1. How are Conventions of
your film like real Thrillers?
By Charlotte Omo-Edoh

2. Introduction
In this presentation I will be explaining how our film
“Surveillance” corresponds with normal Thriller films that
we watch in Cinemas, DVDs etc. In this presentation I will be
adding images of specific scenes in our Horror Thriller and a
normal Horror Thriller which will then be compared to various
other aspects of Thrillers. I will be closely evaluating how we
used the following headings in our film:
 Lighting
 Narrative (story line)
 The Protagonist
 The Antagonist
 Suspenseful Music
 Aspects of Violence

3. Lighting
In Media Lighting has a significant part to play in Horror Thriller films this is
because the lighting in the film can suggest whether something
pessimistic or optimistic is going to occur this can be identified using Low
and High Key lighting. In our film we used a Low Key shot this makes the
scene seem more dramatically scary because the audience immediately
assumes something wrong is going to happen. We also used the Low key
lighting when the Killer kills “Keysha” we see a close up of the knife with
blood although the rest of the surroundings are opaque this makes the
scene seem more mysterious and allows the audience to be weary. Also
the part were Keysha goes up the stairs. However, Low key Lighting are
more commonly used in Horror Thriller Films.

4. Narrative (The story Line)
The Story line is what builds the foundation of the film in the first
place. The story line in a typical Horror Thriller would be the
Protagonist usually a male who kills a female usually the
Antagonist, however the antagonist was weak and later
progresses to have power. In our film the Protagonist is the
Male who kills the female, however the female killed was the
one that seemed to hold the strong and powerful
characteristic. On the other hand the other friend was the
weak one that just followed what instructions she was given
and at the end which led to her being the strong one and
maybe the survivor.

5. The Protagonist
 The protagonist in the film is perceived as the hero in Horror
Thriller films the protagonist is the character that sorts
everything out in the end or the one that becomes the
strong one. In our Film the protagonist is “Sarah” she
develops as the stronger character as the film continues
from being the one that was weak and the typical female
that is intimidated and shy.

6. The Antagonist
 The Antagonist in the film is the Killer. The killer in most
Horror Thriller films are always males, males in general in
the media industry are always seen as the more dominate,
powerful authorized character throughout any type of
media. So in our film we decided to have a male killer that
you usually see in Horror Films.

7. Suspenseful Music
 Although the film is the most exciting part to watch we need to have
some audio that will also create more suspense and tension throughout
the scene. In Horror Thriller the audio that is played always allows the
audience to not only visually take in impact but to hear the sounds in a
non-diagetic way; this means the sound has been purposely but there for
the audiences ears. We used non-diagetic sounds in the play when
“Keysha” goes up stairs to find out where her friends sister is. This is
similar to a normal Horror Thriller because we know something is waiting
for the character but we still allow the sound to lead us what may happen
next.

8. Aspects of Violence
 In Horror Thriller we know that there has to be an aspect of Violence and
this usually is portrayed by a killing or by someone being in pain. In our
Film two people die normally in Horror Thriller films only one person dies,
the deaths make the film seem more scary and mysterious. We achieved
this by not showing the first killing which creates suspense this allows the
audience to be engage in the film and they ask themselves questions
such as: Who did it? Are they still in the house? Whos next? Etc. The
second killing was shown and the killer is introduced into the film, the
audience can then see the type of physique the killer has, the gender and
they start to put the parts together.