In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In my Thriller Opening I have stuck to many conventions that have been widely used in Media worldwide. These are made up of four main aspects: mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and editing. I have used a wide variety of angles to allow the audience to gain perspective of the set, and show the different aspects of the mise-en-scene. I also chose to use a soundtrack, as it would build suspense. However, a convention typically used to create the most tension in media (especially thriller and horror) is silence. I didn't want to have a typical 'jump moment' during my opening as I found it would be anticipated by the audience and therefore less effective. I decided that it would have more of an impact to have the 'jump moment' at the end of my opening, after the title fades. This would mean that the audience would be less suspecting of it, and the tension they had built throughout the piece would have just started to diffuse. It would catch them off guard, therefore creating a more dramatic and effective 'jump moment.'
Clip from 'Marathon Man' |
Clip from 'Hide and Seek' |
Clip from my Thriller Opening
I have followed a very common convention that it often used in Hollywood films. When concerning a torture, the antagonist will lay out several instruments, and will build suspense through the selecting of the weapon. I have made sure to incorporate this typical convention into my thriller opening. I have also put in the stroking of the hammer, as it is a phallic symbol, and shows the mans power. It makes the antagonist seem threatening and sadistic, and also adds a sexual aspect to the kidnap, letting the audience assume that he has kidnapped her for sex. When he knocks out the female with the hammer, it implies that he has penetrated her and holds power over her.
Clip from 'TRANSFORMERS'
Above is a clip from Transformers, which shows how women have been objectified in film. On the right you can see that I have followed the convention of showing females voyueristically through shot angles to make her seem like nothing more than an object. I have also stuck to this convention through the mise-en-scene, especially through costume. My actress is wearing tight jeans to accentuate her assets, and also has hoop earrings and red lipstick to show promiscuity.
Clip from 'TRUTH OR DARE'
Here I have followed the conventions of a typical set. It is common for an antagonist to hold his victims captive in a garage or shed. I have stuck to this convention as I feel that this setting makes the audience feel uncomfortable. Shed's are often full of torture weapons, which means that the antagonist will have easy access to instruments used to inflict pain on the female.
Clip from 'MAMA'
Another convention I have followed is the flickering of the lights. I included this into my video, as I found it was good to build tension and also created a visual bridge from the bright kitchen to the dark shed. The audience are left in suspense, expecting something to appear out of the darkness. I liked this effect as I wanted to keep my audience alert and on edge, so therefore incorporated it into my final piece.
In a thriller/horror hybrid, women protagonists are often vulnerable, innocent and are portrayed as a victim. -
I was going to have the woman fight back, but found that by having her submissive it stuck better to the conventions, and also left the audience feeling more exposed. We found through research that most of our audience would be teenagers, which meant that they would relate to our protagonists. Therefore, by having a vulnerable lead role meant that the audience would empathize with her, and feel more vulnerable themselves. Our audience feedback told us that to feel the most sympathy, they wanted the protagonist to be vulnerable and innocent. We avoided making her aggressive as it would be less captivating to the audience.
I was going to have the woman fight back, but found that by having her submissive it stuck better to the conventions, and also left the audience feeling more exposed. We found through research that most of our audience would be teenagers, which meant that they would relate to our protagonists. Therefore, by having a vulnerable lead role meant that the audience would empathize with her, and feel more vulnerable themselves. Our audience feedback told us that to feel the most sympathy, they wanted the protagonist to be vulnerable and innocent. We avoided making her aggressive as it would be less captivating to the audience.
A convention I followed was showing power through a knife. Above you can see a clip from The Shining, which shows the female victim as vulnerable despite the huge knife that she holds. I decided to use this convention to show the power between the protagonist and antagonist. In the opening, the female character is chopping vegetables with a knife. This gives her power, as she is able to attack and penetrate the kidnapper. When she sets down her knife, she loses her power. We chose to have the antagonist enter at this point, as we could show the obvious dominance that he has over the female. To begin with, we were going to have the female penetrate the kidnapper, but found that it would be more effective to show her as weak and vulnerable. It makes the audience feel exposed, and also shows that in society it is often believe that men should have power over women. Often in the film industry, women are portrayed as objects, and by having a submissive female victim we would be following this convention.
A common effect often used in the film industry is to use a filter to show different time periods. I have used flash-forward, and have saturated the clips slightly to follow this convention and make it clear to the audience that there is a shift in time between the female in the kitchen and when she is held captive in the shed.
We have followed several other conventions often used in media, such as the Enigma theory. The flash-forwards allows the plot to begin unfolding and hooks the audience from the very beginning. They are left in suspense, trying to figure out the storyline; who is the kidnapper? what does he want with the woman? is she going to escape? is there already a relationship between the two characters? The shift in time period makes the audience begin to question the narrative and become transfixed on working out the storyline.