Evaluation Question 1

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

From the start of our AS media course, we researched many different thrillers that were of the same genre as what we wanted to create. This ensured that we were able to make the best thriller opening, as we were able to pick out aspects of the already existing media products and chose which conventions we wanted to conform to, and which ones we wanted to convert from.

Looking at what other AS media groups did, we decided to upload our crime thriller opening into the social media platform called YouTube. This is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. This enabled us to appeal to a large audience.

Above is a storyboard of other crime thrillers that I put together. One convention that we decided to conform to was the idea of having a proletariat and protagonist. This creates the typical story line of good versus evil or good versus bad. We wanted to conform to this convention of the crime thriller genre as this is obviously the type of story line that attracts its usual audience for the genre. If we were to go against this convention, we may of lost our audience, as it's quite a crucial part of the crime thriller genre. To replicate this, we had a victim versus the intruder, which reflects real life crime, making it effective and realistic. 

Another aspect of our crime thriller that conformed to the conventions of the genre was our use of a cliff-hanger. Ending our opening just after the victim was taken is a good way to intrigue the audience, and it entices them to keep watching as the possibilities are endless as to how the movie ends. Ending our thriller in this way also cohered to the crime genre as it creates a fast pace atmosphere, which is a good technique to show off to the audience that the rest of this movie won't be boring, and will instead always keep them on the edge of their seat. We achieved this effect by using quick cut shots (cutting from the intruder breaking in, and then to the victim panicking and trying to hide), which ultimately built tension and suspense. One convention of our thriller that we did not conform to was the theme of investigation, we didn't want to create this kind of story line as we knew that it would be difficult and would be hard to find the right location in order to make it look realistic. Additionally, crime scenes usually have many people on site including; forensics, detectives, police officers and more. Because of this, we knew that it would be hard to find that many people to participate and therefore it wouldn't look professional.

In regards to the mise-en-scene, we mainly conformed to the genre in relation to the antagonist. When choosing costumes, we thought it would be best to stick to all black clothing in order to make it obvious to the audience that this was the bad person within the thriller. However, our protagonists clothing also consisted of a black top. This offered and interesting twist for the audience, as it could suggest that maybe the victim isn't so innocent after all. Although we did this, the top was also cropped which exposed the characters midriff, therefore cohering to the typical helpless girl in other crime thrillers. We felt that our choice in costume was both typical and unique, in order to attract our target audience and also offer a different and intriguing thriller.

Our next use of mise-en-scene within the thriller was props. Our antagonist was given a black mask that provided some mystery for the audience. We felt that a mask was effective, and offered a subtle link to other thriller genre's (horror and crime) such as The Purge (2013). We noticed within this movie that the masks kept us intrigued, yet scared; which is how we wanted our own audience to react. In this way, we conformed to the genre. However, one way in which we didn't was because we made the antagonist anonymous. In more modern thrillers such as 'SPLIT', and crime thriller TV series such as 'Criminal Minds', the antagonist is often shown from the beginning. Their face is usually not hidden as this is what makes them so interesting. The fact that this person looks so normal to the audience, when in actual fact they are completely mentally unstable, makes it much more intriguing. We decided to convert from this convention because it makes it clear to the audience that this will always be the bad person (due to the scary mask), therefore the story line will more or less be predictable. Therefore, by giving our antagonist a mask, it meant that the possibilities were endless as to who could be the culprit. The audience will then feel part of the thriller, as they would feel they are investigating it themselves.

Our last use of mise-en-scene was setting. At the beginning of The call (2013), it is filmed within a house. We loosely based our crime thriller on this film opening, as it was very relevant and similar to our own ideas that we wanted to create. Other crime thrillers, such as Taken(2008), was also filmed inside of a house when the main events took place. We decided to conform to this convention in regards to location, as it was a good way to keep the audience interested as they realise that the scary truth of home invasions can really happen to anyone. This helps us attract a large audience of all ages.

One other typical convention of the crime thriller genre that we did not conform to was the use of a male as the main character. Although it looks like a male due to the masculine features on the mask, our actual participant was a female. We wanted to steer away from this convention of the genre because we felt like it was too stereotypical to make the male the antagonist. This gives our thriller a unique twist, and we did this by using a mask that made the character anonymous. This is also similar to other crime thrillers such as 'The Purge'.

In regards to lighting, we mainly conformed to the crime thriller genre. Most existing products of this genre start off light, when things are good, and end dark after the crime has occurred. Examples of this is American Horror Story and Taken. We decided that this would be an effective technique to use within our crime thriller, as it is a good way to make the audience feel part of the film as if they are there too because it looks realistic. Additionally, it is a good way to reflect the events that occur during the light and the dark. Bright lighting would entice the audience to feel safe and happy, whereas dull and dark lighting would enable us to make them feel vulnerable and scared, therefore they are able to connect with the protagonist.

We employed quite a few camera shots, angles and movements within our thriller. When analysing other thriller movies, we noticed a significant  use of the close-up shot. This was effective at focusing on the fear of the victim, whilst also showing the anger and sinister expression on the antagonists face. Overall, this was useful when it came to making an intense scene, as it helps the character make a connection with the audience. The next camera shot that we used was the long-shot. This was effective because it showed the audience the antagonists costume, which was all black with a mask. This inevitably let the audience know that this was a dangerous intruder and helped conform to the crime thriller genre as he was wearing a stereotypical 'bad guy' outfit, therefore giving them the idea that a crime was about to be committed.