How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

1. Jacqui Gatfield-Jeffries
How does your product use
or challenge conventions​ and
how does it represent social
groups or issues
Radio-waves
Conforms to the conventions of the stereotypes of a woman victim. This hints at slight
misogynistic undertones of a helpless, submissive girl although the aggressor is gender
neutral. Therefore it challenges the stereotypical male attacker common in thriller films.

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Radio Waves however, does conform to the colour conventions of the thriller genre. Its
predominant colours are grey and blue creating a somber and chilling mood. It triggers the
mood of tragedy alluding to the calm before the storm. The still water and grey skys spark the
device of pathetic fallacy which contributes to the airy atmosphere.
The choice of costume also conforms to Thriller genre expectations. The victim is wearing a
white dress which symbolizes innocence and purity. The colour white further relates to an
image of an angel with a good moral compass. This typical costume for the protagonist
conforms to thriller expectations as these characters are usually expressed as morally correct.
The costume for the antagonist also fits into usual expectations. The antagonist in
‘Radiowaves’ is clothed in black pants, black shoes and a black coat. The focus on the colour
black shows the mood of darkness and evil activity surrounding that persona. It hints at the
moral ambiguity within that demeanor and distinguishes to the audience the aggressor.
Radio-Waves challenges expectations as the aggressor is gender neutral. The person is not
disclosed as a female or male leaving the audience in suspense as there is limited knowledge
of this character. The character has features that could be commonly generalised as
masculine such as its body position. The character maintains a very dominant body position
when looking out over the water, seen through a high angle shot. It expresses the persona to
be authoritative and strong. This only hints at manly attributes although the demeanor is

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never fully identified. This is key to provoking the immediate the question of who this person
is. Usually this character trait is highlighted as a male in thriller genre’s but Radio-Waves
differs as there is an aura of interpretation on the sex of the persona. The main reason behind
this is to add extensive intrigue and ambiguity on the identification of the character, hinting
that it really could be anyone.
Radio-Wave’s camera angles and editing conforms to thriller codes and conventions. High
angle shots are used to convey the aggressor as having the ultimate power in the situation,
and low angle shots are used to show the powerless state the victim is in. These are the
normal representations seen in this genre showing how Radio-waves relatively fits into this
theme. Also the editing of the shots to minimize saturation of colour and accentuating the
colour blue.
The main mood portrayed in Radio-Waves is melancholy, there is an underlying feeling of
sadness in the trailer which hints at distress as it digresses. As the camera shots show the
victim dead it changes the mood to tragic as it gives a sense of injustice. This is visually
communicated through the editing, camera angles and costume. They all combine together to
display a sense of despair towards the victim as she is highlighted through these devices as
innocent and powerless.
Radio-Waves suggests two different social groups, innocent sane victims and in contrast to
mentally instable and haunting aggressors. This hints to the divide in society of mental
health, it represents the difference between a moral and immoral human. The extreme
juxtaposition between the two personas highlights this as the victim shows the purity and
goodness expected in a person compared to the darkly portrayed terroriser. The terroriser
displays the bad in society and the unraveling of a demeanors integrity and humanity. This is
proved through the link between the radio host’s voice reporting the death and the
antagonist holding the Radio. This correlates the violence that occurred to that specific
person. Overall linking the act of drowning the girl to the mental person on the beach.

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It shows the social issue of victimization, it portrays taking advantage of good intentioned
people and committing horrific actions against them. It exposes abuse against innocence as it
portrays the difference in good and bad.
Radio-Waves has the underlining message of mental health. The girl suggests the ideal
human of perfect and peaceful wearing a white dress, hinting to sanity. Differing to the
costume representation of the antagonist who displays all the anger and sketchy behaviour in
society. The extreme characterisation of the two demeanors further shows how society
believes there is only two mind frames; good or bad. Radio-Waves exposes this as the two
characters fit perfectly into society's expectations. The almost predictability of the opening
further highlights the stereotypes of mental health embedded in society.