IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

IMPACT OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH.

Prior to filming our thriller, my group and I did lots of research into existing thrillers, to see what the stereotypes were and what made a thriller successful. We also watched multiple trailers and openings to thrillers, such as The Roomate, You're Next and Anna, to gain ideas and inspiration for our thriller. This blog post shows the research we did in order to help us:• http://tasminebenton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/beginning-of-r

esearch-and-planning.html

NARRATIVE THEORY.

Tzvetan Todorov's theory suggests that narratives are led by a cause and effect format. This is a diagram of his theory:

Our thriller would follow this theory,

as at the beginning of our film, there's an equilibrium, and

as the narrative progresses, the

victim will find out she's being stalked, and something will

have to be done about it. Therefore, ultimately there's a new equilibrium at

the end of the narrative.

Ways in which my media product adheres and subverts stereotypical conventions of

thrillers.

CONVENTIONS OF THRILLERS.

Our thriller doesn't follow the stereotypes of a conventional thriller, with the main reason being our antagonist is a female. The antagonist is usually male, as they are stereotypically stronger and more powerful than woman. By having a female antagonist, it makes women seem more powerful, and subverts conventional thrillers, therefore attracting and engaging the audience, as it isn't the same as every other thriller. Our antagonist also wore brighter colours, instead of them usually wearing dark colours, again to purposefully be unconventional and engage the audience.The sub-genre of our thriller is a psychological thriller, and we manage to subvert the stereotypes within our opening. Usually, the stalker in a psychological thriller stays away from the victim for a while at the beginning of the film, and stalks/watches them from a far whilst they accumulate their plan. However, within our opening, the stalker/ antagonist, is within feet of the protagonist, and actually speaks the them at the beginning of the film.

CAMERA SHOTS/EDITING TECHNIQUES.CONVENTIONAL OR UNCONVENTIONAL?

Throughout our film, we used a range of different camera angles and editing techniques to create a specific effect for the audience. Some of these were conventional to the thriller genre and some weren’t. As an example, we edited images and short clips of film so they flashed up really quickly, in order to create suspense for the reader. Whilst this was happening, we also added some discordant music to make the reader uncomfortable yet intrigued.

We used a wide shot to show the victim walking down the street and the antagonist in the window of the house. This is used to make the victim look small and vulnerable, as the antagonist is much higher and therefore looks more powerful. This also helps create suspense for the reader as they know the victim is going into the house where the antagonist is. The daylight also subverts the conventions of the thriller genre in this shot, as stereotypically it would be night time, as darkness is perceived as much more creepy.