1. Q1.In what ways does your
Media product use develop or
challenged forms and
conventions?
Marlyn Ukah - Media Evaluation
2. Does my product follow the conventions of a
thriller?
• Yes, I believe my thriller follows the conventions of a
thriller. Within Thrillers, it is common to have low key
lighting, quick edit movements, slow non-diegetic
sound that builds up tension and including upsetting
themes. I believe diegetic and non diegetic sounds have
been used in my thriller as well as including the use of
low key lighting throughout most of the product to
create mystery and suspense around my narrative. The
edits are also unique to ensure that my narrative
further creates tension and excitement. Some of my
cinematography is also conventional of a thriller as it
creates anticipation around her character.
3. Generic conventions of a thriller…
Iconography
• In most thrillers, I found that there are guns and blood and
sometimes drugs involved which are used to make the audience feel
in an upsetting way. Although this use of iconography is
conventional to thrillers, we developed it by using a doll that
provides our anti-hero with comfort. This is because I wanted to
follow Barthes's theory of connotations as the doll provides an
understanding that our females is a vulnerable character so they
sympathise with her.
You can see my product on the right
using a doll which develops the uses of
iconography.
4. Following conventions of opening credits.
From my research I found that credits for thrillers were generally
white and looked quite mysterious by being skinny and small in size. I
liked this idea and decided that is how I wanted my credits to look.
Below is a comparison of how I used and developed conventions of
credits and typography.
CREDITS
We developed is slightly as
we used a softer look on our
credits, but we still kept it in
the white and black colour
scheme to add a bit of
tension. The titles font has
clarity within it, as well as
some chill as it fades into the
black.
5. Characters
• In out thriller we used one character which is the female
victim who is mentally unstable. This is conventional to a
psychological thriller as it is expected for a victims to be
young and unpredictable. This character also challenges
conventions as her actions can be perceived as evil and
putting others in danger, however overall the character
is conventional as she creates emotions from the
audience. Further to this, she is white, of the female
gender and has dark hair with pale skin which is another
thing I found from my research that I wanted to develop.
Similarities
between two
anti-hero types
characters
shows how I
used
conventions.
6. Cinematography
• We used a lot of quick panning shots which shows
the characters unstable behaviour. And shows that
is capable of committing danger which makes the
audience feel uneasy about her actions.
• We also used high angles from a cameras point of
view looking down at the victim. This shows that
she is vulnerable and is in danger. This was a
common feature in thriller films.
• Furthermore we used close ups of the victims face
to show that she is emotionally unstable and her
facial expressions are clearly unstable.
7. Editing
• We used fast pace editing to build tension for the
audience and support the characters instability and to
create excitement for the audience.
• We used a reaction shot to show that the characters
emotions and her reacting to the baby and her mental
state. This was developed from my analysis of
‘Psycho’.
• We also used a number of transitions to help create
mystery around our female character at the stage
where she is first introduced as there is uncertainty
around her representation amongst the audience. We
used ideas like lots of Jump cuts, adding colour and
blur in the images slightly to enhance this effect.
• Overall, we used and developed conventional editing
techniques in order to ensure our victim was
Using and developing a reaction
shot
8. Sound
Sound is used and developed well within my thriller. Some
of my best examples are;
Non-diegetic sound was used during the scenes when the
victim was running down the stairs causing tension for the
audience. It sounds slow, mysterious and eerie to connote
feelings of danger to occur.
There's is on screen sound when the victim is outside and
there is traffic, making the audience feel like the anti-hero
could be in danger, this creates sympathy.
9. Mise en scene: costume and body language
• The costume of the victim is her is her pyjamas
showing that she has been staying at the hospital for a
while. Pyjamas connote feelings of innocence which is
what I wanted to create. The colour of her costume
are very feminine and varies from white to light pink
making her look vulnerable and delicate to the
audience. This is another area I feel I have used
conventions of existing products.
• In terms of her body language, the whole way
through she looks scared and confused which makes
the audience pity her.
• You can see from the images how my character at the
top is similar to females from existing thrillers.
10. Mise En scene: lightening and colour
• Through the production, we have used low key lighting to add
tension and drama to the narrative, especially at the start when we
are first introduced to the female character. We used a lot of low key
lighting that which will create a dramatic effect as it connotes fear
and darkness. This is used in most thriller films to create add a dark
mood to the scene therefore as a group we decided to use this.
11. Themes • In our thriller we decided to use a number of themes to ensure that we
would get the best response from our audience and to make sure we
followed conventions of thriller films.
• The theme of identity is evident in the thriller as the female
character is lost and doesn’t know where to go and what do with her baby.
• We also see the theme of isolation as throughout the product she is alone
looking for shelter and somewhere, where she can find comfort and
protection.
• I believe that using these themes allows the audience to feel sympathy for
our female character which is something I was hoping to achieve, to
ensure I was following Aristotle's theory of evoking emotion through
themes.
Similar use of
themes from
existing products.
12. Using and developing theories
• I believe that my thriller uses and develops conventions of existing media
products largely due to the way I incorporated media themes within my
narrative.
• Barthes: I have used Barthes theory of semiology as various conventions in
my thriller create meaning for my audience. My best examples of this are
the doll, the pyjamas worn by the female and the colour of her costume.
• Aristotle: I have evoked emotion through themes by drawing upon
sensitive issues such as identity and isolation. This will have a lasting effect
on my audience which is what I want.
• Todorov: This is the only area I feel I have developed slightly. Todorov
discusses a clear start, middle and end which my narrative does have,
however at times it is not always clear until you hear sound added.
