Evaluation - Question 1

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

Our opening sequence defines the thriller genre as it includes many of the codes and conventions of a stereotypical thriller film. This includes stereo-typical codes and conventions which are important to incorporate into a thriller film in order to ensure its success. Firstly, a generic convention of the thriller genre is the use of low key lighting. Low key lighting is a style of lighting within film. Low key lighting helps to accentuate objects within any scene. Not only this, but the use of low key lighting helps to create a tense and eerie effect due to the darkness. An example of a successful thriller which uses low key lighting includes "The Strangers" which low key lighting is used throughout the scene of the female protagonist alone in the isolated house. This is conventional to thriller films because it helps to add suspense to This also creates a sense of foreboding as it is suspected something bad may happen to the character as her safety is jeopardized. Our entire opening thriller sequence was filmed in low key lighting. This helped to establish the vulnerability and safety of the protagonist as she made her way home during the dark 

Another generic convention of a thriller film includes iconography. More particularly within a thriller film a knife is more commonly used as it is more personal and creates an effect for the audience as it could be possibly someone the victim knows intentionally trying to harm them. Whereas a gun can be used further away and unintentionally harm somebody. 
A knife is more personal than a gun as it implies the antagonist is willing to directly kill someone and strike many times. A use of iconography can be seen throughout the clip of "Halloween 4" when the antagonist is attempting to stab the protagonist during a chase scene over the top of the roof. Iconography is generic to the thriller genre because it helps to build a relationship between the antagonist and protagonist as well as the audience also. The use of the weapon helps to build suspense and create tension as the audience will begin to sympathize and relate to the protagonist as they begin to imagine themselves in her situation. They will grip onto the edge of their seats as they want her to become free from the antagonist. Although iconography is a conventional aspect of any thriller film we did not include this in our opening thriller sequence. The reason for this is there was not any need for one for the scenes we included during the time frame that we had. The scenes did not need to include iconography such as a knife. However, one piece of iconography that we did use which is conventional to the thriller genre was a mask, this was to keep the identity of our antagonist hidden to create a sense of enigma. 

In most films within the thriller genre a chase scene is usually included. A chase scene usually helps to build up tension as the audience begin to wonder whether the victim will be able to escape the antagonist or not. This helps the audience to build a relationship with the victim as they begin to imagine the emotion the protagonist is feeling. An example of this portrayed through the clip in "Scream" when the female protagonist is on the phone to the antagonist and makes a run for her freedom, running past her deceased boyfriend, unknown to her being followed by the killer. Within our opening thriller sequence there is not an obvious, distinct chase scene. However when thought about our entire sequence is predominately a chase scene as we see a young, vulnerable, female protagonist followed on her journey home by an unidentified antagonist and killed.

Another generic convention of the thriller genre is an unidentified antagonist as this keeps the identity of who is behind the mask hidden. This helps to create a sense of enigma as the audience begin to wonder who is the killer and there reasoning behind their actions. This begins to build up suspense and tension as the narrative continues as it proves difficult to build a relationship with the antagonist as they can't see him or understand his motives by his expressions. An example of a successful film from the thriller genre which includes a masked antagonist is Scream. Our opening sequence was based around an hidden antagonist which wore a white vendetta mask, this helps for the antagonist to come across as cold and distant, creating suspense and tension as it reminds the audience he doesn't care who he harms. 

Sound is also conventional to the thriller genre. Sound is used to create tension with intense and eerie music being played either as diegetic or non-diegetic sound. The use of a high pitch and fast tempo sound makes the audience feel uncomfortable and on edge as they spectate something unpleasant and unexpected may happen. The thriller genre uses many different, unique sound effects throughout the film creating a direct tension making it seem like they are experiencing what the character is feeling at that moment. A good example of a successful film which uses a series of different sound techniques is "Insidious". Throughout a particular scene of the film a song is played "Tiptoe through the tulips" this non-diegetic sound isn't a generic sound played throughout a thriller film. But it helps to create an eerie sense as it sounds creepy and child like. We also had non-diegetic sound throughout the entire sequence of our thriller opening. Much like "Insidious" we had a child like song playing. As ours was a nursery rhyme "Twinkle twinkle little star" this goes against the generic tension building music but I feel like it creates as much as an effect as generic sounds would. 

Another generic convention of any thriller film is for it to be set in an isolated location, whether this be an isolated forest, part of land, or some sort of building/house. This is because if the protagonist end up in danger there is nobody nearby to try and help them. This helps to build a relationship between the character and the audience as the audience fear for the characters safety. An example of this being used is in the successful thriller film "The Strangers" as we see a female protagonist alone in an isolated house surrounded by animal masked antagonists which are suspect-idly trying to harm her. Throughout our opening sequence we also use the generic convention of an isolated setting. This is when the girl is walking through the forest as a shortcut to make her journey home quicker. This has the audience holding their breath as they watch wondering what may appear on her journey home. This also creates a sense of foreboding as they begin to wonder will she exit alive or will somebody be there to help her if she encounters any danger on her journey.

I think that my thriller film compares to successful thriller films such as Scream. This is because they both have similar generic conventions. One could be a male antagonist who is masked. This is stereotypical as it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats anticipating what may happen next as it is clear that the male has more dominance within the scene as the woman is stereo typically portrayed as less inferior and weaker compared to the man. Another reason why my thriller film compares to Scream is because my entire sequence is a chase scene, this is because the antagonist is following after the victim. We have imitated the antagonists hidden identity as we have used a white vendetta mask, similar to Scream as they also have a masked antagonist. This gives an eerie sense as it is unknown who is behind the mask and could possibly be in relation to the victim, which makes the audience want to watch on.