Media Studies AS evaluation

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Evaluation Josie Askem

2. NARRATIVE
Barthes theory stated that one of the narrative code used in media products
is hermeneutic codes. This means the audience is presented with
enigmas and will tend to ask questions about each enigma. In all the
psychological thrillers we looked at, a common convention that occurred in
the openings were the use of hermeneutic codes. In our opening we
included many hermeneutic codes. The most asked question being
"Why are they playing Russian Roulette?"

3. LIGHTING
We used mainly low key lighting in our final construction, and a small
amount of chiaroscuro. Many of the openings we looked at , especially
Se7en and The Secret Window, used low key lighting, so therefore we
included it in our product for most of our shots. This means the light
reflects off of the main subject and the background is almost
all darkness.

4. MUSIC
Most of the sound in psychological thrillers appeared to be non-diegetic.
We used dramatic, disjointed music in our product with added sound
effects. This made our sounds similar to those used in the film, Se7en.
Although we went along with most of the conventions that we found, we
went against having a voice over, which is used in both The Prestige and
The Secret Window.

5. MISE EN SCENE
A common convention that we found, is to not actually include a
physical weapon, but to lead the reader to believe the killers mind is the
real weapon. However, in our product, we did include a gun which
features heavily in our opening.
The set we used was ambiguous, in a dark room. Yet in the openings
that we observed, you can clearly see the location despite it having low
key lighting.
For the costume, the man wears a suit, which is similar to the costuming
of the protagonist in Momento.

6. EFFECTS
In our product, we added effects such as a rewind effect over some of
our shots to make our piece look distorted , and to disorientate the reader
slightly. Similarly, in the opening of Momento the whole thing is reversed
which is there to confuse the reader.
Another effect we added was making some shots in bad quality, and some
of them out of order – this is seem in many psychological thrillers as the
aim is to confuse the reader.

7. TYPOGRAPHY
For the credits we created, we used a white font on black background.
The font we used resembled a typewriter. Over the top of this, we
added a shaky effect, creating tension. This is similar to the style of the
credits to Se7en, the only main difference is that in Se7en, the font is
like it is handwritten.
Ours Vs Se7en