Evaluation: Question One

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

Our media product is an opening of a thriller film that uses and challenges conventions of real media products. By developing conventions of the thriller genre into our own thriller it created a dark and suspenseful nature of our plot. This helped create uncertainty, mystery and worry throughout our opening sequence. We used the title arrangement, mise-en-scene, sound track, editing and camera angles/shots to develop our thriller sequence and make it appear more eerie and disturbing throughout. 

Using Conventions of Real Media Products:

We took a lot of inspiration from the conventions used in the titles and background sound of many thriller openings that I researched. For example ,we took a lot of inspiration from "The Butterfly Effect" title as we liked the way that the darkened non diegetic sound of the butterflies fluttering linked to the title to give clues to the audience as to what the butterfly effect may be that they will find out later on in the film. Our title "24 Hours Left" also has this effect as it makes the audience think about what the 24 hours has to do with the children going missing. Our opening title conforms to the conventions of a real media product as it is stereotypically a mystery and makes the audience question what is going to happen jus from the title.

We thought hard about this title as we wanted it to create the same mystery and questions as "The Butterfly Effect" title does and we decided to research time that it takes for children to be found after being taken. We found that if a child hasn't been found within 24 hours they're more likely to be dead than not. We took a lot of inspiration from how the background sound was used while the title was being shown and decided to use a heart beat sound effect while the quote was being shown to again make the audience think that it is the children who are in danger and makes the audience want to watch on to find out hat has happened to them. I feel that this worked very well as we decided to use the quotes at the beginning of the sequence to create suspense and a tense, eerie atmosphere before it has even started. Also, this helped us to use conventions of real media products to encourage the audience to watch the thriller. 

Furthermore, with the title of the thriller film that we chose we realised that it is conventional of a thriller genre to be very ambiguous so by finding a title that was proven to be correct through scientific evidence it helped us to create a mystery around the title to add the tension and make the audience want to watch on. Finally, the title of a thriller film in real media products is always clear to see as it is a very big selling point for the film so we made sure to make ours very visible and easy to read. We decided also to add an effect to the title to make it stand out more and create an uneasiness for the audience. Also, with the titles of the actors and actresses names they fit the convention of a real thriller film as there is male characters and females.

Quote used in The Butterfly Effect

Quote we used

The Butterfly Effect title

Our thriller title

We conformed to the conventions of a thriller in the aspect that we had long periods at the beginning of the thriller where we didn't have any dialogue which we felt that we didn't need to have speech just the music and the  acting to create a suspenseful acting.  This is used in many different thriller films as it makes the audience loo for clues as to what is wrong and what is going to happen. For example, when the mum walks into the house we didn't need any dialogue as we wanted to make the audience think that nothing was wrong and that it was a normal day for her with the audience and her unaware of anything that has happened. I feel that this overall was very successful and created the right amount of suspense with the background music.

Another way that we followed the conventions of a thriller is having the music throughout to create the suspenseful, eerie, mystery for the audience. Our thriller opening at the beginning was very normal and nothing suspenseful was happening so we decided to go against the thriller convention by having a soundtrack that wasn't very jumpy or fast which was very difficult for us. But we eventually found that the mafia opening sounded very good as it was very subtle and not very loud. The second soundtrack that we used in the background followed the conventions of a thriller more as it was a lot more suspenseful than the first as the second half of the opening as the second half is where there is when the action starts to take place. Also, some of the questions are starting to be answered for the audience as to what has happened to the children. I feel that the soundtracks that we used both apposed and went with the conventions of a real media product.

One of the most suspenseful scenes and very convention of a real media product for me is the scene where the parents are talking about the children unaware of what has happened to them. We decided to use shot reverse shots between the mum and dad to make it clear to the audience who they were and also to show them that they have no idea what had happened. The shot reverse shot that we edited together turned out very successful as I feel it is a very intense scene as the non diegetic sound starts to increase in the background and the audience start t become aware that something isn't right about what has happened. The mum is very doubtful that anything bad has happened to the children however, the dad is a bit more concerned shown though him raising his voice at some points to get this view across that the mum is displacing.  The shot reverse shots then follow onto a behind the shoulder shot of the mum walking into the kitchen to show the dad the note. This shot is also a point of view shot of the dad which we thought looked very good as the audience feel like they are there watching and figuring out for themselves what has happened to them. I like the way that the shots follow on from each other and I am very happy that they get a across that the tension and suspense is starting to rise that we wanted. If we filmed this again however, we would make sure that the behind the shoulder shot is a bit further up so part of head isn't cut out. But other than that I'm very happy with the way these shots turned out..

Although, I would say that our storyline all together doesn't' fit in the convention of a real media product as instead of it having high intensity throughout with lots happening we decided to make it less tense. For example, at most points we didn't have anything dramatic happening while the mum to enforce the fact that at this point she has no idea that anything has happened. However, aspects of our thriller do go with the conventions of a real media product as we have left lots of small clues, including the note and pieces f dialogue to suggest that something ha happened to them. Therefore, we wanted to make the audience question what has happened to the children and want to find out as the parents do. We added a few scenes at the end of the opening that definitely fit the stereotypical convention of a thriller as we used a flashback shot showing the children running away from who had taken them and then the final scene where the children are shown being tied up and had been taken somewhere by somebody. The audience then known what has happened to the children but want to watch on to find out who it is and if the parents manage to save them. The lighting is very dark to suggest that it is very dangerous and that something bad has happened. We also emphasised this with sound effects of the rain as thunderstorms also connote danger and makes the audience feel more worried. The props and makeup that we used in this scene also emphasise the fact that they have been hurt by someone and the audience instantly engage with it and want to find out why they have been hurt. The two girls also fit the stereotypical gender to be taken as they're seen to be weaker and the person people will assume as being a male as this is what stereotypically happens. I feel that by using the conventions of a thriller at the end made it more successful as the audience recognise that it is a thriller and that stereotypically things in a thriller always go wrong. The last shot that we had of the two girls screaming and trying to get away from the person, I feel that this is a good way to end it as it is a cliff hanger and makes the audience want to watch on. I feel that this turned out very well as it reinforces not only stereotypical thriller aspects but also the conventions of real media products.

Challenging conventions of Real Media Products:

I feel that our thriller opening challenged the conventions of a thriller film overall as our plot is very different to a real media product. For example, the plot that we have isn't very suspenseful and nothing is really happening to the characters, this is reinforced by the non diegetic music being very soft and not very loud and also there is no speech at the beginning. We felt that by doing this it was creating suspense in itself as the audience know that a stereotypical thriller has something bad happen in it and they're waiting for the same to happen in this one. We created suspense through clues throughout that the audience can pick out and try and sole it before the parents find out what has happened to them. Clues are very convention to a real media product as many thrillers use clues almost like a mystery to find out themselves. However, nearer the end of the opening we include many conventional aspects of a stereotypical thriller, as I've previously stated.

We also challenged the conventions of real media products through the choice of lighting that we had throughout except the last couple of scenes as in thriller film the lighting is stereotypically very dark. However, in the opening of our thriller film our lighting is very light and is natural lighting as we wanted to make it look as normal as possible so the audience think that nothing is wrong as everything is very normal. I feel that this choice of lighting is very successful as it shows the difference between the thriller aspects of the media (the barn) and the non suspenseful parts which is mainly the beginning of the opening. I feel that we made a good decision with the lighting as it shows the difference between the thriller parts and the other less suspenseful parts.