right from the start, we can assume he is a hard man to please, and is not the most welcoming of people, due to his lack of empathy and inviting facial expressions.

His formal attire indicates he comes from money and most probably works in business. His harsh way of speaking to his daughter shows he takes matter seriously, and that danger follows him and his family.

DIMITRI BRODSKY

Dimitri Brodsky is the estranged brother of Ilya. He has been absent from his family for numerous years now, and has come back into his brother’s life to take back what he thinks he is owed. He is directly portrayed in a negative way as we meet him during a phone call where he is threatening his brother’s life. We can assume he is going to take drastic measures as he goes the extra mile to distort his voice in a sinister way.

By his way of handling the situation, we can tell he as well doesn't’t take things lightly. Must run in the family.

We could also say he fits the stereotypical image of a Russian man, as he handles his business with threats, and also his defined facial features match those of a real Russian person.

SOPHIE BRODSKYSophie Brodsky is the daughter of Ilya. Dressed in a cute navy dress and a sweet pulled-back hairdo, we assume she is in her early teens, and is very welcoming. We also know, that her dad’s work is getting in the way of her having a normal teenage life, and feels restraint from him. We feel empathy for her because she is controlled by her father, but also because she is unaware of her nanny’s intentions. She is a naive young girl caught up in something bigger then her.

PATRICIA THE NANNYPatricia is the nanny

for the Brodsky family, and takes care of Sophie. During the opening sequence, we do not question Patricia’s intentions as she comes across as a simple and warm-hearted person, due to her modest attire: long black skirt with a long sleeved shirt, and tied-back hair. However, once she and Sophie are in the car, we quickly realize she is not who she claims to be.

SCORE AND SOUNDTRACKIn media products, soundtrack can have a great

impact to the ambience of a scene. For our opening sequence, we wanted a score that would create a tense atmosphere and mystery but that at the same time one that wouldn’t overpower the scenes.

We found our track via SoundCloud; it’s the sound of a discordant piano chords. We found that it fit perfectly with our thriller genre, as it indicated right from the start what the style of the film was going to be, without being too intense whereby you could still focus on what the scene was about but still feel quite tense.

LIGHTING When it came to lighting for our media product, we didn’t so

much focus our attention on creating special lighting effects, just to have good and clear lighting. We wanted a well light room using as much natural light, as we could. Our indoor location was perfect as it had big side windows but also a long skylight above the character’s heads.

I was most pleased with the scene where Patricia and Sophie are in the car because of the rays of light casted between their faces. I had noticed the sun behind them, and with a bit of chance (and some planning) this beautiful ray of light appeared in the frame. It happened at the right moment, just as I was doing a close-up shot of Patricia’s sinister smile.

Overall, our storyline grips us, firstly because it’s a thriller genre, which is one of the most preferred genres people like to watch, but also because it’s a revenge kidnap story of a man’s most precious daughter, which highlights the reality that kidnapping is a genuine issue to some of the elite’s business men.

Our main priority when creating this product was to make a gripping film that brings the viewers to asks themselves questions. We personally believe that we have achieved our goal, also because of the feedback from viewers according to our questionnaires about our media product. Our final production also achieved to clearly follow Todorov’s linear narrative theory in the thriller genre and follows the conventions of a thriller genre. The story is accessible and understandable to most different groups of people, and are thus moved by the unexpected turn of events and moral of the narrative.