Real Media Research FILM NO. 4

Title: Taking Lives

Genre: Mystery/Crime Thriller

KEY

words/phrases like this – key terms/conventions

words/phrases like this – Effect on audience

OPENING CREDITS

Opening sequence convention:

The opening credits used are at the start of the thriller movie and before any opening scenes. This is an opening sequence convention of a thriller movie and allows the audience to know the name of the movie and production company involved.

SETTINGGenre convention:

The setting of the beginning of the movie is certainly unconventional and not typical of a thriller film. A convention of such a film would be a city as the setting. Having said this, for a psychological thriller this may be common. This would possible be the case since a countryside is away from masses of people and thus the protagonist would easily be able to get away with crime.

Black and WhiteOne typical convention of a thriller film is the usage of black and white to create a particular feel.

Genre convention/opening sequence convention:

In this opening sequence, the black and white creates the typical sinister and ominous vibe common amongst most thriller movies.

RED connotes DANGERGenre convention/opening sequence convention:

The colour red is often used in thriller movies to signify danger and/or death. This would definitely be the case in this particular opening sequence since the title states ‘Taking Lives’. As a result the audience would be curious as to how many lives, why are the lives being taken and who is killing theses people. These questions among other questions regarding the danger and death would be common for an audience to ask throughout a thriller film.

ScissorsGenre convention:The use of another prop being scissors is another connection with danger and/or death. This prop is often used in thriller movies but for reasons different than this. In this particular opening sequence, the scissors are being used to cut the protagonists hair and not for intimidating/life threatening purposes. However, the use of close ups (talked in detail in next slide) creates some important about the tool and thus, the audience would associate it with danger and harm.

Close Ups & Fast Cuts Genre convention/opening sequence convention:

The use of close ups and fast cuts creates disorientation of the audience since things are not so clear. However it not only creates confusion but also leads to the asking of questions since we see words like suspect and cannot understand the relevance of them.

The close ups and fast cuts lead the audience to assume that there is some sort of danger and individual ‘Taking Lives’ but these aspects would not allow them to get the full picture (literally and possibly figuratively too).

Violent WordsOpening sequence convention:

The use of violent words such as ‘death’ ‘murder’ etc results in the audience asking even more questions. In relation to the effect of fast cuts and close ups, there isn’t much detail and the shots are fairly quick.

This vague description of the deaths would leave the audience curious to find out what is happening and who is behind all of the killing. Furthermore, these vague elements causes curiosity but as a result, screen tension having the audience anticipating more details of the situation.

CHARACTERISATION Finally, the continuous cross cuts between an unidentified man and newspaper articles/records about dead bodies or a new identity creates mystery and obscurity. Having said this, the audience may not be fully aware of the situation and would need clarification from the remainder of the film, but from the continuous articles of dead bodies, the title of ‘taking lives’ and the man which these articles are constantly going back to, the audience would assume that this man is creating a new identity by changing physical appearance and dental records to hide the fact that he is killing these people. Thus, the characterization of the protagonist is developed throughout the opening sequence to have the audience interested in the entire story.