Q1 Evaluation

1. EVALUATION QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
BEN BAILEY

2. AREAS OF EVALUATION
In my Thriller trailer I used many commonly used forms and conventions that are used in real media products. I
also challenged and developed some these ideas to make my thriller trailer more exciting and to maintain the
enigma.
To evaluate how I did this, I looked at forms, conventions, filming, editing, sound and compared them to existing
media products.
• Editing
• Contrast and Brightness
• Sequencing/Transitions/Sh
ot Length
• Filming
• Low key Lighting
• Extreme Close ups
• Shadows
• Movement
• Characters
• Codes
• Hermeneutic codes
• Proairetic Codes
• Gnomic codes
• Sound
• Diegetic
• Non-Diegetic

3. FILMING
LOW KEY LIGHTING
• The shots are both very
similar and both use low key
lighting.
• The dullness and the
shadows in the shots
effectively create a sinister
atmosphere, far greater than
they would have been with
natural lighting.
• The desired effect was
achieved by using minimal
lighting, as well as lowering
the brightness and altering
the contrast in final cut 10.
This created an eerie quality
that is associated with the
Thriller genre.
Low key lighting is used in the
majority of shots in my trailer.
For example, the shots inside
the cabin with the
protagonist/antagonist at the
his desk, are all subjected to
low key lighting.
This helps hide the identity of
the person, contributing to the
enigma of the character’s
identity and role in the film, as
well as add a mysterious
atmosphere to the scene.
Deception
Se7en
(David Fincher)

4. FILMING
EXTREME CLOSE UP
• The shots are effective
because neither show
what is going on in the
background, so the
audience does not know if
there is any danger nearby
or what could occur next.
• By allowing the audience
to appear as if they are
very close to the character
it involves them in the
situation that is occurring
adding intensity to the
scene.
Deception
Psycho
(Alfred Hitchcock)
Extreme close ups are a convention
used in many Thrillers. In my
thriller trailer they give small clues about
the character, while revealing very little
about the individual.
I developed this idea of the eye shot
effectively, by showing the eye with a
dilated pupil, which usually indicates fear
or excitement, leading the audience to
guess what the character is feeling,
seeing or what they look like. This
creates an enigma surrounding their
identity, not revealing if they are an
antagonist or a protagonist. I believe that
this is one of the more successful
aspects of my trailer – the effective
withholding of information.

5. FILMING
SHADOWS
• The shadows create an
eerie atmosphere.
• Usually they are shots at
night, a time that the
audience already connects
with fear and unknown.
• Shadows are also an
effective way of showing the
antagonist without revealing
identity.
• As shadows are often bigger
than the person making
them, it make them more
frightening.
Deception
Sherlock Holmes,
(Guy Ritchie 2009)
The convention of
shadows, created by the
low level lighting, are often
used to disguise the
antagonist and create
atmosphere. I used
darkness and shadows to
create an eerie atmosphere
and to help mask the
identity of the person
shown, by keeping his face
in shadow.

6. FILMING
MOVEMENT
• Static house shot, lacks
action and characters,
which could lose interest
of audience.
• Gone girl trailer combines
action and characters to
keep the audience
engaged.
Deception
Gone Girl
(David Fincher 2014)
My Thriller was mainly filmed using
static, and atmospheric shots rather
than action and people, which
challenged the way other trailers are
usually made.
I think this turned out to be a weakness
of “Deception” because the lack of
camera movement throughout the
thriller trailer could lose the audience’s
attention. There could have been a
scene filmed on a dolly following the
character around, with an over the
shoulder shot. This would have allowed
for more differentiation between the
types of shots and would stop the
audience from becoming bored from
the lack of variation in shot types.

7. FILMING
CHARACTERS
• Target Audience 15 years
upwards would recognise
the stereotype of
teenagers with hoods over
their heads
• Teenagers often depicted
as bad in the media, social
stereotyping.
• By using stereotypes i.e.
types of character the
audience are familiar with -
is a quick way for the
audience to connect with
the characters.
Deception
BBC News
In Trailers there are certain
character conventions expected
by the audience including an
antagonist and a protagonist.
By using teenagers in hoodies, I
challenged this convention by
using the teenagers in a way that
the audience could not tell if they
were antagonists or protagonists.
To promote the idea that the
protagonist is mentally unstable
he is shown as dirty and messy in
worn and dirty clothing which is a

8. EDITING
CONTRAST AND BRIGHTNESS
• The photograph showing
happier times is brighter,
contrasting with the darker
shot of the hanging body.
• In the film Taken, light
shot show happy times.
• Darker shots bring tension.
Deception
Taken 3,
(Olivier Megaton 2014)
The use of dark and light
scenes, uses the concept of
binary opposition, often used
in thrillers to highlight to the
audience happy times (light
shots) unhappy times (darker
shots).
In my trailer, to contrast with
the darker shots, others were
made brighter, to effectively
remind the audience of better
times in the character’s life.
This gives the impression that
the character is a protagonist,
however, that is not fully
revealed.

9. EDITING
SEQUENCING/TRANSITIONS/SHOT LENGTH
• Deception has no obvious start
beginning and end. Quick cuts add
confusion and add pace, challenging
Thriller conventions.
• Some common thriller editing
conventions have been used. The
transition of slow fade to the next shot,
accompanied with slow music at the
start of the opening, creates a calm
atmosphere for the audience. As the
trailer progresses, the audience’s
perspective of the situation changes
as the cuts become more frequent.
Rather than the shots fading slowly
they cut to the next shot making the
character seem more unstable.
• Thriller such as Gone Girl follow the
expected narrative pattern.
Deception
Gone Girl,
(David Fincher 2014)
The sequence of shots in my
trailer challenge Todorov’s film
theory that films start with an
equilibrium, followed by
disruption, problem solving
and restoring the equal
balance.
By ordering the film as I did, the
audience isn’t able to follow this
pattern that they expect, which
in itself creates an enigma,
builds tension and makes them
want to come and see the
whole film.

10. USING CONVENTIONS THROUGH
RECOGNISED CODES
• Hermeneutic code refers to
“any element in a story that is
not explained and, therefore,
exists as an enigma for the
reader, raising questions that
demand explanation”: Barthes
• Proairetic code defined
as “any action that implies a
further narrative action.”
• Gnomic code “references our
cultural codes and links to
clichés that are shared
experiences or expectations
i.e. that red is the colour of
danger. Red titles are used a
lot for thriller.”
Deception
Knock Knock
(Eli Roth 2015)
Hermeneutic codes
In my film I developed this idea by using the
word Deception as the film title because it leads the
audience to ask; “Who has been deceived? What is
true?” Is it the audience that is being deceived? Is it
the protagonist or the victim? by using this title we
create an enigma. The idea of this is to interest the
viewer to pique their curiosity.
Proairetic code / Foreshadowing
In my Trailer I used a knife in the poster which acts
as a proairetic code causing the audience to ask,
What is the knife going to be used for ? Who is
holding the knife? This is an effective way of
engaging the audience. The use of weapons like
this is used on many Thriller posters.
Gnomic Codes
In my poster I have chosen a red title with blood
dripping down the word Deception connoting that
the “Deception” is an evil word/concept , this is a
Gnomic code. Red titles are used a lot for thriller
films as seen in Knock Knock poster.

11. SOUND
• The Non diegetic sounds help guide
the audience to what they should
feel –such as the music building to
a crescendo adds tension to the
crime scene sequence. Similarly,
Jaws is famous for its non-diegetic
music track, building tension and
expectation in water scenes.
• Diegetic sounds like the crow
squawking were used to connote
danger and isolation.
• Diegetic sounds like chains being
dragged in my trailer were used to
imply someone is trapped.
Deception
JAWS
(Steven Spielberg 1975)
Both diegetic and non-diegetic
sound techniques were used
in my trailer. The ear ringing
in Deception, is an
uncomfortable sound for the
audience to bear creating
tension in the audience.
The use of the diegetic crow
squawks are a recognised
Thriller code and successfully
warns the audience of the
isolation of the situation
and implies death.

12. CONCLUSION
Deception
In conclusion, I successfully used, the
codes and conventions in existing media
products to create my thriller trailer.
I also developed and challenged these
existing codes and conventions, to
achieve a thriller trailer that is unique and
pushes boundaries to gain interest from a
large audience but avoid following the
‘mainstream’ conventions.
Deception
Deception
Deception