Evaluation Q1&2

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP
OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS AS WELL AS
REPRESENT PARTICULAR
SOCIAL GROUPS ?

2. EFFECTS
Psychological Thrillers are usually bundled with effects in the opening sequence and
used scarcely throughout the rest of the film. So we followed this convention. The
type of effects used are to confuse, entice or distract the viewer.
Memento, for example, is shot completely in reverse for the sole purpose of
enticing and 'disorientating' the viewer to the diegesis. We followed this convention
to distort our opening and interest the viewer.
Another common convention is to have some shot edited to look bad quality, like that
of an old television losing signal. We did this on many shots within half a second and
scattered them throughout our construction to give the reading of heightened
tension. The way we edited those shots are very stereotypical of a horror thriller,
however we felt it worked very well for our piece

3. CASTING
Typically in a Psychological Thriller, the main character 'goodie' is male and roughly
middle aged and there are many examples for this - Se7en (Brad Pitt and Morgan
Freeman), Secret Window (Johnny Depp) and Memento (Guy Pearce), just to name a few.
We challenged this convention by casting a young female for our main role which we feel
would appeal to a younger audience more than usual and as to a more female population
Our piece may first show the female as weak and the male more stereotypically
dominant, by the end of the construction it shows the female as the one in control
physically, this is countertypical of the general view of females. The point that females
are not as weak as the hegemonic view suggests, is the preferred reading from our piece.

4. LIGHTING
Lighting is a very important part of our (and practically all) productions to enhance
the tension and emotion created through the performance of the actors. It is
stereotypical to use low-key and chiaroscuro lighting in psychological thrillers. We
followed this convention to give a connotative meaning to the intentions of both our
protagonists. The preferred reading then becomes about truth and trust

5. MISE EN SCENE
When it comes to weapon props; it is a common convention for the killer to only have his
mind to use as a weapon and use of their intelligence to break down and the main
character in order to expose them and attempt to destroy them. We decided not to follow
this convention, despite it being very good for the narrative, as we needed to convey the
seriousness and power of both protagonists in such a short space of time to entice the
viewer and display many of Bhart's hermeneutic and proairetic codes .
The location was that of a dark room, a common convention, but this was beneficial to us
also as it was easy to acquire and it adds to the suspense and mystery thrown on the
viewer from the first shot.
For psychological thrillers, the convention on costume is either smart of casual. We
developed this with our main protagonists in contrasting costume (male; smart suit and
female; 'hoops and hoodie') in a way to convey the difference in social classes as well as
the power and effect each can have on each other