Question 1:

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

There are many codes and conventions within the thriller genre. One of the most important conventions is the building of tension, Alfred Hitchcock, known as the godfather of thriller films, made sure all of his films built great amounts of tension. By building tension the audience become hooked, and become very interested in the storyline which gave rise to thriller popularityMusic is often used to create and build tension in thriller films as the music often changes tempo and pitch when appropriate to the characters movements.Other codes and conventions of thriller films includes the editing techniques, for example quick cut shots, and a variety of camera angles, that change throughout the scenes. Mirrors, stairs along with lighting are all involved with typical thriller movies. The lack of lighting, especially natural lighting is especially noticed in the thriller genre.

My film follows these conventions as it builds tension through the use of camera angles. For example in SAW (1) the characters are trapped within a room that appears unhygienic. This builds tension automatically as the audience want to know why somebody would choose to dwell in such an appalling place. Similarly in our film we have used a low angle shot of a young blonde female character, who is clearly distressed with the situation she is in. Our character is strapped and is shown to be is distress. The tightness of the location makes it even more claustrophobic mirroring the feeling of discomfort and suffocation that thriller films normally bring.

Close-ups are used to demonstrate the characters emotions, in the case of our film we use a close up to show how scared and upset the young female character is. Her vulnerability can be shared through the close-up allowing the audience to assess that for themselves. At the same time, it creates a sense of unease, typical of the conventions of a the genre. We used a shot were the railings on stairs make the view unclear. As the camera is slightly shaky, it makes look like there is another character in the room, this person is unknown

The two pictures shows part of the opening sequence for SAW, and a shot from our film.There are many similarities in this shot.For example the rotten room, darkness, the characters are trapped and the facial expressions. There are also many differenceswhich include, natural lighting in our clip and artificial lighting in the other clip.

adding a sense of mystery. The film SAW also uses this technique during the film, again to convey the emotions of the characters.

Editing has allowed me to merge scenes together making the opening sequence build a narrative as well as adding a sense of continuity to the scene. I have used the cross dissolve transition to show the change from one shot to another, the audience subconsciously use special relations to identify the characters and begin to build the narrative within their minds. The mise en scene followed the typical conventions of a thriller film. The dark setting with a mysterious staircase, locked doors all build tension. The idea that a character is trapped makes the audience feel empathy for the character. The crumbling walls symbolise a derelict house, possibly only used for the retaining and capture of people.

In order to make my films more unique I have changed the order of the sequences. For example, the story of two different characters are being shown at the same time. From cutting form one scene to another the tension builds as the audience know that the characters ‘paths’ are going to cross some time soon. I have also used contrasting coloured effects within the film. The use of black and white during the scenes within the building and the use of normal colour from outside the building. This reflects the split personality of the character. There is no dialogue within the scene, this is similar to many of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. The lack of speech makes the audience more enticed, and they can concentrate the narrative more. At the same time the audience mentally start imagining the thought processes of the characters in order to explain their behaviour.

This is the scene from SAW, it is similar to the scene we use in our own film. The clsoe up/ mid shot clearly shows the emotion on the characters faces. Our shot isnt head on but it still clearly demonstrates the emotion on the characters face.