Summary of Media ResearchA summary of my A2 Media Research

CONVENTIONS OF THRILLER FILMS

• One convention regards how characters/occurrences are classed in the films. Typically, there is a protagonist (e.g. Bruce Willis and the boy in The Sixth Sense) and an antagonist (Norman in Psycho, or the boy’s sixth sense in The Sixth Sense (see image 1)

• Typically, the protagonist, after a bitter struggle, overcomes the antagonist. An example would be the fact that after some work, Norman is arrested in Psycho.

• Research also unveils a split personality or element of mystery that effects the evil in the film. Norman can seem quite normal, but has a second personality that makes him evil. Similarly, the boy in The Sixth Sense, is just an average boy, but the voices inside his head make him seem mysterious.

• The protagonists and antagonists are not specialist people with extra powers but rather everyday civilians (see image 2)

• Very often there is low key lighting to create a very tense and pressurised atmosphere

• A protagonist’s voice will be shaky and broken up to indicate stress or tension

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CONVENTIONS OF THRILLER FILMS (2)

• The antagonist always seems to have the upper hand over the protagonist, which means that the protagonist must overcome tough odds to defeat an antagonist and to survive

• The efforts and journey that this protagonist takes to survive is usually given a high degree of mystery. There is a real sense of the unknown, which makes the film all the more thrilling

• All the films I sampled were filmed from the perspective of the protagonist. What this results in is a realistic sense of what the protagonist is facing, which exaggerates the task that s/he must undertake

• The duel between protagonist and antagonist exists psychologically too. This adds danger and suspense to the film, making it credible as a thriller movie

CONVENTIONS OF TRAILERS (FORM)

• Typically, a trailer will contain a selection of different shots taken from different parts of a movie. This is to give potential customers a more detailed insight into the film

• There will be credits of some kind. Psycho reveals the director (Hitchcock), whereas Silence of the Lambs reveals the main cast members (image 1)

• Research suggests that a trailer for a thriller film is around 2 minutes in length

• The trailer has a structure of scenes, ordered to give a brief narrative of the film. One departure from this convention is the trailer to Psycho, in which Hitchcock is seen explaining the trailer

• Even though the trailer will give insight into the film, it does not ‘give the game away’ and subsequently end in a manner that leaves the audience wanting to see the film. Psycho ends showing the antagonist giving a rather menacing smile, which raises suspicions, but it doesn’t tell anyone what he has done. (image 2)

• There will be a soundtrack running in the background to the trailer, and it will match the scene. All the trailers I watched used this convention.

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USE OF TECHINCAL ELEMENTS (2)

• Low key lighting is used to create a gloomy and tense atmosphere, because little can be seen and the location seems quite chilling as a result (see image 1)

• Fast paced editing can make everything seem as if it is happening very quickly. This adds a high sense of drama and suspense to the scene, and in thriller films, can add danger

• Adding to that, the non-diegetic music can be used to match what is happening in the scene. In other words, if little is happening, the music may seem quiet and slow paced. When there is real danger, and/or the film is reaching its climax, the music will be louder and much more faster paced

• Close-up shots of a character can capture their emotions. In Psycho (see image 2), the character seems uneasy, and this arises suspicion that something is wrong. This can rub off on the audience, who themselves may now seem uneasy

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USE OF TECHINCAL ELEMENTS (2)

• Diegetic sound adds danger and fear to the scene. Often, these sounds are exaggerated. They seem louder and dominant over the rest of the sound (ambient sound in the scene). In Silence of the Lambs, the sound of the gate shutting dominates the scene (see image 1)

• Two of the trailers ended with a close-up shot of the antagonist in the film giving a menacing or slightly uncomfortable look. This ends the trailer on a distressing note and can prompt people to want to watch the film (see image 2)

• The characters often wear everyday civilian clothing (see image 3). This emphasizes that they are normal characters, affected by the events that take place during the course of the film.

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WHO ARE MY TARGET AUDIENCE

• In terms of demographic, my target audience is marginally more female than male (a 60-40% split)

• Age wise, they are of a mature age, the dominant age group being those aged 10-19 (all of the people in that age group who answered were aged 17+). Therefore, I am targeting both gender’s, and predominantly teenagers. However, I also need to target mature adults since they took up a significant percentage of the respondents to my survey

• My target audience have a wide range of hobbies, the two most popular being watching/playing sport, and watching movies, so I am right to pursue a movie product

• Thriller films do not seem to be the most popular amongst my audience, but research suggests that they like to watch films, which shows I am not pursuing a fruitless objective

HOW TO APPEAL TO YOUR AUDIENCE

If I am to appeal to my target audience, then I need to include some of the recommendations that they gave in my survey.

• One word that cropped up repeatedly was the word suspense. It tells me that this is critical to a thriller film being successful, and failure to have suspense could damage how effectively it appeals to my target audience

• Other regular words were tense and danger, so I need to create a conventional thriller film that is not a radical departure from what has been produced in the past

• I can also appeal to my target audience by getting the length of my trailer right. My audience wants a trailer that is short (1-2 minutes long). If I create a long trailer, it will bore them, and they will lose interest in the message I am trying to get across

Key words for appealing to my target audience