IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL

MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Typical Conventions Antagonist hiding from the protagonist.

Dark lighting.

Stalking and so is hidden from sight.

Only small portion of her is shown to keep her shrouded in mystery.

Female antagonist (usually male) is stalking a female protagonist.

Dark black backgrounds making the text stand out and easy to read.

Simple texts so it easy to read and the eyes are drawn to it

Flashing images to make the titling quick paced and exciting.

Close-ups of items to keep a sense of mystery.

Simple small titles that stand out so they can be read but do not draw the eye away from the action.

NarrativeAdheres to the typical conventions of a stalker film. An antagonist is stalking a protagonist and will continue to throughout the film until she is caught.

Stereotypical innocent protagonist. This adheres to typical thriller conventions. This will be developed later on in the film as she is likeable, kind and hasn’t done anything wrong.

Subversion of typical thriller conventions as the lighting is quite bright. This has been done in order to make the action appear more natural and like it could happen to anyone. It has also been done due to practicality as filming is easier and produces better quality footage in daylight.

Female antagonist. Subverts thriller conventions as the antagonist is stereotypically male.

Antagonist not hidden from protagonist. This subverts conventions as usually hidden from sight.

Characters

Our antagonist is female which subverts to the stereotypical male antagonist. She is also wearing normal clothing (with no iconography associated with stalkers e.g. A hooded jumper) which has been chosen to make it an everyday situation.

Unsure of how the stalker got here so fast making a mystery to be solved.

Not wearing the stereotypical light, innocent clothing and so subverts to the traditional representation of a thriller antagonist. Instead she is dressed to represent everyday life and teenagers.

Conventional innocent protagonist. This will be developed later in the film as she is shown to be kind and likeable.

Themes Typical protagonist being stalked by the antagonist while unaware of being in danger, which adheres to thriller conventions.

Typical everyday locations that are public and the actions occur in broad daylight. This subverts to typical conventions as the action usually occurs in dark, secluded places. We have done this in order to make the film seem more believable and feel real. This would make the audience believe that it could happen to them.

Filming Techniques

Dark lighting has been used which is a traditional thriller convention. This cutaway creates tension and suspense for the audience.

Purposefully unsteady handheld point of view shot from the point of view of the antagonist as she follows the protagonist which adheres to the typical thriller convention. This has been used to create tension and suspense.

Rule of thirds and a shallow focus has been used in this shot to draw attention away from the protagonist and to the antagonist which adheres to thriller conventions.

Setting Dark lit room into which the protagonist is entering adheres to the thriller conventions creating a sense of danger.

Thriller convention used here as is a dark figure in a dark attic.

Subversion of the typical thriller convention. The protagonist is stalking in a public place in broad daylight rather than the typical secluded dark place making it appear more believable.

Open, brightly lit setting which subverts to conventions. This typical everyday setting makes the film more realistic for the audience.

Titling Quick flash of these shots. Creates confusion and wonder for the audience as to what it means. Adheres to thriller conventions.

Blurred background with small white titles in the corner. Makes the titles easy to read and still allows the audience to focus on the screen. Adheres to thriller titling convention.

The typography of the titling sequence is simple. The font is easy to read and is located in the bottom corner. It is not too small to read but not to big to dominate the frame meaning that the audience focus on the images rather than the titles.

The typography of the drawn and smudged ‘Hello’ also links slightly into the iconography used in horror.

Title ScreenOur title screen is very similar to that of the thriller film ‘Se7en’. Both have black backgrounds which is a typical thriller convention. This has been done to ensure that the audience focus on the title and that the text is easy to read

The typography of the title screen is simple and clear. The text is large and located in the middle of the screen. The font hints at the thriller genre and is easy to read. The white against the black draws the attention of the audience to the text.

Barthes’ ‘Narrative Codes’We have the action code within our piece. The audience knows that the antagonist is following the protagonist and from this they can deduce that the protagonist is the victim and something bad will happen.

The enigma code has been used to create the mystery of who this figure is and why the antagonist is stalking the protagonist. This grabs the audience’s interest and attention making them what to keep watching so that they know what happens and how the enigma is solved as the narrative progresses.

We used the code of oppositions within our lighting. We used the light, exterior shots which contrasts with the dark, interior shots. This has been done to emphasise the contrast between the natural everyday setting and the more sinister attic shots.

Sound The only dialogue in the film piece is the word ‘hey’ that is said at the very beginning at 00:02. This has been done to show the interaction between the antagonist and protagonist which further shows that the two know each other, creating a mystery. There is no other interaction between characters as the two are not seen together again, nor are with anyone else.

Much of the film just has diegetic sound with no other music. From 00:00 to 00:08, the only sound is of the wind and cars. From 00:22 to 01:24, it is again just diegetic sound. This is to make the action appear realistic and not too tense. The sound of the bang occurs at 00:48. This has been done to start the story. As the sound is off screen, and therefore non-diegetic, it creates suspense and suspicion for the audience.

The music begins at 00:08 when the antagonist turns around and starts to follow the protagonist and fades out at 0:22 as the protagonist walks towards her home. This has been done as the music creates the suspense that started when the protagonist started getting followed.

At 01:24 the titles start and the music begins at 01:26. It starts with thuds before moving on to discordant sounds. This matches the blurred and quickly flashing images on screen. This has been done to create confusion and mystery. The music reaches a crescendo as the title screen pops up and fades out at 02:01.

Mise-en-sceneThe locations that we chose were Eastwood Park and a house. These were chosen for the fact that they are public and that they are normal locations. This makes the film more believable and the audience can relate to the settings more easily.

The protagonist is shown to be doing very normal activities. She is walking through a park and later watches television. This has been done to make the character to be normal and this means that the audience can relate to her more easily. On the other hand, the antagonist is shown to be following the protagonist and to be lurking in houses. This makes her appear creepier than if she was doing ordinary things. This builds tension and raises suspicions towards this character.

The lighting in the piece is very simple. Some shots have bright lighting and are exterior shots. Others are dark interior shots. These binary opposites allow the audience to know when the sinister action is about to occur – when the lighting is darker. The bright shots indicate to the audience that the action can happen in broad daylight as well as night.

Camera Shots and AnglesA two-shot of the antagonist and protagonist in the park at the beginning has been used to establish a relationship between the two. It alerts the audience that the two know each other and that the victimisation of the protagonist is not random.

We used an establishing shot (that also included the characters) to set the scene for the audience. The first shot was of a public park which shows the audience that the action occurs in the daylight and public spaces which is a countertype of the traditional media conventions.

We used a hand-held, point of view shot when the antagonist is following the antagonist down the street. This was done to make the action appear immediate which creates tension and suspense for the audience.

We used the rule of thirds, along with a shallow focus, in the shot where the protagonist is being followed by the antagonist. This draws the attention away from the protagonist and to the antagonist. This makes her seem more unnatural and so it creates a ‘thrill’ for the audience as they watch the protagonist in danger.

ConclusionThe opening of ‘Hello’ uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real thriller film in a variety of different ways including the use of setting, lighting and characters.

The main way that our film challenges the forms and conventions of a thriller film is through the use of a female antagonist. An antagonist is typically male as they are stereotypically seen as more intimidating and dangerous. We have challenged this typical convention of the male antagonist by using a female instead.

The piece uses forms and conventions of thriller films in the main titling such as quick, blurred shots and small white titles. It also uses the idea of an innocent protagonist as do most thriller films.

The film develops some forms and conventions such as the lighting used. Some shots are dark while others are light. This develops typical forms and conventions as it uses the typical dark thriller lighting but combines it with the lighter lighting.