This document analyzes the key conventions of thriller films that are used in a media product. It discusses the conventional features including the protagonist as a detective investigating clues, the antagonist as a wanted murderer portrayed as menacing. The main themes of crime, revenge and panic are typical of thrillers. While the setting of a library challenges conventions, the empty space creates unease. Iconography like weapons and tense music also conform to thriller tropes. The enigma centers around identifying the killer and motive, aligning with crime thriller questions. In several ways, the media product adheres to typical thriller conventions while also challenging the stereotypical setting.

1. Evaluation Question 1:
‘In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?’

3. Conventional Features of a Thriller
Film
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Protagonist
Antagonist
Themes
Setting
Iconography
Visual style
Enigmas

4. Protagonist
The protagonist in our thriller is a
detective, which is a conventional type
of character to be seen usually in
thriller films such as ‘Prisoners’. He is
researching information and looking
for clues to lead him to finding the
wanted murderer. This is also typical
as it is portraying him as perhaps the
hero trying to solve the problem. His
costume is typical of what you would
see a detective wearing: rench coat,
suit and props including detective
badge, papers and notebook are iconic
props of the detective and crime
genre.
This image is from Prisoners of Jake Gyllenhaal the detective

5. Antagonist
The antagonist in our thriller is the
‘wanted’ murderer. This type of
character is conventional for thrillers.
His stance and facial expression makes
him look menacing. The costume
choice of dark and black clothes are
also stereotypical of serial killers in
thriller films.

6. Themes
The main theme of crime is shown
throughout the thriller. This is shown
with the investigation the protagonist
is doing, emphasising that it’s a crime
being solved. When the camera shows
the extreme close ups of the words on
the poster it seems the antagonist is
perhaps repeating a murder or
wanting revenge on the protagonist as
the words used in the poster are
representing what is happening at the
present moments. There is a sense of
panic when the detective looks around
the room once he has heard a noise. In
a conventional thriller these themes of
crime, revenge, panic and repetition
are common and our thriller is
conventional in this way.

7. Setting
The conventional settings in thrillers
are typically locations such as police
stations, abandoned areas etc. Our
action takes place in a library where
the protagonist is doing detective
work. This is not conventional of
thrillers however, we chose this
location as it suits with the role of the
detective investigating. This challenges
the conventions of stereotypical
thrillers however there is no one else
in the library giving the sense of an
eeriness and the feeling he is in a large
empty library.

8. Iconography
The iconography throughout the
thriller is very conventional. Typically
there are weapons in thrillers and in
ours we chose a knife which belongs to
the antagonist. The leather gloves
could give the idea that he has killed
people before (despite the fact we
know because of the ‘wanted’ poster)
and he is hiding his identity suggesting
he has something to hide.
This image represents the tense music
at this specific point in particular. The
sharp loud crescendo music
emphasises the panic or suspense that
the footage shows. In this particular
point in the thriller the camera tilts up
to the antagonists feet and as we see
the feet the sound increases. Sounds
like this are iconic of thrillers.

9. Visual style
The thriller is in black and white which
gives it an overall tone and style that it
is set in the past. The books on the
shelves in the opening give a historical
tone.
In the film ‘Fracture’ the antagonist is
shown in a similar light as the one I
used in my thriller. The contrast and
higher brightness editing makes this
moment stand out particularly as an
important part of the film.
This photo shows the antagonist in Fracture

10. Enigma
There are various questions of mystery
that our thriller wants the audience to
find out throughout the plot. At the
start the feet at the top of the stairs
makes us want to find out who he is
and why he is there. When the
antagonist is stood behind the
protagonist we finally see his face
matches the poster and the question
of who's feet they are is answered. The
conventional enigma in a crime thriller
is that of wanting to find out who the
killer is and why he is killing the
protagonist. Our thriller fits with these
conventions.