Evaluation

The film centres around a merciless professional hitman. He has the innocent look of an ordinary and caring civilian. This appearance can be used to mask his true nature - the old idiom of looks can be deceiving. The film is a representation of the Hollywood trope of ‘Lone Hitman’, similar to ‘John Wick’ as they are both assassins and also enjoy similar rich lifestyles. They are both professional and successful. I presented my main character as a man with good looks, and seemingly harmless, but he is, in reality, a cold, calculating and ruthless mercenary killer. This is seen by the close-up of the smile he had on his face to show his delight when he thought back to both his past deeds and possible future. His greed for money is shown by a phone call where he coldly demands a price for an assassination contract. He sees life as transactional, always in demand as a killer for hire. The victim is the opposite, his desire to kill is driven by revenge, an emotional motivator. This is represented in his red clothing both on the poster and at the start of the film. Also, it explains being purposelessly seen from the window - he wants to create fear in his target. The film has a conventional representation of masculinity often seen in action films where violence is seen as the primary means of solving situations. Also, the transactional nature of life creates a cynical worldview - most often associated with the Noir genre.

The use of the images of the two stars on the postcard - that this is a confrontation between two men that is personal. They have very different viewpoints - one is killing for revenge and emotion, the other for financial gain. This dynamic is reflected in the poster where the characters are facing away from others signalling their different motivations, but the low-key lighting and facial expressions suggest confrontation. I positioned the main protagonist higher as the narrative is seen from his viewpoint. These portraits are also used on the Twitter feed with a brief description of the characters to ensure the audience is aware of the key dynamic. I created a short trailer for the Twitter feed further the importance of this confrontation, but also establish the genre of the film which sits in the same revenge-thriller category as respected films such as Blue Ruin and Revenge.

I was particular about choosing Twitter for my social media page. From my research Twitter has a demographic perfect for the intended target audience - 42% 18-29 and 61.6% male. It is used for more cultural discussion rather than personal updates and functions to retweet or like could spread the coverage widely. The content was a mix of promotional images (character bios, the poster) and video (a short trailer), but I also created a mock interview from an independent film website with myself as the director. The short film audience fits well with the BFI film type of Aficiandoes who enjoy ‘psychological’ themes and ‘challenging narrative’ structure, so they would also be interested in the construction of the film and to be aware of upcoming film directors who often begin their career in the short film medium.

 

The way my product engages with the audience is to show the negative side of society and to give a warning to others - particularly younger audiences as they are more easily manipulated -  that money can become a weapon or method to persuade others into taking a wrong turn in life. They should avoid doing this. The way the main character looked and sounded made it seem as if he was very innocent and harmless, but he hid his true colours. This is a representation of a “Jekyll and Hyde” type of character - an ability to shift easily from good to evil. An example of a character that fits that description is the main character of ‘Nobody’, as he was seen as a normal husband, but hides his true violent nature deep down inside. Similarly, my main character has a comparable lifestyle but is single, and hides his true strength beneath his looks. I wanted audiences to be more aware of who they interact with and to remain cautious before trusting a person. Deceit and misrepresentation are very common in society and lure people into making bad decisions.

The film poster that I created was inspired by the movie posters for ‘Us’ and ‘The Foreigner’. I took inspiration from the dark lighting used in the postcard for ‘Us’ to give my audience the feel that it will be a dark and chilling film. I made use of the camera shot seen by the two main characters in the poster for ‘The Foreigner’. I took inspiration from how the two main characters in that film poster had their backs turned to each other with only the title card separating them, recreating that shot in my film poster, making the two characters look like merciless and dangerous people. I only left out the black and white texture of the film poster, as I wanted very sinister lighting to add to the mood. 

The camera shots and angles, mostly close-ups, used throughout my film were to show the emotion of the protagonist, as well as create tension by restricting the information around him, preventing the audience from seeing where the threat is coming from. The tight angle also gives the impression that he’s trapped. An example of a scene where information is restricted is the moment when the camera is focused at the protagonist’s feet, highlighting the precision of his movement - one wrong move and he is done for. This is similarly seen in the home invasion scene in the Bond Movie Skyfall which switches from close-ups of Bond's face to close-ups of his careful preparation, which are immediately triggered.

The narrative is unconventional. At first an ellipse is used to link the past assassination and the present day, but then the use of a flashback is incorporated to really the true reason for the home invasion and attempted assassination.