Q1

Q1: in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

A thriller is a film or TV series that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main form of entertainment. They rely heavily on the use of mystery and detailed narrative. Thrillers influence a viewer’s moods, giving them feelings of anticipation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Thrillers are usually adrenaline-rushing, gritty, and fast-paced. There are many sub-genres to thriller but the most common are: psychological thrillers, crime thrillers, erotic thrillers and mystery thrillers.

The sub-genre I chose was a hybrid-sub-genre; a Horror/psychological thriller which I chose as it enabled us to choose a quite different narrative to current thrillers and stand out more. Psychological thrillers have very detailed narratives in order to peak the audiences interest, create emotional dialogues and build tension at plot twists and other climaxes in the plot, examples of this are Shutter Island and The Ward. My thriller is similar to these as we created a detailed, realistic narrative to base my opening off of, which both of these films have. Horror thrillers build a lot of suspense and tension in order to scare the audience at peaks and climaxes in the narrative as so to create a tense atmosphere and make the audience have feelings of anxiety and terror, examples of this are Insidious and the House at the End of the Street where they are thrillers with horror elements intertwined in the narrative, which mine also has with the stalking, unknown antagonist in the opening.

With this sub-genre I have chosen the audience will be expecting a very detailed narrative, with complex characters and ideas, along with horror elements throughout the plot, where suspense is built until there’s a climax in some scenes which will scare the audience or at least make them feel uneasy. In Shutter Island there are these scenes like in the underground prison and he is suddenly attacked. These types do not detract from the rest of the plot but enhance the suspense. Overall they will want to see this complex plot and horror aspects work well together so the film flows well with continuity so it is enjoyable to watch.

The elements of the psychological genre that I used were the detailed narrative, with complex characters as I thought and planned a lot of what the rest of the film would’ve been like and who my characters were, and the ideas they represented. Thrillers such as Shutter Island and The House at the End of the Street have narratives similar to this, as both are based off of detailed backstories that make the characters more complex and overall further the narrative. I developed the elements where there’s emotional dialogue as I wanted there to be even more than most other psychological thrillers, even though I only created the potential for it in the opening, it meant the audience could expect there to be a lot more than other thrillers. This is done a lot in Shutter Island, with the involvement of him seeing his dead wife and children and how that is explained. I challenged the elements where the actual scenario had to be exaggerated to be entertaining, for example in Shutter Island where there is a huge conspiracy, as I believed just having a realistic scenario would be more effective and entertaining. The elements of the horror genre that I used were the build-up of tension which leads to a climax, as I felt it would be effective for creating a thriller atmosphere that would create more suspense overall. This is done in Horror/thrillers such as Insidious, where there are the horror elements that are the most thrilling parts as they build up suspense but work well with the progression of the narrative. I developed the character types within the genre, as typically the characters presented in horror films aren’t very detailed, like in As Above, So Below where it’s a found footage movie so you do not know very much about the characters, but this works well. This is a contrast to thriller characters so I made sure our characters were more detailed. The elements that I challenged were the excessive use of violence to create horror as I felt this was unnecessary to show a murder, so instead I used a lot of close up shots and sound effects to give the same idea as that.

The conventions of a thriller and which ones you do and don’t use determine whether your thriller will be effective at entertaining the audience. The typical shot types used in thrillers are close ups, extreme close ups, panning and tracking shots.
The close ups and extreme close ups are used in order to show a small section of what is going on and highlight key things in the composition of a scene, for example someone’s facial expression or a piece of the Mise-en-Scene.   This creates suspense and tension in a scene as the audience can’t see exactly what is going and therefore they are feeling anxious and uncertain over what could happen in the next few shots. It also helps build up the narrative with linking specific things to other areas of the story so that the audience sees how the plot is progressing. A good example of a good use of Close-ups and Extreme close-ups is in the Psychological thriller Shutter Island, where the use of them creates a lot of suspense that builds up to action sequences. i used this in my thriller in order to get the same effect where a use of close ups and extreme close ups throughout the opening builds up suspense to the action at the end.

The Panning and tracking shots are used in order to show action, especially chase scenes, where they will a “Dolly” to follow what is going on. The following of the action with these shots means that the audience will feel part of the action and make it more enjoyable to watch compared to a normal, still shot. Many thrillers use these to show action sequences such as You’re Next with most of the chase sequences; panning as the characters are running. I challenged this convention with using panning and tracking shots to build suspense more in the elad up to action rather than furthering the momentum of an action shot.

Typical editing techniques used in thrillers are cross-cutting sequences, flash to white/black, jump cuts and visual effects. Cross-cutting sequences are used to show action in conjunction with panning and tracking shots usually, as they work in the same way. A cross-cutting sequence is when you are following two linked action sequences at the same time where it cuts to and from each sequences, so you have a good idea of what’s going on in both sequences. These are generally used in thrillers in order to show action such as chase sequences and allow the audience to see what’s happening in both parts of the chase, this creates suspense with the audience knowing where the person being chased is in comparison to the chaser. Again in most thrillers this is used such as again the chase sequences of You’re Next where it cross cuts between the victim and the murderer.I also challenged this convention as i wanted to use the cross cutinng between many flashback shots throughout my opening rather than again improving upon the action scene, and I think the way I have used this was effective in building up the narrative and supsense instead of action.

Flash to white/black are used to create suspense through hiding what is happening in the shot for a second, which could hide someone disappearing or appearing or show a flash of an image, for example. They effectively create tension and show narrative in some cases, and also can create “scares” which are especially useful in horror thrillers. This used in the Thriller Shutter Island where it flashes to show a flashback/ something that he is seeing isn't real, which furthers the narrative and builds some dramatic tension. I developed this conevntion with using flash to white to show the images from the past, developing our narrative, and building some tension with the sequence with what was currently going on.

Jump cuts are used in the same way as flashes in thrillers, where they could hide someone disappearing or appearing into a shot. This is especially useful in creating a climax after suspense has been built. This is used in The House at the End of the Street to cause a scare for the audience and release the suspense that has been building in the scene. I used this convention in order to make the climax of action with the murder more dramatic and shocking, making it more thrilling.

Mise-en-scene is used effectively in thrillers to show and develop narrative and characters, and also build more suspense and tension. Costume is used effectively in thrillers to connote who a character is and what kind of character they are or convey different meanings and ideas. For example, a scene may have the protagonist denoting light coloured clothes and the antagonist denoting dark clothes, which would connote that the light clothed person is most likely the protagonist and the dark clothed person is likely an antagonist. Using Costume to connote information about a character or convey ideas and meanings to the audience is effective in developing the narrative and making it a more enjoyable thriller to watch. I used this convention with my antagonist wears similar light clothing to Jennifer Lawrence’s protagonist character in The House at the End of the Street.

Lighting in thrillers is used to create a tense atmosphere. Typical lighting in thrillers is quite dark and filled with shadows, and the lack of light builds tension with the audience not being able to see much of the scene. Lighting is effective in creating a tense atmosphere which builds suspense, making it more thrilling to watch. This use of lighting is used in nearly every scene in The Ward. i challenged this convention in my thriller so that when dark lighting or a lack of lighting is used, it is very obvious what we are trying to connote about what will happen with the murder.

Actors are used in thrillers to connote certain meanings about a character and create drama and tension through that, for example using someone who looked menacing or ugly would connote that they are the antagonist and give the audience a better idea of who they are, for example in Shutter Island the initial antagonist is covered in scars and is always grimacing. I challenged this convention in my thriller as I wanted him to average looking, so I relied on Costume to show him as the antagonist whilst his actor helped represent the social group of an abusive male.  

Props in thrillers are used in many ways, to connote meanings, further the narrative and create suspense. For example a bloody knife on the floor would connote that there is a killer about, further the narrative by the blood signifying someone has been murdered and create suspense by not knowing where the killer is but that he’s about based on his knife being left on the floor. In my thriller we have the knife on the floor and then you see briefly the killer, connoting a connection between them and building suspense, which is similar to You’re Next where she finds a weapon, and its from the killer nearby. I developed this convention with the weapon prop being found to connote that there would be action and a fight between the protagonist and the antagonist as she picks it up.

Setting is used effectively in thrillers to build a suspenseful atmosphere, for example in The Blair Witch Project, its set in the woods and at night which builds tension through the audience and the characters not knowing what’s making sounds or doing things around their tent. My thriller’s also set in the woods to get the same effect as The Blair Witch Project and make it more suspenseful, as this setting is not the natural place for the character to be.

Some thrillers that have inspired my work are Shutter Island, The House at the End of the Street, and The Blair Witch Project. Shutter islands music and overall atmosphere inspired my work as the score for the film was so well made, with perfectly timed crescendos to build and release suspense in scenes, and making the theme well known. The House at the End of the Street inspired my work with its narrative being similar and helping create the relationship between my two characters, so that it seemed real and gave me ideas on how to show that deteriorating. The Blair witch project inspired me the most as the production company had very little in terms of budget and they produced such an iconic film, and also using a few actors to do so. It’s setting of the woods influenced me to use the forest for my opening as it created a very tense suspenseful atmosphere with it being so different from our natural habitat.