Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms ad conventions of real media products?

Our brief was to create a 2 minute thriller sequence using our own narrative we created within our groups. In my group I worked alongside Samara Stevenson and Leo Ly. 

There are many conventions to a thriller for example silence. This can be used when the victim is killed or just before the victim is killed this would build up suspense for the audience. In my thriller sequence we used silence just after the female victim is killed as it symbolises that she is now dead after she had just screamed, which showed when she is stabbed by the clown. As a result this causes sympathy and shock for the audience as the silence represents the end of her life. Moreover, silence is often used in thriller films such as in the Scream thriller series of films. I can compare when I used silence to when they did. This is due to the reason that I took this inspiration from Scream. As they also use silence after their victim is killer to symbolise then end of the victims life. 

This is when Silence Occurs In My Thriller.

A female victim is another convention often used. The reason a female is usually used compared to a male is because the audience can relate and feel a greater amount of sympathy towards them. As a result this is why I used a female in my thriller sequence. Additionally, a female victim is also more easy for the audience to relate to as they are portrayed as being weak, defenceless and innocents. Where as, a male victim would be portrayed as being strong and able to defend himself. It would not create shock or suspense for the audience when the victim is killed if they are a male victim. And example of a film that uses a female victim is the thriller film Psycho. They also use a female victim entices males to watch the film. 

Female Victim.

Additionally, low key lighting is a convention used. I used low key lighting once the female victim had been kidnapped and was in a unknown location. This foreshadowed to the audience that something bad was going to happen to the girl and that it was the clown who would carry out the her murder, as he was only shown in low key lighting. As a result it creates an eerie atmosphere that builds up tension for the audience. Low key lighting is used in all thriller films, for example it is used in Shutter Island as it builds up suspense for the audience and relates to the fact that the audience don't know what is going on, though out the film. 

Low Key Lighting Used.

An unknown antagonist is also a convention that is usually used in thriller films. My thriller sequence contains a unknown antagonist, which is a unpredictable character for the audience to follow. As a result the hidden identity of the antagonist creates an enigma for the audience, this is because they don't specifically know who is under the mask. Also, the audience do not know what the antagonists intentions are for wanting to kill the victim. Within the thriller film Scream a unknown antagonist is used, it is kept unknown through the antagonist wearing a mask. It not only keeps the identity hidden from the other characters but also from the audience. Which can help in the audience building a relationship with the other characters such as the victims. 

Unknown Antagonist.

Furthermore, suspenseful music is also another convention that is commonly used. During my thriller sequence it is used in a number of different places. However, it is mainly used as the antagonist creeps up behind the victim before grabbing her. In my sequence it is used to help in creating a build up of shock and suspense for the audience. As well as this it can cause the audience to sympathise for the victim and the music foreshadows that something bad is going to occur to the victim before it does. Moreover, this convention is used in the thriller film Orphan, before the girl attempts to kill the young boy, as it creates a build up of suspense for the audience and helps in keeping them engaged and on the edge of there seats wanting to watch more.

Suspenseful Music Occurs At This Time.

The final convention which is used within the thriller genre is mise-en-scene costumes of the different characters. For example, the victims would usually wear pale colours such as white to symbolise their purity and innocence. This contrasts to the antagonists, which will usually wear dark colours such as black to connote death and power. This convention mise-en-scene of costumes is used in woman in black and can be seen during the opening scene of the film. As a result the use of the colour of the costume design helps in identifying to the audiences to which of the characters is the antagonist and which is the victim. Additionally, it forebodes to the audience that the victim will die as the pale colours can also represent the character being angelic and that they will soon become an angel. As a result, this creates sympathy towards the character from the audience and caused suspense as they do not know when the antagonist will strike and kill the innocent victim. 

Female Victim Wearing Pale Colours
Compared To The Antagonist Wearing Dark Colours.

From looking at different ideas of conventions I took the inspirations of a female victim as it creates more sympathy from the audience, an unknown antagonist as it creates an enigma and keeps the audience intrigued. I also used low key lighting to foreshadow to the audience that something bad will happen. My groups sequence is conventional to a thriller because we have two conventional aspects such as having a female victim and because most of our sequence takes place in unknown locations, which creates and enigma. We also have one developed conventional aspect, which is our unknown antagonist. It is developed because the audience automatically think that the antagonist is a male but at the start of our sequence we show female make-up, which creates and enigma for the audience as they don't know if the antagonist is male or female. 

When comparing my thriller sequence to the thriller film Scream, they both contain similar conventions. For example, they both include similar sound effects before the victim is killed by the antagonist. This is used to help in the build up of suspense for the audience. Additionally, they both contain elements of mise-en-scene similar to one another. An example of this is that the antagonist in Scream and the antagonist in my groups thriller sequence both are dressed in black and wear masks to cover their identity. My thriller sequence also uses the same incography of a knife for the muder weapon. As a result this is a everyday object that the audience can relate to and so because of this they can not only sympathise towards the victims when they see the knife but also can imagine themselves in the characters situations.