Evaluation - Q1

 1)-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

When researching the generic conventions of the thriller genre through my blog posts, i've found that theses were used to create an impact for the audience whilst watching the films. Most thriller films include the three S’s ; Shock, Suspense & Surprise, as well as building tension to engage their audience with watching the film. More specifically the conventions that really stood out for me were : the character representations (a antagonist and victim), low key lighting, isolated setting, hidden identity, iconography, enigma and these were all used through cinematography, eerie music & sounds and editing. 

Firstly, without this convention there would be no story as you'll need something/someone to follow through the narrative. Characters are essential not only in thrillers but every genre films. In the thriller genre the stereotypical characters included are form the Aristotle narrative theory; which are an antagonist & protagonist. When researching thrillers, I found that the protagonists (victims) where often females who were young and have so much life ahead of them. The reason why females are used as the victims in thrillers is because they're seen as innocent, weak and vulnerable. Moreover females in the thriller genre tend to be oblivious to whats going on and gullible in sticky situations leading the audience to relate and sympathise them. An example of this stereotypical representation of a female victim in thrillers is from the film Scream 3 - shattered glass scene. Through the use of mise en scene, her costume was a pink jacket and a colourful top, these girly aspects connotes her innocence. The normal clothing worn by the female is conventional as the audience can relate to her costume because it creates a sense of realism, making them feel suspicious and tensed. In contrast, antagonists vary depending on the type of thriller however frequently they all have some of the same characteristics. An antagonist in a thriller is seen as the 'bad guy' and is a character that is focused on in a mysterious way in the film. The antagonists tends to be a male as men are seen as stronger and more capable to do the dangerous activities they do. Male antagonists portray dominance and powerful due to a patriarchal society,  this shows that they're in control of the situations the victim faces and is likely to win the battle. You can identify an antagonist in the thriller genre through mise en scene like the victim, with their costume. Antagonists often wear dark clothing to connote a dark atmosphere which is conventional as it creates suspense and tension within the audience and film. In the film scream, the antagonist wears a full length black robe and a mask when seen by his victims. Also in the movie, the costume is considered common and easily purchasable making identifying the buyers difficult and creating the possibility for anyone to be the killer. This is conventional as it creates suspense and tension within the audience because they do not know who the antagonist is behind his costume.

Another generic convention in the thriller genre is the use of low-key lighting.This convention creates enigma and tension as the characters in the scene; mainly victims, and audience cannot see clearly whats going on making the whereabouts of the antagonist unnoticeable. We see this in the film Scream 3 in the scene where the female is trying to run away from the masked antagonist. As the antagonist is wearing all black clothing, the lighting helps eliminate seeing him as he camouflages with the surroundings due to lack of light. Low-key lighting here is used to focus on the victim who's trying to get away with the help of her facial expressions of being scared, builds a closer relationship with her as the audience can relate to her emotional state as they're apprehensive about her fate and also the antagonist capturing her. This helps engage the audiences attention, as they'll continue to watch to get more of an understanding of whats happening when all is revealed with more light later in the scene which is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates shock. 

Iconography in the thriller genre is essential as it creates tension and helps foreshadows whats going to happen in the scene. The generic convention within iconography in a thriller, is always a murder weapon; often a sharp object and these are usually quick to access from the antagonist depending on the setting. The most common murder weapon used by antagonists is the Knife, which is seen in the thriller opening of Halloween and also the signature weapon for the Ghost Face in the film Scream. Firstly in the opening of Halloween, through a point of view shot we see the antagonist enter the kitchen and pick up a knife from a drawer. This alerts to the audience that the antagonist is fearless as he is in someones home and also shows his determination of his goal because his not afraid of accomplishing it as his in control of the murder weapon. Likewise could be said for the Ghost Face in the film scream as they use the weapon to gut, throat slit and stab their victims, showing power and control. 

The setting in any film is very important as it helps inform the audience what type of genre it is. In the case of a thriller, the setting tends to be in isolated places such as abandoned houses, forests etc. This makes the audience feel apprehensive and nervous on what is going to happen which is conventional to the thriller genre as its aim is to create suspense,tension and shock. An example of this vital convention is shown in the film ' The Cabin in the woods'. The title of the film is quite self explanatory as the film is about 5 friends that go to an isolated cabin in the woods for a weekend vacation. The fact that they're in the woods, indicates that there is going to be something or someone dangerous there as woods are isolated, big places where its hard to find help. The use of the isolated setting makes the audience feel on edge and intrigued to see whats in the woods so they'll continue to watch the film to find out what is there and whats going to happen to the characters that are staying there. 

In most thrillers, theres bound to be a handheld or point of views camera shot used at some point of the film. Whether its a shot from a character or object this camera technique has a huge impact on the audience. In the opening of the film Halloween, the scene is shot from the perspective of the antagonist through a point of view shot. The use of this shot allows the audience to connect and have an insight of the antagonists activity. As the character is controlling the frame and leading what the audience are seeing, this creates suspense and tension as they don't know what is going to happen. This is conventional as it helps create enigma within the audience and engage to the film to find out what is going to happen to the character behind the camera and their surroundings. The person behind the camera of a point of view shot can differ to be the victim as thrillers often use this camera technique when the victim is looking around their surroundings for the antagonist or someone else. The panning, point of view shot effects the audience as they feel like their in the film and also makes them feel on edge as their not in control of what their seeing. As its a thriller genre, they'd expect something to pop out somewhere whilst this shot is occurring, provoking suspense and shock when something does appear. 

Michael Myers - Halloween 

A generic convention in thrillers, is a antagonist that has a hidden identity. Whether this is a mask or just simply a point of view shot, thrillers often never show their antagonists unless its the end of the film. The use of the antagonist having hidden identity is so that is conceals who they are provoking tension and suspense when they're seen on the screen or by the victims. In the films Halloween, Strangers and Scream all the antagonists are masked through the use of iconography of a mask. This eliminates showing their facial expressions and emotional state, suggesting that they don't want to be seen or just want a consistent impression to show that their not normal. This intimidates their victims and also the audience as they are suspicious to know who is behind the masked costume, creating tension when ever they see the antagonist, making them feel uncomfortable. 

When planning my thriller opening sequence, me and my group tried to include as many generic conventions as possible that fitted with our narrative, to make it more unique. 

Firstly, we used the generic convention of low-key lighting throughout the whole scene except the beginning which was a flashback. The flashback of the young boy swinging on the swing used was quite brightly lit, but also in black and white to convey that it was in the past. However, for the rest of the sequence it was low-key as the time of day was the evening so it was dark, this was to minimise the detail seen, creating enigma within the audience. 

Little boy on the swing 

I had 4 settings within my thriller consisting of a park, road, forest and bus stop. Firstly, the flashback was located at a park and through a midshot it showed a swing that was sequently moving then being used by a young hooded boy who's identity cannot be seen. This was conventional as thrillers, tend to use children as characters that are mentality and emotionally unstable, foreshadowing that this child is not safe to be around. Secondly, the bus stop setting was used to convey that the two girls were on their way back from somewhere as they sat at the bus stop waiting for the bus impatiently. As bus stops are for public transport, when the girls are seen there it is isolated because its night time and very few people are out at that time. When Josie suggests to walk home instead of waiting, the setting changes to the road where the antagonist is laying down on. This foreshadows that something is going to happen to the girls as they've reached to the location where the mysterious boy is creating suspense within the audience. Meanwhile, after Josie receives a phone call, she pays no attention to shona who suddenly starts to walk away and head towards the direction where the antagonist is laying down. After finding her friend dead on the floor, Josie starts to run away from the scene and heads to a forest, where she believes she'll get away from the mysterious boy(antagonist). The use of the forest as a setting is conventional as the character is nowhere near possible help when needed, so if she was to get hurt no one would be able to help her. This creates suspense and tension within the audience and also makes the sympathise with Josie, as they know something is going to happen to her as its a thriller and she's in a isolated location where the antagonist is still on the loose. 

Street Camera of the two girls at bus stop

Following the generic convention of having an antagonist and protagonist(victim), my thriller had a male antagonist and two female victims in the opening sequence. My characters were stereotypical as the genders of the two representations followed the aspect of characters within a thriller, also my female characters were played well to being clueless and oblivious on whats going on. For example, Josie suggesting to Shona to not wait for the bus stop, but instead to walk even though their in a drunken state and alone together. This shows that she's careless and not weary about what dangers can happen to her if she walked home. Moreover, Josie is seen as careless again as she loses interest of her friend by picking up a phone call and completely ignoring the fact that Shona is walking away from her. This is conventional to the thriller genre, as girls seem to be more intrigued to find out who's with them resulting of them asking ' who's there?' when they hear or see something strange. This shows dramatic irony as the audience knows that theres an antagonist about as its part of the genre but also the girl doesn't know that she may be in danger. Foreshadowing that something will happen to her, as she's too oblivious to realise that its not safe to be alone. 

POV shot of Shona walking towards body 

In my thriller opening, we used the generic convention of a point of view shot twice from both of the girls perspectives at different times. The first point of view shot was seen when Shona was walking towards the antagonists body to check what was wrong with him. The use of this shot captured the drunken state that she was in by showing her feet only, and capturing her unstable movements as she walked towards the body. This made the audience feel apprehensive and frightened on what could happen to her because the frame was jerky reflecting on how she was currently.

POV of starting point of panning Josie's perspective 

Her unstableness and lack of awareness foreshadowed that she was in danger by walking towards him. Furthermore, the second point of view shot was used differently, this time it was shot at a eye level when Josie is in the woods and looking around for the antagonist. The use of this shot, creates suspense and tension because the victim is in control of whats being seen. Also it made the audience feel on edge as they do not know when the antagonist is going to appear as they restricted with just her perspective. 

Lastly, the generic convention I also included in my thriller, was the use of iconography; a white mask, for the antagonist to wear when approaching his victim. The white mask contrasts his dark clothing which emphasises his hidden identity. This helps the audience establish that he's the antagonist creating fear within the audience and also shock as this is the first time both the victim and audience see him with a mask on. We see him with the white mask through the point of view shot from Josie's perspective in the woods when she turns to find him in her way. 

My groups opening sequence defines the thriller genre by including the codes and conventions such as: male antagonist, female victim(s), low-keylighting, isolated settings and hidden identity through a mask. Overall, the whole sequence built a story and created suspense throughout even when it ended with these elements. In terms of the micro elements; mise en scene, sound, editing and cinematography, my thriller sequence defined the genre well. 

In terms of Mise en scene, firstly we used iconography of a mask, to hide the antagonist identity so that he would provoke the shock element. Moreover, we used the iconography of a phone to show that Josie was busy whilst not listening to what Shona was saying. Also in this part of the scene, we caught shona's facial expressions through the use of an over shoulder shot before she started to walk away. This shot showed shona as annoyed and angry at Josie, because she wasn't paying attention to what she was saying so she took matters to her own hands and walked away from her friend.

The sounds used varied in my thriller depending on what was going on in the scene. In the flashback, we added a non-diegetic sound of a child saying " come out and play with me" this was repeated and connoted the child seen on the swing as mysterious and dangerous due to the tone of the sound. When the girls were seen at the bus stop and at the road, the sound used was diegetic sound of their dialogue. Without the dialogue, the audience wouldn't of understood what was going on so it was essential we had this as it helped them engage more and pay attention to the information the characters were saying to help build the narrative. Another sound we included in our thriller was a non-diegetic soundtrack which was quite upbeat and suspenseful. This was used when josie discovered shona's body on the floor until the end of the sequence, this sound was used for the chase scene and to create suspense and tension as the audience would want to know what happens next. 

The micro element editing was included in my thriller to define the genre, an example of this was a reaction shot. This was seen when Josie's hears a scream and she jumps and gets scared which could relate to the audience as they may be as shocked as she is. 

Cinematography was a key micro element to define the thriller genre as it helped the audience understand the characters more. For example, in the flashback theres a mid shot of a little boy swinging on a swing alone at the park. As his positioned in the middle of this shot, this emphasises his aloneness and suggests that he is troubled or dangerous, making the audience feel curious about his character and wanting to find out more. 

To show more understanding of the generic conventions and developing of a real thriller, I have compares my thriller opening sequence to the film ' Scream (1996)'.  The film is a bout a masked killer that begins killing teenagers in the small town Woodsboro. One young girl and her friends realise that the number of deaths go up, to survive they must follow the rules of horror movies. Firstly, the similarity between my thriller and this film, is the fact that they both include the iconography of a mask for the antagonist. However unlike, Scream my film starts with the audience knowing who the antagonist is behind the mask instead of him hiding it at the beginning. This is because we decided to let the audience know who the antagonist, but fear him even more when his identity is hidden and feel on edge when he's among his victims that done know who he is. Secondly, in comparison to the film Scream, both settings are located at a town where its isolated. The fact that the town Woodsboro is 'small' this implies that theres not many people there, meaning that the victims of the Ghost face wouldn't be saved easily. This is similar to my thriller, as mine is set in a quiet town also and the girls are seen on a road where no one else is to be seen but the antagonist, implying their alone and their safety is at stake. Also, what i found that was similar between my thriller film and Scream opening was that they both used the generic convention of having a female victim. This was conventional as it achieved the sympathy from the audience needed to connect with the characters as they are portrayed as gullible and oblivious. An example of this from scream is that the antagonist would call the girl and ask her questions about horror movies and what she's doing. This is seen as vulnerable as she immediately goes against not talking to strangers but carrying on the conversation with the antagonist on the phone. In my thriller, the gullible female character who's fed up of waiting for her friend who's on the phone, decides to walk towards the antagonist who's on the road. This shows her innocence and careless motive as she's walking towards a stranger she doesn't know and is oblivious to the fact that he may harm her.  Finally, like in any other thriller, theres low-key lighting and in my thriller and the film Scream this is used. In the opening scene for scream, the low-key lighting is used when the character Drew is on the phone having a conversation with an anonymous person. She's in her house but the lights are very dimly lit. The use of this low-key light emphasises her aloneness and that something dark is going cave in on her, foreshadowing her death that happens later. Similarly, throughout my opening scene thriller, it's set in the night so theres already low-key lighting. The use of this is conventional as the audience and girls cannot see much detail of where they're going and who's there. This emphasise their danger and foreshadows that something may happen to them as its night time, easy for the antagonist to hide. As my task was to make an opening thriller and not a full film, it was clear that my thriller would have less conventions than Scream. However the generic conventions I included helped provoke the 3S' s (shock, surprise and suspense), making the thriller intriguing to carry on watching to find out the conclusion of the whole film.