My response to question 1 media evaluation

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

2. Our films follows the conventions of thriller/stalker
films in that we have a lone male predator stalking
an innocent women. This could be said to be
stereotypical of stalker films. We also followed the
idea that this stalking began due to a relationship
break up leaving the male character angry and
upset. Our film could be said to be similar to that of
“Peeping Tom”, in which a number of women are
stalked by a single man.
Male Stalking Female

3. Use of Camera Shots
Our trailer could also be said to follow the conventions
of thriller/stalker films as we use a number of point of
view shots. This technique is effective as it allows the
audience to feel as if it is them stalking the victim
rather than just a character on screen. This shot is
similar to that of one used in the film “Enduring Love”
in which on a number of occasions we see the victim
through the eyes of the stalker.

4. Time of Day
One way in which our trailer could be said to go
against the conventions of a thriller/stalker films is
that ours takes place in broad daylight in the
middle of a busy high street. This is unlike a large
number of stalker films which tend to take place in
darkness in places more commonly associated
with stalking such as alleyways or graveyards. The
effectiveness of ours taking place in the day is that
it is creepier as the middle of a high street
surrounded by people is where someone may feel
most comfortable, so by having them stalked
there, I believe it increases the scare factor of the
trailer. Our trailer is unlike the film “Fear” where
almost all stalking takes place at night.

5. Costume of Character
The costume in which our villain is wearing in our
trailer could be said to be following the conventions
of a thriller/stalker film. He is dressed in all black.
This is common in stalker films as they usually take
place at night, the stalker blends into the darkness
adding to the tension. Although we were filming ours
in daytime it was important our stalker still looked
mysterious and threatening by wearing all black. In
the film “Obsessed” the villain is seen to wearing a
black suit, but only after his relationship with his love
interest has broken down, much like our character.

6. Poster
Our poster could be said to follow the conventions of posters in
the thriller/stalker genre for a number of reasons. In our poster
we have used mainly black and white with the only colour being
on our protagonists hair. This use of black and white is similar to
the poster for “Cape Fear”, a film which is similar to ours. This
use of limited colour I believe is effective because it emphasises
the dark underlying feeling of the trailer. Black and white are
seen to be mysterious colours and we felt that if our poster was
to be bright and colourful it may convey the wrong message
about what kind of trailer we are going for. We also followed
conventions by putting a quote about our film and using a tag
line. These were important as in my opinion they made our
poster look more professional.

7. Magazine Cover There are a number of ways in which our magazine
follows the conventions used by films on covers.
We chose to use “So Film” magazine because we
felt the kind of genre film that usually features on
there are similar to ours. We noticed a number of
conventions of So Film such as the text in a bubble
and the advertisement of other films around the
poster. It was important to follow these as it would
give our magazine an air of professionalism. We
took conventions from the layout of “So Film” such
as the barcode in the bottom right hand corner, the
use of actors above the So Film logo and the added
information under the main text and using a “+”
sign. By following all of these conventions I believe
our finished poster looks realistic as oppose to If
we hadn’t followed the conventions of the
magazine, which would have then looked less
professional.
Planning
Rough Cut
Finished product