Q1

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

My media product follows many of the conventions of a thriller opening. It has a contrast in the pace of the scenes similar to many films of the genre. I took a lot of influence from the opening of the James Bond film ‘Casino Royal’ where there is a change in pace between the scene happening in the current time, in which Bond is talking to a double agent, and flashbacks to his first kill, in which he is fighting a man in a public bathroom. These intercutting scenes dramatically contrast in pace adding to suspension and audience excitement.

The film also grasps the negativity of many thrillers in that what is happening in the scene is clearly not a good thing. All thrillers are based around something that, although may end well, is essentially bad. In the case of my product the negativity comes not only from the violence but the tone of the product. The film starts as it means to go on.

Like most thrillers there is a degree of violence to our product. This is often what makes a thriller ‘thrilling’. But above all our product has tension and suspense. Tension and suspense are essential to the thriller genre. And it is arguable that without these attributes a film cannot be a thriller as they create a feeling that makes a product ‘thrilling’. An example of a thriller that successfully uses violence to create suspence is ‘Taken’

The main source of suspense in our product is the knowledge the audience has over the character ‘Sarah’ whose boyfriend has been kidnapped by someone she knows. The first way in which suspense is created is the journey of Sarah towards her home where the audience knows her boyfriend is being savagely beaten and possibly killed. Because of the way the film is cut the audience believes that as she approaches the house she will walk into a violent scene however there is little evidence of the struggle that has occurred. This tension is helped by an increase in volume of the music.

The second source of suspense is the arrival of the antagonist. Suspense is created here using slow ominous music creating a feeling eerier than silence. The suspense is relieved when we see the antagonist (Jonathan) and how Sarah reacts to his presence; she clearly is familiar with him. 

The title and font we used in our film is similar to many other films of this genre. It is simple, classy and not too flashy and in serif format. This is used in the opening to reservoir dogs. This sets the tone of an intelligent thriller that is not trashy and has a degree subtlety.

And the spacing between the letters is similar to that of the film Gattaca. The spacing makes the graphics more interesting and aesthetically pleasing for the viewer.

The location of my product is common in many thrillers. It is in the suburbs of a big city in an area that isn’t too to ‘urban’ but not too high class either. Many thrillers are set primarily in cities. E.g ‘The Town which is set in suburban Boston; however a very run down area in Boston.

The camera work is similar to many thrillers. It is handheld in the car so it shakes slightly somehow giving an eerie ominous feel. There is no fancy camera movement which gives it the subtlety of films of the non action subgenres as they often use helicopter and rolling shots to make the scene seem bigger and more epic.

The costume in the product is mainly dark colours which give a negative mood to the piece. If the colour of the clothing is bright it will stand out and seem cheerful and out of place.

This also applies to much of the lighting. The car is dark which gives the ominous effect and the lighting during the fight is low key and looks cold. This is similar to  the lighting in the film Brick

TS