Sorority Row (2009) Part 1

Foundation portfolio evaluation- Evaluation of finished film

In what ways does your media production use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our film is a Thriller called ‘Shadow’. We think our production relates to a few films, for example ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight’. It relates to these two films because of the way light and dark is explored to create effects, such as shadows.
In terms of structure our production relates to ‘Sorority Row’ because the film begins with a tracking shot that establishes the setting and characters. It also immediately focuses on the characters that will later become victims, so we incorporated this into our production by highlighting the victims in the main sequence.
The camerawork in our production is similar to the film ‘One Hour Photo’ as there is a scene where they use a medium shot from behind Robin Williams, who plays a paedophile looking at a wall of photographs of the family he is stalking. Therefore we recreated this scene on a smaller scale by filming James stood facing a wall of photographs of Gemma and Gabi amongst other girls.
Also in the film ‘Sorority Row’ the first sounds we hear are non-diagetic glass breaking and an eerie whistling sound played whilst the camera tracks forward through a dark exterior, then the camera tracks in through a door to a party scene with further non-diagetic sound of party music. In a similar way, in our production we began with creepy string instruments played within a dark opening scene. We then created our own soundtrack using garage band for the club music.
Mise en scene- Costume: For the girls costumes we wanted to make them look believable, but also vulnerable by wearing dresses and heels, so they looked typically appealing to a male villain.
For James’s costume we dressed him in dark clothes and a black balaclava to hide his identity and keep his character mysterious and intimidating, like the killer in ‘Sorority Row’ called ‘Andy’.
When editing we used a fast cut rate which continues up until Gemma goes missing, then it slows down to show Gabi’s emotion. The cut rate then builds up speed again when there is a glimpse of the killer, to build up the tension, which is a similar technique used in typical Thrillers.

We think our product offers something original because we have produced a 2 minute opening which challenges the typical structure of a film. We have included the main action of the film within the first 2 minutes and this engages the audience immediately and makes our production even more mysterious as they want to watch further, and uncover what happens next.