AS Evaluation Question 1

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

Thriller films rely on tension, suspense, fear, excitement, danger and high levels of anticipation to captivate an audience and provide a thrilling, realistic, climaxed storyline that keeps the audience alert and anxious throughout. As a general rule, all thriller films are based around the generic conventions regarding lighting, camera angles, locations, props, characters and possibly a femme fatale.

 The lighting is usually noir (black on white) /ambient /chiaroscuro. Most dangerous scenes take place at night because the bewildered nighttime and dark areas increase the feeling of danger and suspense (i.e. in Thelma and Louise and Jackie Brown). On the other hand, some films such as Heavenly Creatures/Essex Boys, the murder or violent scenes happen in broad daylight instead. This can create shock, surprise and suspense which is typical of thrillers as in the film the attack can seem unsuspected because people usually feel safer in daylight. An example of this is in the film Jackie Brown, when a gangster unexpectedly shoots the blonde female victim in the middle of the car park in broad daylight in such a casual manner, which can leave a startling effect on the audience. 
My opening scene is mainly low-key lighting throughout to create a dark shady atmosphere. However, my flashback frames are in daylight and high-key lighting which likewise to the film ‘Jackie Brown’ makes a murder more shocking as daytime has a more positive feel therefore making it unexpected that a murder is going to take place. For example, my clip includes a flashback frame of the two sisters happily playing around a tree in bright daylight, seeing this, the audience would feel relaxed at the happy sight, however this then fades into a dark low-key frame of the little girl walking in the forest making the viewers moods instantly change as the lighting reflects how they would be feeling. (See examples below)

The cinematography used in thriller films can include longs shots to establish the environment the scene it takes place in. Sometimes the director uses certain camera angles to allow the audience to gain an understanding of the film. Close-ups are therefore used so the audience can concentrate and possibly empathise with the character. My thriller clip has a long shot in the first frame showing the little girls surroundings and her full body which shows her costume. I dressed the little girl in a pink dress to show her innocence and how young she is, allowing the audience to sympathise with her. I wanted the audience to make themselves aware of the environment so they are attentive to the little girl being completely alone in the presence of the killer. Point of view shots are also often used in thriller films as it allows the audience to be put into the characters shoes and study the scene from the characters viewpoint. which allows them to feel closer to the character. An example of a POV shot is in the film ‘Orphan’ when the audience is put into the perspective of the killer looking down at the dead body of a nun the killer had just murdered. I took this shot as an inspiration for my thriller clip and included a POV shot of the little girl looking down on her dead body in the final frame to place the audience into the characters situation making it more of a shocking sight. 


(add screenshot from film orphan)

The generic thriller locations are usually enclosed areas which add a sense of claustrophobia or isolation with an inevitable chance of escape for the victim in panic situations. A commonly used location in thriller films are car parks (Essex Boys/ Thelma and Louise). Other locations used in thriller films are usually plain, bewildered locations (In ‘Jackie Brown’ a gangster gets shot in the boot of a car situated in the middle of nowhere). In Essex Boys, for example, the beaten up character is helplessly left to rot in the mud in the middle of nowhere, adding terror as it is inevitable that anyone will be around to help him. Forests are also frequently used in thriller films as they are isolated and hard to escape in, such as in the film ‘Kiss The Girls’ where the female victim is running from her killer surrounded by nothing but trees. My thriller clip was located in a forest; I took inspiration from the film ‘Kiss the Girls’ as we found it very tense knowing there is nobody but the victim and the killer in the forest and there being nowhere for the victim to escape to or hide. By locating my thriller in a forest my young female victim appears even more vulnerable as she is alone in an isolated forest amongst a killer. My thriller is also situated underwater, which was inspired from the successful thriller film ‘Orphan’. Being underwater is also an enclosed space with neither the killer nor victim being able to breathe creating tension for the audience as they hope the killer dies instead. 

(screenshot of forest)
(screenshot kiss the girls film)

The iconography in thrillers are usually weapons. Many main characters in a thriller own a gun or knife as it signifies that someone is going to get killed or is in danger. If they do not own a typical weapon, items tend to be used which are generally associated with the character and tell the audience something about them or links it to them. For example, in the film ‘Kiss the Girls’ the killer is holding a syringe this tells the audience that he isn’t mentally stable and he is obsessive by wanting to drug the victim in order to have full control over her instead of instantly killing her.  In my thriller opening sequence, my iconography was a scarf. Typically the main item in thrillers are intended to harm someone, however the scarf in our clip is used to link the murder to the little girl allowing the audience to imply that it is the little girl who dies. Murder weapons are usually easily accessible rose knife scarf

Generically thrillers mostly focus on illegal, dangerous or “wrong” behaviour, usually involving characters that are gangsters, part of the mafia, spies, detectives or any kind of murderers. Sometimes, important key characters are complete enigmas, whom the audience doesn’t find out much information about. Some of these enigmas get cleared up at the end of the film, but sometimes the character stays mysterious and one never finds out their actual identity. This is the case in my thriller, the identity of the killer is hidden and stays that way until the end of the opening sequence but with indications to whom the killer could be (the older sister). An example of a thriller with an unknown killer is ‘Scream’ where there is a masked murderer. A hidden identity on the murderer is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience have the fear of the unknown because they don’t know what the killer is capable of and are unaware of the mindset as the character is anonymous and mysterious, all they know of is that they want to kill. My opening sequence is a physiological thriller and I added a twist, there being a possibility that the killer could be the victims sister, and that the little girl, the main character, walking through the forest is in fact dead. We took our inspiration of this from the successful physiological thriller ‘The Sixth Sense’ where the ending is Bruce Willis, the main character, finding out he is actually dead when throughout the film he appeared to be alive. Overall my opening sequence is conventional to the thriller genre as it includes the generic aspects that are typically used in thriller films. The title of my thriller is also conventional as ‘Nostalgia’ refers to longing of the past, this enables an emotional and relatable connection with the audience making them feel more on edge. Furthermore ‘Nostalgia’ is one word which is straight to the point, this is used in many thriller films such as ‘Orphan’, ‘Disturbia’ ‘Scream’ all of which are successful.