Evaluation Question 1 (Blog)

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

Common conventions within the thriller genre consist of the following; having a young female victim of the narrative (often blonde), the use of high angle shots to the victim before attacked/put in danger, the use of POV (point of view)/handheld camera to show someone in pursuit, the use of eerie music to create a dark atmosphere and also the use of slow editing during long segments, another common convention being  by doing so creating tension and a suspense for the viewer. The final thriller convention that can be seen within many thriller films of an eerie nature is low key lighting.

All of which mentioned can be seen throughout real life examples of thriller films, but have also been incorporated in my group and I's opening sequence to similar affect, gathering inspiration from the real life examples

In the thriller film psycho, the victim of the film is a young blonde woman, a common convention for the victim within the narrative. my group and I followed this and incorporated this into the characters of our narrative, as the victim of the sequence is a young blonde female, who is often put into a position of danger and experiences hardships on many occasions, examples being cheated on by the boyfriend (as said within the argument between the two at the beginning of the sequence, shortly after the establishing shot), and from that point onwards being chased and attacked by the antagonist, specifically being chased down public alleyways towards the forest, to the end segment in which she is held at knife point by the antagonist in the bush in the forest.

Within psycho, before the death of the woman (soon to be victim), she is shown through the use of a high angle shot, during the shower scene in which she is stabbed in the back. I applied this inspiration from psycho to my group and I's sequence at the very end part of the sequence, as it is left on a cliff hanger, in which the victim of the narrative is shown through the use of a high angle shot underneath some high standing trees and within the bushes underneath (in the forest), by doing so adding towards the mystery of the cliffhanger.

In the film Nightmare on elm street, a POV/ handheld is used to show a girl who is being chased by the antagonist of the film, while she is trying to run back to her house and seek help. I Incorporated this inspiration into my own opening sequence, as during the chase scene the victim is shown through the perspective of a handheld shot while she is running away from the antagonist along the long public pathways leading towards the forest.

Slow editing can be seen be seen throughout the thriller film inception before a fighting/ face paced scene within the first dream world segment. I incorporated this into my own opening sequence as slow editing is present during the scenes in which the victim is being chased in the forest, specially more visible during the segment in which she first enters the forest, but is present during the majority of that segment, up till the end part of the sequence which is left on a cliff hanger.

Eerie music can be found within Inception also, during the same segments in which slow editing is present. I incorporated eerie music within my opening sequence also, originally starting start from the off at the beginning sequence and slowly progressing in speed as the sequence progresses, specifically starting from the beginning shot in which the cameras establishing shot zooms out slowly from the street in which the argument scene takes place, and hits its climax at the very end of the sequence in which the victim of the narrative is held at knife point by the antagonist; ending on a cliff hanger.

The use of low key lighting is present within the film s7ven during the segment in which the SWAT team and investigators enter the building in which they find the sloth victim; the low key lighting starting specifically when they first enter the building. I incorporated this inspiration into my own opening sequence, as straight from the start of the establishing shot and the argument between the couple, low key lighting is present within the sequence.

In my group and I's opening sequence we incorporated aspects from many different real media products, and implemented them into the context of the narrative, in doing so following the common conventions of the thriller genre, and implemented them into the context of the narrative, in doing so following the common conventions of the thriller genre and creating a more realistic production. Overall I do believe my thriller follows the thriller conventions as it follows examples within real life equivalents but incorporated into the nature of the narrative, but doing so creating a feeling of tension and suspense for the viewer and contains a wide variation of conventions as mentioned, such as the use of cinematography and mise-en-scene which follows that of real life thriller equivalents, such as the examples mentioned which were present both in actual thrillers and our opening sequence.