This document analyzes the use of conventions from the thriller genre in a student film project. It provides screenshots and evaluates the use of conventions like low key lighting, shadows, flashbacks, quick cuts, camera angles, and psychological manipulation between characters. Overall, the document concludes that while some conventions like lighting and flashbacks worked effectively, others such as character development and dialogue could have been improved.

1. Daniel Rayson
Media Evaluation
Task number 1, stills of thriller conventions:
To the left is a screen grab from the later part of our
opening thriller sequence. A convention we have employed
here is the style of lighting (low key lighting) which is classic
by other thriller movies. It is dim lit creating an eerie and
unnerving feel within the location that the character Nate is
in, it adds a feel of danger to the viewer, as it isn’t as clear
to what is on the screen and can confuse them. I think it
worked well within the scene we was shooting and gave the
effect of confusion and danger we was hoping to achieve.
To the right is a screen grab from the dialogue between the
character Nate (inset) and our other character Lucas. A
convention we have aimed to use here was a use of
shadows which is closely linked to lighting. It is convention
used by many thrillers, and I believe an effective one.
Shadows can be used to represent an inner darkness within
a person, and they can also add to eeriness and tension that
is being created. I think we used this convention effectively
as we know Nate has locked away a dark secret within him
that Lucas is trying to find out. It makes him look menacing
and can throw questions to the audience like ‘Is he the
antagonist?’
To the left is a screen grab which is a flashback in Nate’s
memory which occurs during the dialogue scene between Nate
and Lucas. The convention we have put to use here is
flashbacks which are commonly used within thrillers linked to
memory and things which have occurred in the past. Flashbacks
contribute to a sense of time and space disorientation which
causes more confusion to the audience. It is also a common
convention because it can give insight into to a characters past
building up the audiences understanding of them, although this
can be used as a red herring and lead the audiences perception
of the character down the wrong path. Overall I think our use
of flashbacks work well building up tension in our thriller and
also making the thriller interesting to watch by breaking up the
long parts of dialogue.

2. Daniel Rayson
To the left are two separate screen grabs which are within the
thriller actually two consecutive shots to show the use of the
next convention with have employed which is the use of quick
cuts. This is a convention frequently used by thrillers when the
tension is building to make it faster paced and intense. I think it
worked well within our thriller as it opens showing shots of
props around the house which if they were slow would be
boring whereas by making them quick shots keeps it interesting.
I think this convention has worked well with our thriller
increasing the pace of the thriller and also adding to the
building of the tension.
To the right is a screen shot of the convention of using
different camera angles. This is a convention used in all
films and not just the thriller genre although it does have
profound effect within thrillers as a low angle shot like the
one demonstrated to the right can show that someone has
power, which within our thriller the audience would
presume that Lucas does based on his smart dress therefore
this camera angle helps to reinforce this view. This
convention could have been employed more to show the
power basis within our thriller opening but where it was
used I think it worked well.
To the left is a screen shot I have taken of the dialogue
between our two characters Nate and Lucas the
convention that we have used here is specific to the type
of thriller we was going for which is a psychological
thriller. This can be where the characters are preying
upon each other’s minds, they could be playing deceptive
mind games or trying to destroy the others mental state.
Within our thriller Lucas (to the left) is trying to retrieve a
memory which Nate has locked away within his mind,
this memory seems to be the key to getting justice.
Overall I think this convention worked okay as it was the
type of thriller we was trying to achieve. It could have
been better if we had thought about the dialogue more
and scripted it with better terminology present within it
and also made it more obvious to the audience who the
character of Lucas is.