Evaluation task 2: evaluating our thriller.

The whole thriller follows the pattern of firstly adhering and then subverting the stereotypes, that we associate with genders and social class, using camera, editing, mise-en-scene and sound.

The very first shots immediately reveal to the audience something about the characters’ backgrounds because of the way the mise-en-scene is set. Straight in the beginning, we see a female’s hand with the ring, which suggests she is married and is relatively wealthy, which adheres with the stereotype of a typical middle-class women in her 30s: she is married and she is taking care of the house and her husband by cooking, cleaning, e.t.c.

We also see bits of kitchen and furniture in the first seconds of the opening sequence – everything is tidy, clean and matches in colour, which instantly makes the audience subconsciously realise it’s a middle-class kitchen, which is our secondary social group represented in the thriller. This is important that the mise-en-scene sends across clear messages – the status and class of the characters – because our audience can associate with them, if they are also middle class, and treat the story more personally, which is beneficial for us as producers, because the impact on the audience will be greater, and our film, therefore, more successful.

In the beginning, there are two close-ups on the woman – her face when she touches the hair and her hands cutting – which reveal the bruises. The camera doesn’t make accents on these bruises, but film regular routine actions like cutting and walking, what may connote that our character treats this violence as every day stuff and this is not a big deal for her anymore. The same message is sent across to the audience through her facial expressions - she is very calm, her eyes are not red, so she was not crying, her breath is normal, so she is not worried or scared.

At that point things start to look a bit more weird and this is the first sign of subverting a stereotype - why a woman doesn't cry or look upset after being beaten up? Why is she not talking about her emotions, but carry on with her daily house tasks?
The shot duration in these shots is also quite short, so the audience doesn’t get enough time to properly notice the bruises, but only realise subconsciously something is wrong after a short glance, which is relatively effective as people become more involved in the world of the film, starting to look for other bits, which doesn’t quite fit in the whole scene, which subvert the stereotype of ideal, routine life of middle class woman.

The sound is vitally important in this thriller. All the diegetic noises like oil sizzling, lemon squashing and cutting sounds make the opening sequence look realistic. Where the non-diegetic piano music makes shot transition smoother and because it’s so light and up-beating it juxtaposes with the horrible and violent actions, which start at the second part of the sequence. Such juxtaposition is highly effective on the audience, because they didn’t expect to see blood accompanied by soft piano so it shocks them, helping us to convey main messages through the narrative.

 There is a great panning shot, following the woman when she walks towards the cupboard to get the lemon, which reveals half of the body of the man – as the camera follows female, but not male it connotes that she is more important than him and the audience should pay attention to her.
The character positioning in this scene is also important. She is on her feet throughout the sequence: cutting, cooking, walking, while he is behind her lying down. Such positioning not only connote she is more powerful than him, but also represent the flow of their everyday life, adhering with the stereotypes - women is doing all the work in the house, while the man is lying down somewhere unnoticed.

Camera work and character positioning reflect our primary social group – gender – by showing the fighting and tension between male and female. Close-up on the women’s feet when she’s looking at the man on the floor below her makes her look more powerful because she is higher than him. Character positioning is very much beneficial for her and supports the same idea – she is stronger than him, she is more powerful and more important.

Editing also represent our social groups by highlighting the difference between male and female genders. For example, shot-reverse-shot when the man notices the woman in the kitchen establishes the fact that he’s scared of her for some reason, unknown for the audience.

The costume supports the whole idea of gender differences as well. She is wearing a red dress, which is associate with love, passion and blood, and makes her look both sexy, but a bit mentally unstable. On the other hand, he is wearing a black suit and white shirt, which makes him look serious. Also, the fact that white shirt is soaking with red blood is quite shocking to see, because you imaging something innocent being overpowered by some external force.

The whole sequence we've made is filmed on the tripod, producing stable shots which reflect and associate with normal and a bit dull life of middle class people. However, there is one handheld mid shot, which follows the woman when she's about to attack the man for the first time. The fact that the camera is shaking connotes that she is irritated and loosing temper, so something bad is about to happen.

The shot filmed under the table not only shows the causes of the fight, which took place before the sequence started, but also subvert the gender stereotypes by showing how woman overpowers the man.

The very last shot is quite long, but effective, because the audience so not necessarily expect to see him trying to escape for the second time so it's quite a surprise. Also, we kind of see that from her perspective, which helps the audience to sympathise with the villain more, than with the victim, which again subverts the stereotype, as typically men are the main heroes and those, who we sympathise with.

Overall, all the technical areas represent our social groups – gender and social class – quite successfully. Sound creates a juxtaposition with the image, subverting the stereotype of a typical middle-class day. Manipulating editing, shot-reverse-shots and shot duration helps to create the right pace to follow the atmosphere set by the images. Camera is emphasising the female character more than the male one, which makes her look more powerful and strong. Mise-en-scene also reflects the social group we represent by introducing a really nice picture of a middle-class kitchen, fancy clothes and beautiful ring.