RHIANNA HENSON-SMITH

EvaluationQuestion 1

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

Title Frame – Doctor 6:191

Our title Doctor 6:19 suits our storyline as it reflects our main characters work profession and our underlying religious theme, the 6:19 links to the verse within the bible in which Joseph Damien is so fond of and hints at God being a big part of the plot. Our title does not overly show that the film is a Thriller, however the use of numbers after Doctor instead of a surname (Which is how doctors are addressed within hospitals) gives a sense of mystery to the character. A popular Thriller film is ‘Hannibal’, which is a simple title name and suggests what the film is about to the audience. It links to our films title as they have also based their title on the main character, for example, Hannibal Lecter. As shown within the picture below the main title picture is the characters face, the shadowing allows facial features to be covered and focuses more on the eyes. Our cover is also Joseph Damien’s eyes as the film title flashes up. We have decided to use this as it shows how he appears normal to others yet behind his exterior he is not a friendly, caring person, which qualities are linked with the image of a Doctor.

Setting/Location – Hospital 2

Our location within our film is the Royal Surrey Hospital and the Casino night club in Guildford town centre. A hospital is not a typical location for a thriller film, however is usually featured at some point, whether it to be after someone is injured within the film or an investigator going to get health records for a suspect. Although it isn’t usually the first choice of location for a genre, we thought it would stand out from other films, which are usually based within the woods or an urban location. An example of this is Shutter Island, which features an asylum on a remote island and woodland area. The Casino location is more of a typical setting for our genre. Our scenes at this location was in an alley round the back of the Casino and was filmed at night time. We did this because darkness effects the audience’s senses and creates a mysterious feel, especially the question why is a doctor in a nightclub alley after work?

Costumes and props 3Within our film there are two main characters. Firstly Joseph Damien, who is shown in a smart suit and tie, reflecting his profession as a doctor. The use of a suit and tie is typical of Thriller genres, such as wealthy business men or criminals. A film which links to this is Inception, where the majority of the characters dress as clever, smart individuals.Secondly Joseph is then seen in a dark hoodie, which is seen within the genre as it creates a sense of mystery and links with the use of gangs and crime. Our second character who is the killers victim, is seen in normal clothing such as jeans and a coat. From looking at other films and previous thriller openings I saw that the victim was usually dressed in casual day-to-day clothes and that they did not know the killer. Props used within our film consisted of doctors equipment, which is not usually seen within a thriller as a main prop, however is sometimes featured if a character is sent to the hospital (victim). A knife was our main prop and is common in thriller films, such as American Psycho, as it represents death, murder and crime. We decided to use a knife within Doctor 6:19 as our use of a knife symbolizes what a doctor commonly uses inside a operating theatre to save people, yet is also using the same sort of instrument to commit a murder, showing his dark sided character as well. We also used this is a prop because it takes a more physical and emotional act of violence with a knife to hurt and kill someone rather than a gun which could be used at a distance without a physical act. 

Camerawork 4For a thriller genre there are usually fast moving shots and jump cuts, to add to the pace of the film and increase the audience's adrenaline. We have also used jump cuts and have used low angle shots to show our main character as being in more authority and dangerous compared to others. There are lots of close-ups within our opening which shows the key features of the subject within the scene. This is used to emphasise the characters key details and expressions, therefore showing their emotions towards what is happening. A wide-shot is used within the office scene and places the subject in the middle of the frame so that the audience are able to identify the situation surrounding them. The mid-shot angle of Joseph allows the audience to view the elements of mise-en-scene such as the characters clothing and the prop of the knife or pictures. Therefore allowing the audience to see what type of person the character is. Thrillers conventionally use editing techniques to increase elements of suspense and tension. This can be seen through elements such as the use of reactions shots which are designed to highlight the characters reaction when they are approached by the antagonist. We have portrayed this through our overlap of our victim running at the end. Additionally, cut always emphasise what is happening around the situation in an alternative scene, conventionally, one scene is shown to be chaotic whereas, another demonstrates calm, everyday life adding to the twists and suspense within the plot, which we have shown through a serious office scene, to him walking and calmly getting in his car. David Fincher is a famous Thriller director, known for his use of fast pace shots and conventions, for example in the film Se7en.

Editing5We edited our film so that all slow and unusable pieces were cut out and that we cut the film in all the right places so that it would be a quick pace and run smoothly throughout. We also used flashbacks within our film which we put on top of existing shots so that it would create an effective time lapse. There are also flashbacks within other thriller films, such as Shutter Island, which is used to distort the audience's view and confuse the audience so they continue watching to find out what happens. James Bond is another thriller which uses a flash back within the opening scenes, showing violence in a grey/yellowish colour, so it is clear to the audience that it is a flash from the past. However although we did use the idea, we did not edit it to be in black and white. We edited our lighting within the scenes, so that it was dark enough to see the character, but not much of where he was. Thrillers conventionally use low-key lighting in order to create a dark or sombre atmosphere. This creates tension as the audience are unaware of what could be happening in the surrounding of the character. Additionally, low-key lighting or extreme-low-key lighting can create a dark and menacing atmosphere to a scene. Thrillers feature the use of elements such as ambient sound in order to increase tension and panic within the situation. The film Scream incorporates the use of asynchronous background through the girls screaming when the titles appear which allows the audience to instantly recognise the nature of the film genre. We decided to have music through out the whole of the opening, which changed through-out, from dark and mysterious to gentle again, adding to the suspense of the film.

Title font6

Our title font for our film is in the style of a typewriter and decided to use pieces of paper which we ripped up and made looked like they were uncared about. We decided to have joseph looking through them and placing them onto his desk. This looked good as it linked to his scribbling on the bible and the scribbly writing used within the titles, showing his mental state in the beginning. We decided to drip red ink on to the paper which then looked like dried blood, linking to his dark personality and represents the theme of murder and death which appears within our opening and story. A similar film which used this was American Psycho, which used blood marks dripping down the screen, showing the style of genre from the beginning and outlying themes of crime and murder that would come up, which we also wanted to do, through the use of blood stains. We decided to use the typewriter font because it links with Josephs work profession and is seen within the hospital location, whether in a medical record or on a computer. The style of font for this does not portray the film to be a psycho-thriller, however hints to the audience that the main character will be well educated. 

Narrative7

The opening of the film features titles, with blood stained marks on it, showing themes of crime and murder will be within Doctor 6:19 from the very beginning. Secondly the use of flash backs within it shows that Sara (the victim) will be a key part of the film, especially when joseph is shown to get pictures of Sara's body out on to his office desk at work. This portrays to the audience that he has something to do with her death and that he is not a caring doctor after all.  There is also a scene where Joseph walks out of the hospital in a dark coloured hoodie and puts his hood up. This contrasts with the well educated look he had while wearing a suit and reflects that his social life may be very different to his work profession. Another hint at the genre within our opening are the use of different props, such as a knife, which suggests themes of murder and crime. A film with similar film opening is Se7en, which features drawings/messy hand writing on paper, report files, pictures from murder scenes and links to God.

Main Character 8

Our main character Doctor Damien is first shown scribbling on a bible, which is not seen as a normal thing to do, showing his unstable mental state. He is also shown shaking his head in a fit-like manner and unfolding pictures of a girls body lying on the floor next to a knife, suggesting he has a link to the murder and that he is going to be a dark character within the film. He is first seen wearing a suit for work, however then wears a dark hoodie walking out of the hospital, portraying how different his character is going to be outside work. We showed a pot containing different tablets, linking to his mental health disorder and showed that he has a keen interest in God and Bible teachings, which will be a theme within the film. A famous psycho-thriller which has a strong religious aspect is Se7en. Within David Fincher’s opening they do not focus that the film is based around God and the seven deadly sins, but hint at the theme through little references e.g cutting out the word ‘God’ from a newspaper. This is what we indented in our opening, to show Joseph was religious but not hint to much that this was his motive in murders.

Special Effects9

Within our film we have used over laps, which is commonly seen within the thriller genre. The use of flashbacks is used within our genre as it shows a time difference and can some times confuse the audience in to watching to know more. We did this to hint to the audience that Sara are victim is a important character within our film and overlapping over the original scene of Joseph, suggests he has some link to her. We edited our night time scenes brightness, therefore the audience could only see joseph and not much of the setting around him. Dark lighting is a key convention within Thrillers, as is creates mystery and suspense. We have not used effects like slow motion within our film because we felt that it was not needed in any part of our opening. Some scenes are shown to be chaotic whereas, another demonstrates calm, everyday life adding to the twists and suspense within the plot, without the need for slow motion. Commonly this effect is used within thrillers, however not usually within the opening titles but appears within the film itself. We have not speeded up particular scenes, but have cut pieces out which are not needed, so the opening on a whole moves faster.