Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your Main Product and your Ancillary Tasks?

Thomas Schatz Genre Theory (1981)

Thomas Schatz believes that there are only two genres:

Genres of order (western, gangster, sci-fi etc)

Hero - Individual, male - dominant
Setting - Contested space which is argued over (ideologically unstable)
Conflict - Externalised, against others (expressed through violence)
Resolution/ending - Elimination (death)
Thematics - The hero takes upon himself the problems, contradictions of his society and saves us from them
                  - Macho code of behaviour
                  - Isolated self-resiliance (either through his departure or death, the hero does not fit in with the values /lifestyles of the community but maintains individuality)

Genres of Integration (Musicals, comedies, domestic melodramas etc)

Hero - Couple or collective e.g. family
Setting - Civilised space (ideologically stable)
Conflict - Internalised - between themselves (expressed through emotion)
Resolution/ending - embrace (love)
Thematics - The romantic couple or family are integrated into the wider community, their personal antagonists resolved
                  - Maternal, familiar code
                  - Community co-operation

'Genres of order' is the genre that relates to 'Arcane'. Throughout our Teaser Trailer we have featured each of the above elements, although some elements e.g. Resolution cannot be shown or revealed in the Trailer, ultimately adding more suspense and mystery for the viewer.

Final Poster Design

After deconstructing existing posters, designing our own posters and developing our draft, this is our final design of our poster.

We have changed various aspects of our draft in order to develop and finalize our poster design: 

- We have changed the tagline, 'Innocence is no excuse', to Italics. This represents and reflects the characters' movement and action 

- We have lowered the title 'Arcane', as we could not find any existing action thriller posters that did this 

- Audience feedback suggested that the target was too faint, and so we increased the intensity and thickness of the line

- We also enclosed the target more so it appears more focused on the main character i.e the protagonist

- We altered the tagline font, and made it to plain white Arial in capitals 

Current Action-Thriller Film Research

In order to understand the modern market for action-thriller style films, we have researched any new releases of this genre.  By analysing the main themes in these films, we have established a trending concept that we can subsequently integrate into our own teaser trailer.

Here are a number of the films we have researched, and a small break down of their key themes next to each:

‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ (2012) - Action, Adventure, Horror, Thriller – virus attacks Earth’s population/ heroine is the human race's last and only hope/ hunts for those responsible for the outbreak/ must fight to survive.

‘The Bourne Legacy’ (2012) - Action, Adventure, Thriller – top secret government program/ intends to wipe out all the genetically modified killers it created/ protagonist must flee in order to save his life.

‘Haywire’ (2012) – Action, Thriller - female covert ops specialist/ hunted down/ discovers she has been double-crossed by someone close to her in the agency/ strikes back.

‘Safe House’ (2012) - Thriller, Action, Adventure - young CIA agent/ tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house/ safe house is attacked/ forced to go on the run with his charge.

‘Act of Valor’ (2012) - War, Action, Adventure, Thriller - mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative/ unexpectedly discovers imminent global threat/ elite team of Navy SEALs must embark on a secret operation.

‘Premium Rush’ (2012) – Action, Thriller - bike messenger picks up an envelope/ attracts the interest of a dirty cop/ pursues the cyclist through Manhattan.

‘Jack Reacher’ (2012) – Action, Thriller – gunman takes five lives/ evidence points to the suspect in custody/ suspect blames the man Jack Reacher/ Jack Reacher investigates the case himself.

‘Contraband’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller – former drug smuggler/ needs to protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord/ sets out to bring back some counterfeit currency.

‘Man on a Ledge’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Thriller - police psychologist/ tries to talk down an ex-con who is threatening to jump from a Manhattan hotel rooftop/ the biggest diamond heist ever committed is in motion.

‘Now You See Me’ (2013) – Action, Thriller - FBI agents/ track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances/ reward their audiences with the money.

‘Alex Cross’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller - homicide detective/ pushed to the brink of his moral and physical limits/ attempting to track down a serial killer who specializes in torture and pain.

‘Taken 2’ (2012) – Action, Thriller - retired CIA operative Mills/ he and his ex-wife taken hostage/ culprit is the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

‘The Company You Keep’ (2012) – Political, Action, Thriller - former Weather Underground activist/ journalist discovers his identity/ forced to go on the run.

‘Assassin’s Bullet' (2012) – Action, Drama, Thriller - unknown vigilante/ begins killing high-priority terrorists/ former FBI field agent brought in/ ordered to discover the identity of the assassin.

‘Cleanskin’ (2012) – Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller - British secret service agent/ ordered to kill a British-born suicide bomber and his terrorist cell.

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012) – Action, Drama, History, Thriller - female CIA operative/ pursues leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader/ in 2011 U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden.

‘Riddick’ (2013) - Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller – Riddick betrayed and left for dead/ fights for survival against alien predators/ bounty hunters try to find him/ Riddick unleashes an attack of vengeance.

‘Welcome to the Punch’ (2013) – Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller - former criminal/ forced to return to London/ gives detective one last chance to catch him/ uncover a deeper conspiracy they both need to solve in order to survive.

‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’ (2013) - Action, Comedy, Horror, Thriller - Hansel and Gretel/ vigilantes/ hell bent on retribution/ unknowingly become the hunted.

‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ (2013) - Action, Adventure, Thriller - Katniss Everdeen/ returns home after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games/ must embark on a Victor's Tour/ senses that a rebellion is simmering/ the 75th Annual Hunger Games is about to begin.

‘Safe’ (2012) - Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller – former elite agent/ Russian Mafia murders his family/ he rescues a Chinese girl/ they are pursued by the same gangsters, corrupt New York Police and the Triads.

The main concept that we wish to adopt from these current action-thrillers, is the idea that our protagonist has to fight to survive.  Just like in the films ‘Premium Rush’ and ‘Safe’, our main character is forced to go on the run, when he is pursued for something in his possession.  Then similarly to films such as ‘Haywire’ and ‘The Bourne Legacy’, our protagonist’s adversary is the government itself.  This consequently sparks debate in the audience about the morality of the authority's actions.

DECONSTRUCTION: Limitless Poster

DECONSTRUCTION: The Bourne Identity Poster

DECONSTRUCTION: Enemy of the State Poster

DECONSTRUCTION: Die Hard Poster

The second poster we have looked at is Die Hard.

DECONSTRUCTION: The Bourne Legacy Poster

We decided to look at some existing posters for films within our genre and have deconstructed them to discover some of the conventions of a film poster. The first poster we looked at is for The Bourne Legacy.

Action Vs. Thriller

As previously mentioned here, we decided to change our genre to an Action Thriller. Originally, we took inspiration from conspiracy thriller films such as Enemy of the State, The Bourne Films, Limitless and many more. Nevertheless, when it came to selecting our cast, our main character's presence seemed to alter the genre. 

We decided to explore the different conventions when looking at both the Action and Thriller genre. When filming and editing takes place we will combine both aspects to create an Action Thriller film Trailer. 

DECONSTRUCTION: The Bourne Legacy



Before the 'Bourne Legacy' trailer begins, a 'green band' rating card is shown to demonstrate that the following material is suitable for all age groups. 

The trailer starts with showing the Universal studio credit, which is quickly hidden by several black bars travelling across the shot until eventually forming total black.  Once the screen is entirely enveloped, dramatic slow violin music (non-diegetic) begins to play.  This evokes feelings of anticipation and tension in the audience - aspects typical of a thriller trailer.

 

The black bar transition occurs on a small section of the screen, revealing a variety of close-up shots of Jeremy Renner's beaten face (high key lighting).  This immediately creates an air of mystery around his character, with the bar transition implying that he has something to hide.  Whilst this occurs, a conversation between him and another character takes place.



The same transition continues, gradually introducing the film’s cast through close-up shots and dialogue without revealing the characters identities (low key lighting creates mysterious shadows).  The transition also hints that these conversations are taking place somewhere extremely confidential, developing a suspicious atmosphere.

 

The black bar transition then occurs once more, but this time revealing the shot of Jeremy Renner‘s face in it’s entirety through a close up with high key lighting.  This reveals the famous actor starring in the film, which will therefore attract an audience from his fan base.  The musical score builds to a climax before stopping abruptly, giving the audience a sense of suspense as to what will happen next. 

 

The words 'there was never just one' are shown, whilst an unknown character narrates, 'Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg'. These statements refer to the franchise of the previous Bourne films, consequently creating interest for previous fans.



A variety of rapid, dramatic action scenes then occur, demonstrating that Jeremy Renner's character is constantly surrounded by danger and must fight to survive. Whilst these scenes are shown the tempo and volume of the music quickens, mimicking the fast-paced editing (basic cut transitions).



One of these quick shots is a high angle close up shot of a file with an attached photo of Renner, highlighted through high key lighting. This demonstrates that Renner is of key importance to an unknown group/character, as they have spent the time to access 'restricted' detailed information on him (shown through the 'restricted label on the cover'.



Another of the shots of a long shot of a wooden cabin suddenly exploding in a snowy location, illustrating the dangerous surroundings Renner is involving himself in and creating an air of excitement.



Another of these shots is a low angle long shot of Renner jumping from one tree to another.  This shot type emphasizes that he is not only powerful, but also abnormal due to his extreme athleticism.

The scenes climax once more with a close-up of Jeremy Renner taking a gun shot with a calm expression.  This loud and sudden action has a shocking effect, immediately cutting off the trailer's score and all other sounds. 

 

The shot is then instantly cropped to show Jeremy Renner's determined eyes in black and white.  Combined, these effects bring back the air of mystery around his character, making the audience question as to whether he is a cold-blooded killer.  The bar transition from the beginning of the trailer then occurs, slowly wiping the final image from the screen and taunting the audience to find out for themselves.



A variety of still shots from the film are then shown, which gradually move backwards in a disorderly fashion (potentially mimicking the main character's mindset)

All of these images are tinted with white, so that they eventually come to form the film’s title: The Bourne Legacy, on a black background.  The word 'Bourne' stands out in a bolder font, once again stressing the franchise that was created by the previous films (therefore attracting it's fans).



The teaser trailer finally ends in revealing what season and year the film will be released, helping to create anticipation and interest from the target audience.