Untitled from Hassan Khan on Vimeo.
Sam Duxbury: Conventions, Representation and Audience
Alex Hetherington: Sound, Camera and Editing
Emma Bailey: Titles and Themes
The Miramax production company logo starts the film, fading in and out, followed by their own production company logo for Fractional Studios, which also fades in and out. The Fractional Studios logo is black, with a black bird on it with a red eye, looking mysterious and scary. As the logo for the production company comes in, the non-diegetic music immediately starts with it. 
The music is eerie and sinister, immediately anchoring to the viewer the fact that it is of the thriller genre. The title screen with the name of the film then fades in, the letters in the word ‘Obsession’ flicker and when they do so, they are synchronous to the non-diegetic music in the background. The text is white against the black background, in serif, slanted font, signifying that the audience is adult. The title of the piece ‘Obsession’ is in the centre of the screen, white sans serif text on a black background, fading in and out, letter by letter. This shows a binary opposition between the two colours, thus anchoring the genre as thriller. It looks very mysterious as the letters glimmer on the screen. This titles then quickly fades into the opening establishing shot of an extreme close up of a tap dripping. Throughout the opening sequence, overlay titles fade in and out of the corner of the frame, letter by letter, starting out small and growing while they fade out, setting a mysterious mood, signifying something hidden. This keeps the audience’s attention on the main action in the frame. The titles for the names of the cast are larger than the titles for the director and music composers etc., showing the importance of the different crew members and cast in the production. All titles are displayed as white sans serif text with a black outline, except the title naming Madeleine Lewis, which is serif, with the same colour scheme. The title of the piece shows again, still white sans serif text on a black background, fading in and out and still glimmering, as we hear a crackling radio in the background, making it feel mysterious and uncomfortable.
From the production logo screen before the clip starts, the screens fade to the first shot of the extreme close up of the tap dripping. The mise-en-scene of the film again starts unconventionally, with the dripping of the tap, symbolising something normal, but broken. The diegetic sound of the water droplets hitting the sink is heard clearly, this gives a tense feel to the beginning, especially alongside the unnerving non-diegetic music which continues throughout the production. This shot creates a tense feel with just the tap dripping as it is a thriller convention as it builds interest as the viewer wants to find out where this tap is; it makes the audience wonder where they are, and who they are with. We see close ups of someone getting dressed into informal attire and having some cereal, however they do not reveal who the person is or what they look like. This sets a sinister tone, connoting that he has something to hide. This again shocks the viewer, as he is revealed to be the villain of the production, but he initially seemed like a typical person. However, some of the seemingly normal, unconventional shots have connotations of a thriller, as evidenced by the establishing shot of a dripping tap, a metaphor for life dripping away and murder, which is typical content in thrillers. The piece uses natural lighting for this. We then see a series of longs shots to set the scene, we then cut to a medium shot of someone lay in bed however their identity is hidden from us again another thriller convention of a killer/criminal used to create an ominous feel. We then have a series of close ups to follow, which show the viewer that this person seems to be a man, again another thrill convention for a criminal.
Next we cut to a series of medium shots which show his everyday morning activities. There is a close up of a mobile phone as we hear a diegetic vibrating sound coming from it, meaning that the phone is on silent, and so the character wants to be quiet and unheard.
What the hoodie the villain wears is also significant, as it allows his identity to be unknown to the viewer, making him seem mysterious, which is conventional for thriller villains. The lighting changes to low key high contrast chiaroscuro lighting when he puts his shoes on, and then it goes back to natural lighting when he opens the door and goes outside.
This thriller is located in a semi-rural area, as shown by establishing shots of a typical rural scene of hills and vegetation, as well establishing shots from both the inside and outside of houses, meaning the area has been urbanised. This is not typical of a thriller, as they are most often set in urban settings like cities, but there are still many thrillers that use rural locations as these remote areas allow for more crimes and violent acts to be committed, where victims are far from help and witnesses, making them very vulnerable in the eyes of the viewer. This sets an edgy, scary mood, especially with the shots of him with the binoculars, connoting spying and stalking. The other shots before this have made him seem normal and his tasks have been ‘everyday’ menial tasks, but these few shots make him seem somewhat sinister. Whilst the rural area could appear to be hospitable, this production has been filmed near winter, when the trees have no leaves, which makes the setting seem somewhat harsh and unwelcoming. As the mystery man is walking down the road, we can hear the diegetic sounds of cars, setting the scene. 
A series of ellipsis edits show the man walking down the road until we see him stalking a woman, who seems to be the 'damsel in distress' character as she fits the convention criteria. As the man travels through the forest, we can hear what seems to be the diegetic sound of birds, however, the sound seems enhanced as if it may have been added post filming, connoting nature and the normal life of the victim. As the woman is walking and the man is following her, we can hear the diegetic sounds of their footsteps. We then cut to a long shot of her dropping her bag, then
we have a medium shot of her rising and the man stood a few meters
behind her however when she stands fully, it blocks the audiences view
of the man, again creating mystery, however the medium shot shows the
viewer her reaction as she realises someone may be behind her. We then
see a match on action of her turning around however the man is gone,
again reinforcing this idea of mystery for the viewer.
A series of ellipsis edits show the man walking down the road until we see him stalking a woman, who seems to be the 'damsel in distress' character as she fits the convention criteria. As the man travels through the forest, we can hear what seems to be the diegetic sound of birds, however, the sound seems enhanced as if it may have been added post filming, connoting nature and the normal life of the victim. As the woman is walking and the man is following her, we can hear the diegetic sounds of their footsteps. We then cut to a long shot of her dropping her bag, then
we have a medium shot of her rising and the man stood a few meters
behind her however when she stands fully, it blocks the audiences view
of the man, again creating mystery, however the medium shot shows the
viewer her reaction as she realises someone may be behind her. We then
see a match on action of her turning around however the man is gone,
again reinforcing this idea of mystery for the viewer.
There is an ellipsis edit to the night, a conventional time of day for a thriller, of an out of focus shot, again creating mystery. The shot then cuts to a long shot of her walking on the road. Then we cut to a long shot of her walking towards the camera and then a parallel edit of a medium shot of the mystery man presumably following her, although this is not clear, somewhere else. Later we cut to a close up of a bridge rail, which, using selective focus just on the rail shows two silhouettes, presumably the man following the woman, in the background, again creating more mystery of what will happen. We then cut to a long shot of the girl turning around, and then the legs of the man stepping in front of the camera blocking our view again keeping the identity of the mystery man unknown to the viewer however we now know that the girl knows this identity. This is clever framing here as we see her 
through his legs, connoting that she is trapped. When the inevitable attack on the girl happens, there is a close up of her mouth as she screams. As the female character screams the frame darkens, almost fading to black, so we can only see the outline of her mouth and eyes, creating mystery as the viewer wants to know what happens next. Again like the birds in the forest, the sound seems enhanced to ensure it is heard and it has an impact on the viewer. The assumed murder at the end of the opening occurs on a motorway overpass, showing the rural urban setting, where there would be few witnesses, whilst still fitting the typical urban backdrop of thrillers. The screen then goes blank and the title page of the clip comes in again, however the sound of the girl screaming continues for a brief period during this time; this acts as a sound bridge to the title page and ensures a smooth transition between them. Finally, when the music begins to fade, as with the first title page, the letters in the word ‘Obsession’ flicker, and as they do so, we hear the non-diegetic sound of a flickering radio broadcast. This sound is, like the first, synchronous to the flickering of the ‘Obsession’ title, linking clearly back to the opening shots.
through his legs, connoting that she is trapped. When the inevitable attack on the girl happens, there is a close up of her mouth as she screams. As the female character screams the frame darkens, almost fading to black, so we can only see the outline of her mouth and eyes, creating mystery as the viewer wants to know what happens next. Again like the birds in the forest, the sound seems enhanced to ensure it is heard and it has an impact on the viewer. The assumed murder at the end of the opening occurs on a motorway overpass, showing the rural urban setting, where there would be few witnesses, whilst still fitting the typical urban backdrop of thrillers. The screen then goes blank and the title page of the clip comes in again, however the sound of the girl screaming continues for a brief period during this time; this acts as a sound bridge to the title page and ensures a smooth transition between them. Finally, when the music begins to fade, as with the first title page, the letters in the word ‘Obsession’ flicker, and as they do so, we hear the non-diegetic sound of a flickering radio broadcast. This sound is, like the first, synchronous to the flickering of the ‘Obsession’ title, linking clearly back to the opening shots.
We have identified several themes in this student piece, the first being the title of the actual piece: ‘obsession’, as this man is obviously following this girl persistently, stalking her until he can do whatever causes her to scream. Another theme is ‘innocence’, as the girl does not seem to have done anything wrong, or anything to provoke this man into stalking her. This adds to another theme we have identified: ‘suspicion’, because as an audience there is no evidence that this girl has any connection with the man, except that he waits until it is dark until he approaches her. This is scary for the audience as the film rolls on and he keeps following her. Finally, we recognise this ‘enigma’, because as an audience we do not know what happens to the girl after the titles, and we do not know what has triggered him stalking her and possibly attacking her. ‘Obsession’ follows many conventions that allow the viewer to identify the film as a thriller. One of these is the chiaroscuro lighting which occurs at night, when the main incident, which the viewer assumes is a murder or other violent act, takes place. This lighting only occurs after a majority of the opening was high key, which is somewhat unconventional for a thriller. This lighting change indicates a passage of time between shots, as well as perhaps shocking the viewer, because the high key lighting might cause them to believe no exciting incidents will happen, despite knowing that the girl is being stalked, and the change to chiaroscuro lighting may make them expect the stalker to do something to the girl, which then occurs in the attack and assumed murder.
The main character shown in this opening is that of a typical Proppian villain, who stalks and, the viewer assumes, murders a girl, who is a typical damsel in distress, but is apparently not a main character, as she is killed or kidnapped within the opening. The opening shots of the villains seemingly normal life not only ensure the viewer is surprised when he is revealed to be a villain, they also feature a life which is probably similar to the life of the as yet unknown hero, whose normal life will most likely be disrupted by the villain’s actions. Similarities between heroes and villains are common in thrillers, as they make the conflict between them more difficult for the hero, as opposed to a villain who is obviously beneath him. Also, the actions of a villain; disrupting the hero’s normal life, conforms to Todorov’s narrative theory of an equilibrium, disruption and eventual return to a new equilibrium. The disruption the villain causes will either be the murder he committed in the opening, or this murder will be first in a series of murders that eventually affects the hero. Of course, to solve these enigmas we would have to watch the rest or more of the film.
The audience this thriller is aimed at is most likely fairly young, due to the sans serif font in the overlay titles, and the young dress codes of the characters. However, there is a sense of mystery as to the killer’s identity and no over the top action, so the audience will have to be fairly mature and invested in the film as well.
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