Genre study

Some existing films for reference, mainly for aesthetic and content portrayed

I would describe the genre that we are trying to achieved, and fall into the convention to, is psychological and crime thriller, placed in the heart of the urban area. The merge of my personal (initial) project and my teamwork (going forward in this coursework) is the focus on the scenery and atmosphere of Ho Chi Minh city. The city is sure do make people in it feel submerged and surreal, both in this genre research and filming coming afterwards. 

1. The city is a character

• Ròm - Sài Gòn (Trần Thanh Huy, 2019)

• In the mood for love - Hong Kong (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

• The lover - Sài Gòn (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1992)

• Chunking express - Hong Kong (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)

The convention that can be made shifting to these movies including:

• The montages - scenes consisting of footages showcasing the environment, usually with various intricate shot types and angles to amplify the building, zeigeist and atmosphere of that particular urban area. 
• Color - the use of excessive, overexposed and oversaturated color to pan into a much more unrealistic, "unnatural" feeling of each shot. This would distinct each city to another (while in fact, to be blunt, every developed city consists of the same building, streets and ultilities), it's just the perception of each character to portray their city differently through colors and post production effects. 
• Visualisation of space - the use of close frame/open frame shot, or the mixed of two, to illustrate the emphasis on the environment or the mental headspace of the character. Space is not a definite, fixed asset but a variable that can be modified to further consolidate the loneliness (through empty space/excessively crowded but fast moving space). 
• Lack of world building and premise - there are generally not much cinematic premise, or world threatening conflict. Rather just focusing on the personal, vulnerable people at the start and end of the movie. Characters do not move through time or have changing revealation of themselves, but resolve their personal struggles and move on. 
• Lack of agency - writing and pacing is slow. Characters sometimes act consistent other not.

these movies mostly center around a love story (with the exception of Ròm, which tackle the relationship and life lower middle class - low income earners in Sai Gon), and thus all have the same introversion and idleness even with their own fate at hand. This makes the characters blend in with their city more, a somewhat detached being away from the busy streets. 

1. Crime/Psychological thriller

• Gone girl

• I'm thinking of ending things

(the picture hanging in the left image is Wanderer above the sea fog - Caspar David Friedrich, 1818, a caliber in Romantic era) 

The convention that can be made shifting to these movies including:

• Melancholy :  through sound, camera shot and editing, the general feeling is melancholy. This differs thriller from horror, as the main emotion conveyed is not scare but nervousness and anticipation
• Subversion of expectations: from the plot line, but not to the character tropes. In "I'm thinking of ending things", in the end, the woman turns out to be Jake's own manifestation for love and affection. However, 
• Mise en scen, symbolism and composition of characters in frame is thought out, to convey a more conceptual, underlaying message of psychological thriller. Camera usually would pan over the environment first, to notice the audience to the upcoming strange occurences, before the characters enter and react to the scene, allowing the a to audience to sink in. 

These conventions we hope to portrait in our production, and thus having a clearer direction of what we want to achieve.