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

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

. discuss the ways in which your thriller incorporates generic conventions ( identify specific scenes)

There are several elements within our thriller which conform with generic conventions which you would usually expect in a thriller film. For instance  the convention of the 'chase scene' and voyeurism is explored within the opening two minutes of the thriller; we start to get a sense that the students are being followed by the 'persuant'. As the opening progresses, in certain long shots Jamies character is present in the background  t the start he is not noticeable or obscured) but his presence becomes more noticeable than the shot before each time.

There is a sense of mystery and an eerie mood is created particularly during the grave yard scene when izzy's character walkthrough the church graveyard by herself   she is singled out and vulnerable as she is no longer within the company of her two friends (sam and matt) and this innocence clearly shows that she is a protagonist because audiences will sympathise with her.





Mis En Scene
Jamies 'Persuant' costume fits with generic conventions of a thriller as it clearly portrays him as the antagonist. He wears a large  biege overcoat to imply he has something to hide and effectively creates mystery around the character.  a similar effect is created  with the hat and glasses he wears as they obscure Jamies face and makes it difficult to see  what he looks like or what his true emotions are. which makes the audience curious to discover 'the persuants' identity and works as an incentive as it is intriguing  to continue watching  because as an audience we want to know who this person is, what he looks like.

Music editing, camera shots
We were able to develop these conventions through many contributing factors; the music and the angle of the shots help us to achieve this because the music we used 'Darkness is Coming' tied in extremely well with the setting. The track we used had a biblical sound to it and linked in very well with the church setting and established a sense of danger as Izzy went further through the church yard the music intensified creating more tension. the sense of danger was also established through certain shots used during the church scene; we had an over the shot shoulder  shot of Jamie whist he was standing at the top of a flight of stairs ( near by the church). The shot was angled  so emphasis was put on the fact that Jamie was looking down (watching over her)  at Izzy's character the female student. The positioning of characters in the shot was effective because as well as it being the first audience see Jamie's figure (close up shot from behind) it also implies  that as Jamie appears higher and larger in the shot, that he is the dominant character and izzy's character is the weaker and more vulnerable as she appears smaller.


We used two different music tracks during the first two minutes of our thriller film, both of which we found on incompetech. We chose 'Night of Chaos' and 'Darkness is Coming' because we felt they were very similar to our original music inspiration Brian Eno's 'Complex Heaven'. Brian Eno is known for doing the Lovely Bones soundtrack, a film which i felt explored very similar themes to our piece; it involved voyeurism and a man who has an obsession with making elaborate plans to take young girls. Brian Eno's theme for the antagonist Mr Harvey was extremely effective and rather chilling, it evoked real fear. Mr Harvey's theme (which is based around complex heaven)appeared many times during the film, every time 'Mr Harvey's' character was present, so the audience would immediately associate the music with unpleasant or bad things.
we were inspired by this idea so we used 'darkness is coming' and 'Night of Chaos' and used it as a device like 'complex heaven'. although it was simple it evoked fear. it had similar musical elements, but we ensured that the tracks we used weren't overly intense to that  extent that it turned into a horror film as this is not what we wanted to achieve. the tracks we used created just the right amount of suspense and fear without being to dark and intense (we wanted to build the tension slowly). we used two tracks as opposed to one simply because we wanted two separate
moods (or sections) within the opening. the first track 'night of chaos' is much less intense  and more ambient (but still builds tension) which is exactly what we wanted as it sets the scene and , whilst is sounds quite mysterious it wasn't too intense and it couldn't be, because we needed to establish narrative and setting to ease the audience into the film before the music becomes more intense and changes to ' Darkness is coming' when it becomes apparent that Izzy is being closely followed.

does your use of conventions indicate what other thrillers have influenced your work?
One Hour Photo, the collector, the people under the stairs, the lovely bones.



 All these films explore and incorporate similar themes: kidnapping, stalking, elements are portrayed by using tension and suspense to create a thriller style and fit with the conventions of thriller.
One hour photo and The lovely bones both delve into the phycology behind the Antagonists i.e how the obsession grows and why they have become this way.

credits ordering, timings and style individual detailed anlysis of 3 opening credits sequences (2 must be Thriller)

Shutter Island opening credits (analysis)
the credits are a dark red, which often connotes and is associated with danger or bloodshed. the credits flicker flash when they appear, they also go in-between focus and blur as if someone is struggling to see or suffering from a physiological trauma which links in with the films plot as the main character (Leonardo Dicaprio) investigates the disappearance of a murderer who has escaped from psychiatric hospital located on an island. the dim lighting of the prison cells in the first shot make the credits difficult to read, and in the second shot in which the shot spins around a spiral staircase your attention is immersed in the film as you have to use a lot of concentration to read the credits as well as taking in the shots. Interestingly we get the creator of the film, the producers and screenplay in the credits first before any of the main actors are mentioned. the style of the credits being obscure and flashing away quiet quickly is very similar to Se7en's opening credits which indicates themes of the film i.e. mental illness (psychologically not stable) and this use of credits has a very mysterious eerie impact on the audience, they become more immersed and engaged with the film as a result of the way the credits appear. The white font implies a more neutral mood, the font doesn’t imply any danger, and it’s much safer and stable.

at 0.13 seconds the credits change; whilst they are still the same font they are white instead of red, and the shots that are playing out with them are less distracting and make these credits much easier to read, the events happening in the foreground in comparison to the spiral staircase shot are much more simple, the shot isn’t a busy. As an audience we start asking questions; who does that hand belong to and why are they lifting a tile enigma codes (questions) like this help to achieve a sense of mystery and effectively keep the audience intrigued

at 0.29 the credits of the actors start to appear, each actors credit has a separate shot i.e. Ben Kinsley’s shot appears to be a close up of a chair near a fire place, whereas after a black out Leonardo Dicaprios credits appear next to a new shot; a foot pressing down on a gun then pushing it away. Mark buffalos credit is alongside a dark night outside with snow. Arguably it could be said that each shot indicates something about the actors character and what they are associated with and significance they have later on in the film ( the gun plays an important role in Dicaprios character).

During the music credit (Robbie Robertson) the shot is black, however we start getting clearer glimpses (becomes more noticeable) of possibly a film reel or flickers of words (which has been done almost throughout the opening sequence) being played and the reel becomes less faded and becomes more concentrated.

At 0.53 there is an establishing shot of an island shortly followed by the films name in the Credits 'shutter island'. The font is the same as the previous credits but much larger (to signify importance) and has gone back to the dark red colour, which evokes a sense of danger. The shot quickly zeroes in on the words until it passes through the circle of the R which is followed by a blackout. The way it quickly zooms in on the words suggests that’s where the film is taking us and presumably the establishing shot of the island implies that this is the location which the film is based around and where key events will take place.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

CLIP ANALYSIS

By isabelle smith

The establishing shot of the FBI building portrays it as friendly and welcome; the building seems very clean from the outside and the shape of the building is very neat and square. The sky is fairly clear and blue which reflects off the glass building having the effect of it seeming more clean and bright. We know as the audience that it is a safe place because the way the camera slowly zooms into the building is friendly as it almost welcomes us into the building and it is a huge contrast to the previous scene with the misty dark forest.

The shot of Clarice in the lift is effective in emphasising the position in women as a whole of all the women who work in the FBI building. Clarice is in the very centre of the lift surrounded by a group of men. They are all very shaved and groomed which makes us feel like we have more trust in them (as opposed to them having a beard and looking untidy which would make the audience feel less comfortable with them as it could be suggesting they have something to hide). The men are all wearing red which shows they are all of the same work status. Colours like blue and grey are associated with learning or more manual working types and as Clarice is wearing a grey jumper we are lead to the conclusion that it is likely that these men are above Clarice. the men dressed in red all have strong broad shoulders which highlights that they are are safe as they are strong and able to protect 'weaker women' characters.

We get a very different feel from the training facility in comparison to higher up in the building. The people in the training facility of the building all wear blue which I mentioned earlier can be associated with learning so we know that they are being trained. However higher up they are all dressed in suits and it appears to be a more male dominated area. The sound in the two parts of the building are also quite contrasting for instance in the training section, there is more unclear voice ambience, people are chatting to each other quite cheerfully and through the sound its suggested its more busy in this area. When Clara gets to the higher part of the building the men in the red collar have left the lift prior to this which shows they are beneath the suit workers status, the sound has changed from bustlting,chattering people to more of an office ambience; telephones ringing  and documents being printed.

We know that when Clarice has reached the top level from the extreme close-up on the lifts dial. The perfect V shaped sweat on Clarices jumper has decreased in size to convey that a significant amount of time has passed from her entering the building to reaching the top floor. There is a suggestion of uncertainty; as Clarice exits the lift she passes a sign. Prior to this moment in the building the camera movement has been smooth. What’s also interesting is that also prior to this point we have stayed with Clarice but there is a sudden clunky unsmooth movement to the side to show the sign which says “behavioural science services” which may indicate that she is nervous to meet Jack Crawford but it may also suggest that maybe she isn’t going to be safe here.

In the opening sequence (first 2-3 minutes) the takes at the start of this sequence last a very long time which creates a slower pace and but a more eerie atmosphere. But after two long takes they begin to get a lot shorter creating a tenser atmosphere. All these takes revolve around Clarice; she appears to control the edits here; as the camera tracks her and she is in every shot which entails that she is the Protagonist of the film. The music mirrors the shots as the music becomes more intense (higher pitched melody) as the takes become shorter which has the effect of creating an eerie unnerving atmosphere, (which as has the effect of making Clarice seem isolated and vulnerable in the misty forest).

Alfred Hitchcock:

Psycho influences (isabelle smith)

Childhood:

  

Alfred Hitchcock was born in London on the 13th of August 1899.He had a very strict upbringing from his parents who were Catholic. As a child he felt sheltered because of his upbringing and he was also quite lonely, which was mainly due to his struggle with obesity as a boy.

Some of this strict upbringing and punishments given by his parents where somewhat of an inspiration to some scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’. One punishment in particular which was featured in the film was that as a child his mother would force him to stand at the foot of her bed for several hours as a punishment, these punishments which were seen as unjust by Hitchcock, had a huge impact on him as a person  and this idea of unfair punishment was often reflected in his films in later life.

In his younger years when he got his first job draftsman and advertising designer (before this he had studied engineering at St. Ignatius College in London) he started writing and submitting articles for the in-house publication. Even in these early short articles Hitchcock explored themes of false accusation which he felt he had experienced many a time in childhood.