AS Evaluation- Question 1

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

For most thriller films, the generic conventions are mainly about creating an effect for the audience. Most will incorporate the 3S’s; Suspense, Surprise & Shock, as well as building tension to help keep the audience engaged with the film. More specifically, the conventions which help to create these effects are; Low-key lighting, Specific characters, Setting, Iconography, Cinematography, Editing, Sound and the use of enigmas.

The use of low key lighting acts as an immediate indicator to the viewers, that they are watching a film from the thriller genre. It helps to show the contrast between the light and dark areas on screen, which can help viewers to focus their attention on a specific element. Low key lighting is used in this way in the basement scene from the film ‘House at the end of the street’.

 It is used to cast shadows and areas of darkness, so a mysterious atmosphere is created, thus building tension. In this scene, the audience witness the female character walk down into a basement which is unknown to herself and the viewers. The low key lighting therefore hides most of the detail in the frames, so the audience can only focus on the emotions on the girls face. This helps to build a sense of confusion as viewers will question what they think they are seeing with what may actually be happening, which will emphasise the shock they will feel later in the scene, which is conventional.

In all thriller films, there is usually always a protagonist and an antagonist; whether this is two separate characters or simply one, such as in a psychological thriller where it is a battle between the characters mental and emotional state. In thrillers, the victim is stereotypically always a female who is oblivious to what is going on or is too gullible to do anything about it. It is important for the audience to relate to the victim so they will feel sorry for her, and so will feel the full effect of all the scenes. The victim therefore needs to be believable, and this can be achieved through certain aspects of mise-en-scene. An example of a believable stereotypical victim can be seen in the ‘Trying to kill me’ scene from the film ‘Red Eye’. 

In this scene, the female is in her bedroom and bathroom, holding a hockey stick, nervously looking round for the man in her house who is trying to kill her. She is dressed in a white top, which could connote her innocence, and a black skirt, which are both of an everyday style. This along with normal setting in the house, allows the audience to relate to her as being a normal person, just like themselves, which helps to create suspense as they realise that the scene they are watching could happen to them too. 

However, the scene called ‘Here’s Johnny’ from the film ‘The Shining’, shows the same elements as the ‘Trying to kill me clip’, but doesn't have the same effect. The female has locked herself in a bathroom, in a house which has been snowed in, making the audience aware that she has no way of escaping and is trapped. They therefore begin to feel sorry for her as, like the other victim, she seems like a normal person and so viewers will think this could happen to them too. However, when the killer axes down the door, all we hear is constant screams from the victim, and her facial expressions seem slightly pathetic as she is simply standing there waiting, instead of doing something about it. This along with the psychotic looking killer makes the scene become comical, and this means it doesn't build as much suspense as it could of. These are the stereotypical characteristics of a victim, and will leave viewers shouting at the screen to do something. It doesn't make the film any less conventional, but it simply doesn't build the suspense in the immediately effective way as the victim in Red Eye.

The setting in a thriller film informs the audience vital information about the scene, and can be used to provoke a response from the audience in the first frame shown. It is also a good indicator as to the genre of the film. For example, if the film is set in a public place such as a park or a restaurant in the middle of the day, then viewers are going to think the film is a romantic comedy, for example, and so will expect to see a couple etc. However, if the film is set in a dark abandoned house or in the middle of the forest, the audience may feel nervous, and guess that something bad will happen, which is common in thriller films. 
An example of a conventional setting is shown in the basement scene from the film ‘House at the end of the street’, where we see the female victim open a hatch on the floor, and walks down into a dark hallway of some sort. This immediately informs the audience there is only one way to escape if there is any danger, and as the female is literally walking into danger, it seems unlikely she will have time to escape if she needs to. This makes viewers sit on edge and feel very nervous for the victim as they know something is going to happen to her.

Iconography is essential in thriller films as it can be a good way to quickly build tension and can help foreshadow what will happen in the scene. It also makes it clear to the audience that they are watching a thriller film, as the iconography could be the murder weapon. For example, if the iconography is a gun, then viewers may think that it will be used, and so would create a nervous atmosphere as well as creating a sense of danger. The most common piece of iconography used as a murder weapon in thrillers is a knife, as shown in the opening scene of the film ‘Halloween’.

As soon as the audience see the unknown killer pick up the knife, viewers will guess that he is going to use it on the girl upstairs, as this would be the most stereotypical thing to happen. This helps to build suspense and viewers will begin to sympathise with the girl they have just met, because she doesn't know what is happening.

Cinematography is very important as it can help to provoke a response from the audience. Particular camera angles are more conventional to thrillers than others, these are; Handheld camerawork, canted angles and high angles. Handheld camerawork and the canted angle are both used in the film ‘House at the end of the street’, when the victim is walking along the dark hallway in the basement. The canted angle shows the situation as unusual which suggests a bad outcome. This helps to show the female as being distressed which is a common theme in thrillers and so helps to build suspense. It makes the audience feel unstable as they are no longer sure of what the girl is doing. It also makes them feel confused and nervous as this shot helps to build tension. The use of high angles is typically used to portray victims, as it makes them look small and weak. An example of a high angle used to portray a female victim is in the film ‘The Strangers’, where the girl is sat on the floor against the wall, scared and alone as there is someone at the door. This helps the audience to identify her as the victim and to sympathise with her.

Editing styles are harder to identify as they help the film to run smoothly. However, they can also help to build suspense, increase the pace of the film or create a tense atmosphere etc. For example, there is a jump cut used in the scene ‘Here’s Johnny’, from the film ‘The Shining’, which is very conventional. This is when the film suddenly focuses on something, which in this clip is the killer preparing to axe down the door, which is protecting the victim. They are usually used in thrillers when multiple things are going on that the audience may be unaware of, and so these jump cuts fill them in and allow viewers to make their own assumptions on what the narrative will be like. They can also be used to speed the footage up, such as showing a character walking down a path; it is not necessary to show the whole length of the footage and so jump cuts save time and fasten the pace of the film, building suspense. The jump cut is used to follow the path of the axe going into the door, which draws our attention to the axe. This jump cut increases the pace of the scene, so that when the axe hits the door, the audience jump. Using a jump cut is a very traditional trait to thriller films, which is conventional as it builds tension for the audience and keeps them engaged.

The use of sound is very important as it helps to tell the story by defining an image more clearly and also helps to provoke a response from the audience. In thriller films, sound is used to build tension and suspense, in order to engage the audience and make them feel certain emotions and responses.  Sound can help to create an understanding of the scene for the audience, and also adds meaning to an image which without sound would not have the same effect. It helps the audience to connect with certain characters by putting them into the mind-set of that character which can help viewers to respond emotionally. Sound has to be carefully planned so that it matches up with the image on screen. I therefore think that the most conventional type of sound to thrillers is parallel sound, which is used well in the film ‘The Panic Room’.  The parallel sound came from the diegetic on screen sound of footsteps which matched the suspense building soundtrack playing. This helped to increase the pace of the scene, building tension, and also reminds the audience that this is a chase scene. This creates a ‘jumpy’ atmosphere for the audience, which heightens the emotions they feel. A chase scene is also conventional to thrillers, and so by using all these elements together, not only builds tension, but also reminds viewers that this is a thriller film.

The last generic convention I think is essential to include in a thriller film is the use of enigmas. Enigmas can help to build suspense and create a confusing atmosphere. A good example of this is in the opening sequence of the film ‘Halloween’, such as who the killer is and what his intentions are. This is conventional to thrillers as it creates the 3S’s which are surprise, shock & suspense. For example, one of the enigmas is of the boy being the killer. The dialogue is what is misleading as the couple say the little brother is around the house somewhere, but if he is the killer then why would he enter through the open back door of his own house? Also, the killers POV shots look too tall for the little boy to be the killer. It leaves the audience deliberately confused and questioning what they have just seen, and also helps them to build up their own evidence as they want the boy to be innocent as he is only a child.

When planning my thriller opening, my group and I decided we wanted to include as many of the generic conventions as possible, but adapt them to our narrative, to help make it unique. We therefore used low-key lighting in all scenes except from the flashbacks scenes, to minimise the amount of detail that could be seen, thus creating a mysterious atmosphere that would help to build tension. In the flashbacks, I wanted to clearly show the transition from normality into the flashback, and so decided that every flashback should be bright and possibly blurry, minimising the audiences’ confusion.

My group decided to set our thriller opening in a forest that has a river in it as this is a setting that the audience could relate to. It informs the audience firstly that it is a thriller film, and secondly reminds them that the characters are nowhere near anything or anyone and so won’t be able to reach help if they need it. This would make the audience sit on edge from the very beginning of the thriller film, and so would build the tension as viewers will feel nervous for the little girl and will easily sympathise with her.

Originally, we had planned to include a knife, a scarf and a rose for our Iconography, but due to health and safety reasons, could no longer use the knife acting as the murder weapon. I think this worked to our advantage as the audience can now only assume that the girl died by drowning or strangulation. This would build suspense as the audience will realise that murder can still happen without the use of a murder weapon, meaning it could happen at any time. This would be a bit surreal for viewers and so they would be shocked when witnessing this underwater scene, which would build more suspense. The white rose is used to symbolise the little

sisters’ death; the white will connote her purity and innocence, so that when she dies the audience will feel even more sorry for her. The scarf is what triggers the second flashback showing the two sisters, and so helps to emphasise my title of our opening, Nostalgia. The use of the chosen Iconography is not necessarily what the audience would expect to see in a thriller film, but we chose them due to them being easily relatable to. Although viewers may not understand or notice their purpose in the thriller, either way it will build suspense through the confusion created.

My group used various types of cinematography in the thriller sequence, which I think will help to keep the audience engaged. The shots used such as the high angle, help to indicate who the characters are; the victim is always portrayed using a high angle and so the audience will immediately know to be sympathetic towards her. Using the same shot frequently to present a particular character will mean the audience always act in the same way, emotionally towards her, creating a strong connection. The use of specific cinematography is conventional to thrillers, as the majority of shots help to create/build tension and suspense, confuse the audience and/or provoke a response from them. It is this response from the audience which makes our shots conventional.

I think the different styles of editing used, makes my thriller opening more interesting, which will keep the viewers engaged and interested. The use of the montage and the jump cut, help to fasten the pace of the clip, which automatically builds tension as the audience don't have time to think about what they have just seen. This makes it conventional as the audience will feel overwhelmed and nervous as to what will happen next, and so builds suspense.

Sound is very important in thrillers, and it helped to make my thriller more conventional as the images matched all sounds, meaning tension was built. The use of parallel sound at the beginning of my thriller opening; the sound of leaves crunching beneath her feet as the little girl walks, matches the non-diegetic music that is playing, makes it conventional as everything the audience hears, will make them feel nervous and think something bad is going to happen, which is typical in thriller films. It helps viewers connect to the little girl and also draws our attention on her. We decided to layer the sounds on top of each other, meaning we have the same soundtrack playing, with other sounds added on top to create a crescendo and to help build suspense.

The one generic convention that my group have included throughout the opening is the use of enigmas. The main enigma used is the mystery of who the killer is, and what his motives were. Also, what happens to the older sister, how does the younger sister lose her scarf and end up alone. As well as ending with how can the younger sister be looking at her dead self? All of these enigmas are there to confuse the audience to make them continue watching the film. Even if at the end of the opening, viewers don’t understand everything that went on; as discovered from our rough cut research, it does not necessarily matter as they would still have felt something and this should be enough to make them continue to watch, which is the main purpose of an opening to any film.

My opening sequence is not a stereotypical thriller narrative, as the audience do not witness the killing of the girl, but simply infer from the hints given that it does happen. My opening therefore defines the thriller genre as being more about what you feel and think after watching the scene, instead of the typical fights scene and gullible victim etc. All the elements that I have analysed above; Cinematography, enigmas etc, all incorporate the 3S’s (Surprise, Shock & Suspense) into my thriller narrative. The credits my group and I chose are of a child’s style, as we thought this should be conventional. It suggests to the audience that the little girl in our thriller has written them herself, and so has written this narrative too, which creates another enigma as to how she can write this story, if she is dead. Everything that is included in my thriller opening has a purpose to make the audience feel confused, as this will build the most suspense.

To show my understanding of the generic conventions and developing a real thriller, I have compared my thriller opening to the film ‘The Sixth Sense’. The film is about a young boy who can communicate with spirits that don’t know they are dead, who seeks the help of a child psychologist, played by Bruce Willis. Just like most thrillers, the film uses low key lighting in certain scenes in the film; these scenes are usually when Cole (the little boy) is communicating with a dead person. For example, the scene where he shows Malcolm the dead people who hung themselves at his school and when he talks to a woman in the kitchen. It is in these scenes where the suspense is built, and so the low key lighting, tension building music, the use of montage to put the images together etc, are all used to show viewers how scared the little boy is and to help the audience feel scared too. This film, like my thriller opening is not a very stereotypical thriller, as the sixth sense focuses on the journey of the boy and how Malcolm helps him deal with his ‘gift’. There is a fight scene, but instead of taking up the entire narrative of the film, happens at the beginning and is forgotten right until the end of the film. The film has various settings such as Cole’s house, school, local hospital and the area he lives in. These settings are not conventional as they do not make the audience feel nervous by the victim being trapped etc, but simply tell viewers more information. The fact that this is an entire film and not just a two minute opening means that the effects used are going to be better. Whereas my group and I allocated several different roles between us, there would have been a team of people on each job; they would've had a bigger budget etc, and so there are obviously some major differences between the two. Both thrillers do have a similar element, as both create the enigma of finding out the main character is dead; Malcolm finds out he died at the beginning of the film and the entire film has been building up the tension so that the audience feel very shocked at the end of the film, which makes the film conventional as it had used the common 3S’s in it. However, in my thriller, I only had 2 minutes to create a similar effect. The main character, who is the victim, unlike in the sixth sense, finds out she is dead at the very end of the opening, which would also surprise the audience in the hope they will continue watching. I therefore had to build suspense in a different way as I didn't have the length of an entire film. I therefore chose the stereotypical setting in a forest, with the victim dying at the end, as well as the conventional looking credits added in.