This document discusses the conventions of the thriller genre that were used in a student media project. It describes including a range of lighting levels to create different moods, using jump cuts to build suspense without identifying a main protagonist. Tension music was used but had to be adjusted to keep the viewer engaged. Overall, the project focused on sound and lighting to build suspense and used thriller-style titles to fit the genre.

1. 1. In what way does
your media product use,
develop or challenge
forms and conventions
of real media products?

2. Conventions of thriller
Thriller is a genre filled with suspense and
curiosity, as I have continued to mention in my
previous post.
Conventions of thriller consist of; Diegetic sound,
tension music, changes in angle shots,
protagonist, shadows, low key lighting, montage
of shots.
Protagonist: This is the main person of the
movie, usually known to be the ‘hero’ or the
person who ‘saves the day’. This is also most
common to be known as a man. The man is
known to often achieve the equilibrium.

3. Did we include these
conventions
We had a wide range of lighting, we made sure to
make it dark and light. This reflected on the different
moods expressed by the character. In some shots, I
had to change the lighting with the software, to make
it dark and therefore have an effect of suspense.
In terms of the protagonist, we did not want there to
be a main character, who was on full display. We
wanted this to be a mystery, so the viewers would be
curious as to what the person may look like. This was
really important for use to achieve, as we did not
want it to be a typical thriller opening of a ‘stalker
following someone’. Most thriller openings will set the
scene by introducing at least one protagonist, but we
did not this to be a part of our opening sequence.

4. Range of camera shots:
As I have previously mentioned, Se7en was a
major influence for my group and I. Therefore,
the shots used in that helped us think of different
ways we could portray the kidnapper.
We varied from different shots, from long shots to
close ups, we used close ups to make the scene
more intense and intimidating.

5. Jump Cuts
Thriller movies usually have many jump cuts, this
builds up to suspense and allow the audience to
feel more curious and intimidated.
We had a variety of jump cuts, as we did not
want to include any main characters. We used
jump cuts as way of planning a kidnap and to
represent the different ways the kidnapper is
planning his next kidnap.
This made the opening sequence flow much
easier, the sound also continued and at some
points went with the jump cut of the scene.

6. Tension music
The music was very alerting, we had a range of sound on the
media product. However whilst editing, I wanted to keep the
sound flowing and reoccurring, this is so it could build tension
and a great build up to the ending as the music got louder.
There was a problem trying to make the music flow, I had a
volunteer to view the opening sequence and they suggested
to change the sound, as at one point they ‘lost interest’ in
what was happening, because the sound did not change and
therefore made them bored.
I then went back and tried to change to music without
changing the original track. I took out some of the original
sound and added in ambient sound, so the sound will be
silent and flow at the same time. I then asked them to view it
again, this time they were able to appreciate the effort and
responded with, ‘much better’.

7. Overall
We made sure to focus on the sound and lighting
the most, as thriller usually has a build up of an
event, with the sound that is used.
The titles were also picked out with a thriller
genre, this added a much better effect to the
entire sequence, as the titles were not simple or
boring.
There are many conventions in real media
products and I feel my group and I have
achieved many of theses forms and challenges
of conventions.