Forms and Conventions of media texts

Camera shots• In thriller films, there are usually a lot of close ups and extreme close-ups of the protagonist

character which is often used to show their emotions. There is also close ups of key objects in the film such as weapons and props to aid the narrative.

• In our film, like other thrillers, we have used close ups of the protagonist, Sasha’s face where there is dialogue but to also show her emotions during the situation.

• We have also used a close up of the murder weapon to focus the audiences attention creating a sense of anticipation of what is going to happen next.

Camera angles• In real thrillers, low angle and high angle shots are used to show the amount of power that the

antagonist has and the lack of power that the victim/protagonist has and to also represent character representation.

• In one scene of our film (the picture below), the male antagonist is standing over the female victim shown through a low angle point of view shot from the female’s perspective, which portrays the lack of power that the female has, however, showing the authority and control that the male has over the female. There the camera shots we used in our film represent the character representation of male and females and the inequalities that the two genders have.

Sound• Music is normally always used in thriller films to understand the mood of the characters and

create tension and suspense and a lead up to an important scene.• In our film we incorporated music into apprehensive and tense scenes throughout. In one scene

of our film where the antagonist Daniel was standing over his victim’s body, we used diegetic sound of breathing to create a sinister feel to the character which was what we intended to do.

Mise-en-scene• In real thriller films mise-en-scene is extremely important for creating a successful thriller film.

The location of where the film is set is used to help the audience establish the theme. Lighting is usually low key as this creates sinister, dark tones. The costumes worn by the antagonist are usually dark and the clothes worn by the protagonist are normally casual. The props used are usually weapons such as guns and knives

• In our film, we used dark lighting to create suspense and fear. The antagonist wore black clothes to add to his chilling nature and the protagonist wore ordinary clothes, lighter in colour. The prop we used was knife as the murder weapon.

Narrative (plot)• The narrative of a thriller film is usually made to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-

hanging at the ‘edge of their seats’ as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character is placed in a menacing situation or a dangerous situation in which an escape is impossible and life is usually threatened.

• The plot of our film is very similar to the normal themes as real thriller films. The protagonist Sasha is held captive by the antagonist Daniel who takes revenge on the former classmates that used to bully him. Sasha is held hostage by having her hands tied around a chair, so, like in most thrillers, escape is virtually impossible. She is then put into an even worse situation when Daniel stands up holding a knife over her and eventually kills her.

Challenges to the genre• Our film challenges the character representation of men and women. Although our film

essentially shows the power that men have over women, at the start of the film we learn that the female, Sasha, who for the most part plays the weak protagonist, was actually the one who bullied the male antagonist, Daniel, in the film, showing that actually, Sasha once had power and superiority over our male antagonist, toying with the usual stereotype shown in thriller films of men predominantly being the stronger sex.