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

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

2. Location
 The location that we chose for my thriller film, was a house in
Gravesend that has been converted into a work place. We
chose this location as it was easy to get to and that it helped
follow the stereotype of the protagonist as the stereotypical
worker in a office. We wanted this stereotype to follow
throughout the opening sequence. The establishing shot at the
beginning of the opening sequence defines what type of
character the protagonist is and what the protagonist does for
a living. The location of the house represents the stereotypical
work environment of the 21st century and that it shows
smartness but also shows corruption that people now have to
live with. It also shows the greed of men and women and how
it can affect the way people think and act towards others. This
is why the antagonist is a spirit that comes after the
protagonist because of his greed and ignorance towards
others. The Protagonist(Alex)

3. Opening scene
 The opening scene of my film is quite relaxing and non
tension building and makes the audience see that it is a
stereotypical day at the office(equilibrium). However the
tension slowly starts to build when the antagonist starts
interfering with the protagonist(disruption of the
equilibrium). I have used this method in our film to attract
our target audience to watch our film. In our film, we
have used a similar strategy to the women in black
which starts off as a normal day until they get to the
house. I have gained inspiration from this as this is a
very effective way lure your target audience into the film.
Films like the women in black, have influenced my film
heavily and therefor has dictated our
storyboard/storyline.

4. Media Platform
 The media platform that I used for my film
was final cut pro. I used this as it much
better than iMovie when it comes to editing
and finding the right design for our intros
and outro's of our film. Furthermore, final cut
pro is more advanced so I can do more on
the film when it comes to quality.

5. What are the genre
conventions? The genre conventions of our film is that we have followed the
stereotypical weaponry of the antagonists from other horror
films which is a knife. We have followed this stereotype
because it is one of the most likely props in a horror film and
therefor we have followed this particular stereotype.
Furthermore, the conventions of the thriller genre include
tension building music as well as Low key lighting. This is
important as it brings a sense of horror to the audience and
therefor fitting in with the codes and conventions of the genre.
Moreover, the protagonist is in the mercy of the antagonist and
therefor the antagonist is in charge of the protagonists fate. As
well as this, is the montage of shots. An example of this is in
Psycho in the famous shower scene when the protagonist is
being killed, followed on by loud music which creates as sense
of panic and pleasure for the target audience of the thriller
genre.

6. How have you conformed
to the forms and
conventions? My film has conformed to the codes and conventions of the
thriller genre, because we have used low key lighting, we have
done this so that it fits the code and conventions of our genre.
An example of this is when the protagonist enters the room
where the antagonist is sitting on the chair. Furthermore,
throughout the film I have used tension building music to
clearly show that this is a thriller film and that we fit the codes
and conventions of the thriller fan base. Moreover, we have
made the protagonist so that he is the mercy of the antagonist.
An example of this is at the end where the protagonist is
grabbed by the antagonist who is holding a knife to his throat.
As well as this, I have used various angle shots so that it
provides more interest to the target audience. An example of
this is when the protagonist is walking to the house and the
camera is leaning round the brick wall. This gives the image
that the antagonist is watching him enter the building and
therefor provides tension to the target audience.

7. Did you make a conscious decision
to challenge any forms and
conventions?
 Unfortunately we did not challenge much of the
stereotypes or the codes and conventions of the
thriller genre. However there is one, this is where
we have made the protagonist more brave then in
stereotypical horror/thriller films. I have decided to
do this because the protagonist is always quite
terrified and has no sense of bravery or resilience
about the character. This is why in my film I have
changed it so that the audience have a change from
the wimpy protagonist to a braver protagonist. This
is different than from professional films such as
psycho and Texas chain saw, as their protagonists
is very weak minded and wimpy, as well as being
petrified about everything.

8. Explain with reference to illustrative examples from
your own texts and compare to examples from
professional media texts.
 In my film I have used various different types of media techniques and
thriller codes and conventions. An example of some techniques that I
have used in my film is the low angle shots, these were used to show the
dominance of the antagonist and how much power he has. An example of
this from a professional text is the women in black, the women in black
uses various low angles to show the dominance of the women in black.
Another code and convention that I have used in my film was the low key
lighting. An example of this is when the antagonist is sharpening his
knife. The light changes as the camera moves upwards towards the face
of the antagonist. An example of this in a real media text is the film
psycho. This is used when the antagonist goes to kill the protagonist in
the shower, the low key lighting in the scene creates a psychological
effect and scares the audience more as they can relate to this. Moreover,
my film uses tension building music to build tension in the audience so it
fits the codes and conventions of the thriller genre. An example of this is
right at the start of my film, when the protagonist is walking towards the
house, the tension starts to build straight away as the audience are
wanting to know what is going to happen. An example of this is a real
media text is in the film psycho. Again, it is when the antagonist is going
to murder the protagonist but because of the music playing fast paced
and very loud it builds up the tension and then scares them when the
antagonist murders the protagonist.

9. Have they proven successful? Have you developed
(extended/improved/made more prevalent) any existing
conventions in your own video and film texts?
 My film has proven to be successful as it clearly targets the thriller
audience and therefor fits the codes and convention for the thriller genre.
However, their our a few improvements that I would like to do if I made
the film or tried to film it again. For example I would choose a different
location. This is because it was not very close and therefor hindered our
progress to film our film. Furthermore, because it was at a workplace, it
was very hard to keep consistency because their would always be people
gone or their and therefor we would have reshoot scenes so it would not
look inconsistent to the target audience. Moreover, I would change the
story line of our film. I felt that the storyline was to complicated and
sometimes hard to keep track of it. So therefor for I would keep the film
simple. As well as this, the reliance of others. Sometimes it would be very
hard to all meet up due to school or work and therefor I would change the
time of the film. What I meant by this is that I would film the film in
evening rather than in the afternoon or morning where everyone is
busiest. However, my film has improved since the rough cut was finished.
I have managed to include a better soundtrack through out the opening
scene which gives the film more interest to where it was all quiet.

10. How did YOU demonstrate this? What was YOUR
contribution? What were YOU inspired by and why?
 My contribution to the film was that I was the
protagonist through the film as well as the part time
editor of the film. I had assistance from my
colleague Ryan who did most of the editing. I simply
picked out the soundtrack and edited it in as well as
helping with the intro. The film that really inspired
me to make this genre of film was the women in
black. I loved that film and therefor I wanted to
replicate with different characters and location. This
inspired me to use various low key lighting shots as
well as various low angle shots to show the
dominance of the antagonist.