Question 1 - Mrs Georgiou 3184

Question 1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?  

The thriller genre has many conventions that are associated with it; these are just some of them: low key lighting, dark and light clothing, male and female characters, suspenseful music, quick cuts and the themes of shock and suspense. Some of the films that use these are Se7en with low key lighting, Shutter Island with suspenseful music and No Country for Old Men with different colours of clothing representing good and evil.

My group used the thriller conventions many times in our own film. One example is the clothing that is used in thriller film which can represent feeling and how good or evil characters are. Our murderer for example is in dark clothing which puts across the negative feeling that he is evil and not to be trusted.This makes the audience have a negative view on him which is exactly what we wanted, therefore this gives the audience a indication of what he is going to do. A second example is our female murderer, who is dresses in black and white, the white which makes the audience feel she is innocent while the black which may give the idea that something bad will happen to her. This makes the audience have sympathy for her as she is innocent and with bad things happening to her. The contrasting colours make her seem confused which makes the scene more conventional as the victim is unsure of the situation.

Another thriller convention is the use of shadows which is used in the ending of my own film, as the audience can see a man swinging the knife down on the woman and the screen fades to black. This helps with the thrills of the scene as we don’t actually see anything but the shadows this makes it all the more shocking for the audience. The shadows give the impression of a horrific death but still do not show what happened graphically.  This is used in Se7en where it is used effectively to hide the killer’s identity while still showing a death. This is conventional as the antagonist is still in the shadows but still commits a murder which links to hidden identity. This is much more appealing to the audience as it shows something that was not totally expected.

Having a female victim is also a convention and very stereotypical with it being in nearly all thrillers. This is used as women in general are physically less strong than men and is used to show innocence and vulnerability in thriller films. This is also generally why they are normally the first victims of a killer in thriller films, such as in Se7en with the detective’s wife.  This is conventional as the female is seen as the damsel in distress,  it is used in nearly all thriller films as the females in the audience feel sympathy for the woman and the men want to protect her. This is used in many films as it is one of the easiest ways in which a film can manipulate the audience.

 

Hidden identity is also a thriller convention which is often used to bring more fear to a killer in a film. I used this in my film and I believe it makes a killer somewhat scarier if you cannot see their face as the audience cannot relate at all to the character. This can also be seen in Se7en until the killer is finally found. It is also another easy way in which a film can make there antagonist feel separated from the violence. This makes it seem that the killer could effectively do anything as they are not responsible for what they do. This makes the antagonist limitless on what they could do.

Conventional sounds are also a way in which thrillers try to make the experience scarier  and more unnerving for the audience. If a scream is used at a perfect time it can take the scene to a different level of thrills from what it would have been without it. Another example is the sound of breathing which when used can mean someone watching, which is also very scary. This is used many times such as in Shutter Island when the detective is inside the cell block. In this scene it is used to shock the audience into making them jump from the sudden change in music and the image on the screen. In my own film it can be seen when the woman is being stalked by the antagonist. This is an effective way to make a scary scene into a terrifying scene.

Lastly, a quick cut is very conventional and is used in nearly all thriller films. This is when a quick cut is used when something happens and it goes very quickly from one shot to another. This helps as it can change the feeling of a scene quickly so is effective in keeping a narrative moving or revealing a killer. One example in my own film is where we first see the killer and it jumps to the victim. This is a excellent way in which a scene can become much quicker and action packed compared to other shots. This is also very exciting for the audience and makes them feel like it is happening simultaneously unlike other shots.

My own thriller film clearly defines the thriller genre as it incorporates many conventions that should be in a thriller film and I have made them more personal to my own film. It encompasses suspense, thrills and action and uses these effectively at points such as in my own film when the woman is being stalked without her knowing. Then the action and thrills start when she finally notices him and she is running away and the final murder. So overall it is clear that my own film closely follows the thriller film stereotypes and only adds a small amount of my own personality in the film.  

There were also many micro elements that I used in my own thriller to improve the quality of the film. An example is using a car park as a location; this creates the normality of a common place which makes the experience more unsettling with the killer for the audience.  Another is the iconography of using a knife, many films use knives as the deaths are more brutal. Also using a knife is much more dramatic than a gun which is good for a thriller film.  

My own thriller film can easily be compared too many other successful thriller films, this is due to me using conventions which overlap both films. The thriller film opening scene that I will be comparing to my own is the thriller film Se7en. Firstly the use of hidden identity in both films helps with making the killer more mysterious. We do it in different ways, me covering the face with a balaclava and Se7en not having his face in shot. This makes the audience feel more uncomfortable with the killer as they in no way can relate to them. We also both use conventional camera angles which add to the scene and conventional music at the correct times. This makes both films look much better than without these important conventions. We continue with the connections in that we both use unusual locations which are conventional to a thriller. I use a car park and a suburban street whereas in Se7en it is a small darkened room. This puts the audience in a unusual position as the scene does not match with the location. Finally low key lighting is used extensively in both films. In my own film it mainly is at the end of the film where the shadows start to form and darkness is more prominent.  In Se7en it is used throughout and is a main focus on the scene, the only light comes from a small light in the room.