Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

When evaluating our film we considered the forms and conventions of the thriller genre:

Mise-en-scene – dark/night time, domestic setting of house, domestic items e.g.. Phone, TV, kitchen facilities.Characters – hero, villain, victim.Narrative – battle between good and evil, rescueThemes – Supernatural, death, violence Camera work – close up to show facial expression in moments of tension, long/ establishing shots to show setting, low angles to make villain appear powerful and high angles to show vulnerability of victim.Editing – straight cuts, some continuity - some jump cuts, flashes, fades…Sound – diegetic: screams, creaking door, heartbeat, footsteps, non-diegetic sound track may be fast to match action in the scene

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

The conventions of a short thriller should promote these ideas: Intense excitement, suspense, high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened

expectations, uncertainty, anxiety and nerve wrecking tension.

Setting:The setting of most existing short thriller products is fairly simple but it creates the impact of tension for the viewer. The simplicity gives away nothing to the viewer. The settings are normally set within a single room or a domestic setting. The idea of pathetic fallacy usually enhances a plot by adding tension. When researching other types of film for example feature films we found that the settings they used were too elaborate for the thriller we wanted to make. Feature films had settings such as; forests/woods. We actually decided to use a more domestic setting for our thriller to try to relate to our audience. We thought that the viewer would be able to visualise and become more involved with the film if they could relate to a setting they are used to.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Props:The props that are usually used are everyday objects. Objects such as; telephones, computers and picture frames. They are usually stereotypical objects for wherever the film is located. The props within short films aren’t as revealing as the plot of the story (enigma coding) however; the props can act as hints throughout the film. In our film we try to limit our props and we used props that could be related to our setting because we thought that this convention was key to a short film. This convention was one that we felt we need to follow because most all the short films we looked followed this convention and made the films very successful in terms of realism.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Characters:When looking at characters and specific characters we have to consider the stereotypical characters that can be found in short films. Characters can be split into groups or types, types such as; hero, helper, villain, monster, victim. We included in our product a villain and victim.

A stereotypical Villain is normally male, or a large stature and a shady character whom is not to be trusted. In trying to create our villain we enigma coded these aspects and our preferred meaning of this is the element of the unknown about the character. Throughout the film you never see the face or the identity of the stalker until the very end when only; parts of the face are revealed.

We constructed an element of mystery to the villainous character. We also took the idea of having a victim but in our film the victim is a mother and a child. Most stereotypical victim is vulnerable women.

We choose to use a mother as she would be more likely to protect the child who could be seen as the typical vulnerable character but in our film the mother almost acts as the protector from the vulnerability. We can say that we kind of broke the conventions because we had the two characters.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Evaluation

These things can be analysed when looking at conventions of a thriller poster:

Film title: a thriller film title has to be suspicious and add mystery/ reflect the film content/ plot. With our film title we considered similar titles and then decided on things like ‘The Uninvited’ ‘The Unidentified’ ‘The Unknown’ but these have all been used before and normally with a new film it is called something that people haven’t heard off and not another films title. Anonymity is different and has not been used before. It also means anonymous and adds suspicion and freight to our film. You can tell from this title that this is going to be a thriller film and that something bad is going to happen in it. This may make the viewer want to see it. On our poster, the title is in the middle for various reasons. This is because it has to be easily identified and easily remembered, allowing the viewer to have it in there head and go and see it.

An image (either from the film or of main actors/ actresses): the picture on our poster was carefully selected. Our ‘door’ picture adds an element of freight, the door being open and having leaves on the floor may suggest that something bad is going to happen/has already happened. This image had been taken from our film and is the same front door as featured in our clips. This shows continuity and also may make the viewer watch it more.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Evaluation

Name of directors and actors (usually at the top of the film poster): we went against the conventions when choosing where to put the production credits. We put them at the bottom, allowing the image to be seen clearly and not to block any major features. The actor’s names are in slightly bigger writing than the rest of the credits, allowing the reader to see clearly and easily who’s in the film. The production companies logos were made by ourselves, allowing us to make up names and symbols for them, adding to the realness of the poster.

A film tag (usually under the title): Our film tag ‘There’s much you don’t know in this world…’ makes the reader think about the possibilities of what might happen in the film, this could be the main part for example, the stranger coming into the house and not knowing who he is. It hints at the plot and adds suspicion again to the film. The reader may then feel worried for the characters or want to know what happens to them

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Evaluation

Colours: In the conventions, the colours of red, black and white. These may suggest white for innocence, black for mystery and red for death. The colours of the poster are mainly dark, suggesting eeriness and suspense. They are quite dull and bland and may connote that it is a normal domestic setting and not a glorified sci-fi setting.

Layout (usually the image takes up the majority of the film poster) We followed conventions and picked one major still image to represent our film. It makes a bold statement and draws the reader to the picture. The fact the title is in the middle is also conventional of other posters, allowing the reader to see clearly what the name of the film is.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Evaluation

Columns - The text within a film review is set out in columns, this organises the writing into a structure, making it look a lot more presentable to the reader. Image - An image from the film in action is usually taken and printed on to a film review. This makes it look more eye catching and is the element of the review that attracts the reader to the film; making them want to see it. Headline - The main heading of a review immediately alerts the reader of what it is about. It makes them aware of the name of the film and usually, by the name of the film, people decide whether they would like to see it.

We used columns which structured our review and made it look neat and presentable.

The headline we used for the review stood out and made the name of the film very apparent.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms, conventions of real media products?

Evaluation

Name of director For big budget films, usually produced by well known, experienced directors this is a good way of attracting the right audience. If an individual recognises the director’s names for other successes then the reader is guaranteed a good film. Name of main actorsThis is partially for the same reason as the director’s name being there. If a reader recognises a name from a previous success, or knows what the person’s work is like, then again they are almost guaranteed a good piece of film. Release date-The release date is a common convention of any film review. It alerts the reader of when the film is coming out, enabling them to go and watch it as soon as it does come out, attracting many people. Rating-The rating of the film, is one of the most significant elements of a film review. This tells the reader how good the film is. The rating is out of five stars, with a five star rating being the best. If film has been rated three or above stars, then the reader will know that the film is usually good.

• We included all of the conventions to the left to give it a true sense of realism. We decided to put them at the top to capture the readers attention immediately.

• I looked at various other film reviews as part of my research, in order to follow the

typical stereotype.