Evaluation Question 1

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

2. Our media product, a film, predominantly follows conventions found in real films of the same genre. We decided to create a hybrid
genre of horror and thriller so it was essential for us to include conventions from both genres.
In the films hat we researched such as ‘The Cabin In The Woods’ and ‘The Purge’, they all followed conventional mannerisms,
particularly focusing on the use of camera shots. Our research dictated that most films from the thriller genre implemented the use
of high-angle wide shots during moments of mystery and uncertainty. The purpose of this is to give the audience indication about
concepts of the films or portray the attitudes of certain characters.
Above we have included a shot from ‘The Manor’s Yard’ on the left and a shot from our film. In terms of their purpose, they have
been used very similarly. In both shots, a new character was being introduced to the film. ‘The Manor’s Yard’ is a British thriller and
just like other thrillers, uses wide shots for a new character and interacting with their surroundings to foreshadow the intentions of
the new character. The effect this has is to allow the audience to assess how this new character’s attitudes and motives ay affect
the story. The way we followed this convention is by allowing the friend in our film , ‘David’, to be introduced by coming through a
school hallway through the use of a wide shot. He also is seen carrying a tool box to assist the protagonist, ‘Jamil, removing the
evidence of the murder of the teacher, ‘Mr Romanov’. Additionally, during moments of mystery and uncertainty, we used high
angle wide shots with the focused character framed in the centre of the screen; such as when our protagonist was waiting for his
mate to break into a room. We decided to use wide shots just like in other thrillers to reinforce the idea that the protagonist was
uncertain about the unforeseen future because there would be so much of the environment in the background that the character
on-screen would only be a miniscule proportion in the frame.
However, we used this convention to portray David as a character who initially is a character who is identified as helping the
protagonist but then develops as someone who slows him down. We foreshadowed this by having the camera panned still and
having David bombard through the hallway in an assertive manner. He also speaks minimally and asks a lot of questions which
slows down the intentions of the protagonist. In evaluation, by following the thriller convention of introducing a character using a
wide shot, we believe we were able to effectively show the audience that this new character could be a threat to the protagonist.

3. Additionally, we consistently used panning over-the shoulder shots for the antagonist (the teacher). This is a common convention
used in horror movies and its purpose is to show a character's their perspective. We can learn how the character reacts to certain
stimulus and breakthroughs. In our film, we used the convention of over-the-shoulder shots similarly by using the over-the-shoulder
shots for the antagonist to foreshadow some parts of the film.
We minimally expose the antagonist’s identity as it would make the story more intense in the latter stages of the film. Also, using
over-the-shoulder has the effect of showing the perspective of that character. This was very effective because we liked to
challenge how we foreshadowed stages of the film by including unpredictable turning points. By doing this, we made the film more
suspense and would retain the interest of the audience.
A convention that we conformed to which is found in both thriller and
horror genres is thoughtful mise-en-scene. It can reveal identities of
primary characters and their personality/attitudes. We was inspired to
do this from a thriller called ‘V for Vendetta'. Our example of this is by
presenting some of our characters. Our protagonist, the student, wore
a big coat and often wore his hood on as well as having his ID tag
hanging out of his back pocket. We did this because it shows the
students attitude to his education. He wore very informal clothing
which shows he is very confrontational and likes to break the rules
which really is shown when he is expressing his emotions. The fact
that the student usually keeps his hood on to show that he is wary of
his surroundings.

4. We also conformed to the conventions of thriller for our magazine review page. Most magazine review pages for
thriller films follow common conventions. Some we used for our film poster was the use of a big and clear heading
for the name of the film underneath a huge image of part of the film. The effect of this is to portray the setting of the
film and advertise it. We also included simple conventions such as basic film information, a catchy one-liner and a
verdict section including a critic review. However we did challenge some conventions. Big production companies are
well known around the world and their business ID is not usually included in the magazine review page. However we
included a logo of our production company, Hurricane Pictures, because it would help to expose their work and form
a recognition with the movie.

5. For our film poster, we both conformed and challenged conventions from other thriller posters. For example, most thriller films are
based around action and intense plot drama but surprisingly keep their posters simple, such as Oblivion. They usually including
bright backgrounds with minimal objectionable distractions. However, we decided to challenge this. By making the poster gloomy
and having the setting of the film within the poster (a picture of the school). The effect this had on our poster was portraying that
both our character were trapped within the school’s limits and were ‘always there’. Having just two people in an isolated atmosphere
promotes mystery and uncertainty. Our poster challenged the conventions of normal thriller posters because we featured key mise-
en-scene features within such as focus on characters, costume and environment. In spite of this, we still conformed to the simple
conventions of thriller posters by including the name of our film with a release date. We decided to keep it simple and not include
some conventions of other thriller posters such as including the names of our actors because they are conventionally used toattract
audiences due to high-profile actors starring in their films, which we do not have.