The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf(CBTL), Business strategy case study
AS Media Question One
1. My ident develops the normal conventions of a thriller ident due to its simplicity but
effectiveness. The ident is on screen for around 5 seconds, and takes up the middle part of
the screen. I have used metal looking style of font which suggests to the audience a feeling
of aggression even before the film has come on. The ident does follow the conventions of a
normal thriller ident, which doesn’t give to much away about the film, but is enough to hint
about what is to come. My ident shows that something is going to happen, as it is bright
standing out from the background. The metal also shows a cool and maybe uncertain
opening to what will happen.
I have tried to closely follow the conventions of a normal Ident. I have kept a dark theme
running throughout the entire ident, which closly relates to the example from another thriller
film.
2. As soon as the ident has been on screen, we then challenged the normal concept
of which normally the main character is instantly introduced, often in a certain
situation. I challenged this because I wanted the audience to fell confused at the
start, and wanted a un-continuous narrative, which is successfully achieved from
feedback I had. The calm relaxing music and the cuts of a few different piles of
leaves suggests something more thoughtful and a lot deeper than the audience
may have been expecting. Many opening sequences done keep the audience
involved, but I wanted one that would make them think a little more.
3. After this sudden outburst of leaves, the next few shots are of the main character, which can
be identified as a normal person through the colour blue on his jacket. The man is clearly
running for something/someone which may be following the person. I didn’t want to use a
close up at this point as I wanted more questions to be formed by the viewer. Who is this
person? Why is he running? Where is he running to? All of these questions are formed by
the long shot, which keeps the scene set through the opening shots.
More often than not, there are a lot of thriller films that contain elements of chasing or
running from someone or something. We have decided to keep this element in our own
thriller, as it leads the audience to believe and understand the normal concept of a thriller
film.
4. At this point, the audience can see the character closer. The introduction of the other main
character, who has only been seen once. The first character, who is being followed by the
man in the grey hoodie, is still running, and in the same shot, the man in the grey hoodie
follows on after him. They can be clearly seen as the same person, which now suggests to
the audience that maybe the people are in the same place, but at different times. This again
keeps them asking questions.
The thriller conventions which normally fit in with these scenes are not like ours. Our scene
has suddenly changed from the man running, to a gentle walk. These are all in place to not
only support the narrative, but also open questions up in the viewers mind. Why is the man
who was running now walking? These questions are the key to making the audience feel
involved in the film.
5. A black screen leads to a pan of the person in the grey hoodie. The audience can tell that
this is introducing the next character. I used normal conventions from what would normally
be found in a thriller opening, as the introduction is fast and sudden. The character music is
added, which is tense and bass like music.
The hoodie is a key part to making the audience know and understand the thriller.
Compared to other thrillers, the hoodie is a icon which can be used to help the narrative
flow. It does this by making the audience not understand the character fully. Why are they
hiding? Are they really hiding? These are very good images that we indented for the
audience to see through our opening.
6. My media product uses conventions which keep the audience happy yet on edge
to what is going to happen next. The man in the blue is seen again, and the
person In the grey is not seen, which leave the question about who is he, and
keep the audience watching. The extreme long shot shows the character as
scared, which suggest that the other character may be a evil person, or a law
breaker.
However, a lot of big thrillers have people running away when it is dark. We have
challenged that by having it in the middle of the day. The audience can clearly see
who the person is, even though that person is hiding (Hoodie). This can lead to all
sorts of thoughts running through the audience.
7. An over the shoulder shot
confirms that the person is
looking out for the other, and
the same goes for the other. At
this point, I challenged the
conventions of a thriller greatly,
as the shot of the O-T-S shot is
shown from both the grey and
blue hoodies views. This means
that the man in the blue may
also be looking out for
someone. This changes the
entire narrative and confuses
the audience. Now they don’t
know who is good and who is
bad. This would not happen in
many thrillers as the plot is easy
to follow in them.
8. The character walks behind a tree and comes out the other side as the other
person. This is again not following the normal conventions of a thriller, but creates
a link between the two characters. The character is the same person, and can be
clearly seen. When he comes out the other side, he is wearing another hoodie.
This shows that there is a link to the two characters, but the audience don’t know if
its in the future or the past. This now leaves the audience in suspense to what will
happen next.
9. After all of this hard to follow narrative, the title of the film comes on screen. This
follows the majority of thriller conventions as the font used and the colour
suggests that the narrative continues in the way it has previously been. The use of
white on black again contrasts and suggests that the people in the film. The title
hints very slightly at a crumbling relationship, as the font is, and could mean this in
the context of the narrative.
10. After all of this hard to follow narrative, the title of the film comes on screen. This
follows the majority of thriller conventions as the font used and the colour
suggests that the narrative continues in the way it has previously been. The use of
white on black again contrasts and suggests that the people in the film. The title
hints very slightly at a crumbling relationship, as the font is, and could mean this in
the context of the narrative.