My Product Typical Horror/Thriller Conventions

My Production – Use, Develop or Challenge

Comparison to Existing Products

Titling - Colour- Font- Style

Production titles on a black background in a dedicated title screen White fonts - Pure, contrast to thriller genre and to black backgroundCapital letters Bold, simple fontLater titles cut into actionRed titles represents fear, danger, angerAn example of white titles on a black background can be seen in the opening titles of ‘Possession’

In my production we used the convention of a title on a black screen with plain, white font which was bold and in all capitalsWe went with this rather than red titles, as we discovered that this was more common It’s also more simplistic and doesn’t give away any of the film which gives the audience less information and adds to the uneasiness of the filmThis is an example of my production, with the white titles on a black background – Using the conventions of a real media product

We got our ideas for titles from a variety of different films including ‘Possession’, ‘The Cheap Detective’, and ‘Panic Room’. These films all featured bold, white titles and here we learnt the conventionsPutting it on a black screen allowed a break up from the action and titles, as well as allowing the titles to stand out

Camera Movement - Pan- Track- Crab- Cane

Begins with an establishing shot of the environmentTracking shot to give a sense of the victim/antagonist

We began our production with a menacing establishing shot of spiked fence to show a sign of danger. This doesn’t give away much information about the environmentWe also used tracking shots to follow the antagonist, but mostly we kept the camera in a fixed position on a tripod as we felt this was the most effective way to film our productionThis challenges the conventions of a real media product as we didn’t begin with an establishing shot, but started with a production title and then the action straight away

We didn’t really use a film template to base our camera movement. This was a more determined on locationWe used the movement that we felt best conveyed what we wished during filming and was not pre planned

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

Framing a Shot - Extreme Close Up- Close Up- Mid Shot- Long Shot- Extreme Long Shot

Mid shots/Long shots to introduce a characterClose ups to make the audience focus on objects This can be seen in ‘The Cheap Detective’, as the opening 2 minutes includes mostly mid shots and close ups

As can be seenhere

We used a variety of different shots including:Close upsMid shotsLong shots Extreme long shotsWe used these on both the victim and antagonist to show the full costume of both characters or to concentrate the audience’s attention on a particular areaWe used a series of close ups on a series of objects to set the background of the film, which was shown throughout in the ‘flashes’ and at the end in the shed scene. This also helped to give the background of the character and what may happen in the film – Slightly giving away content

Here, our film resembles ‘The Cheap Detective’ as it involves a variety of shots including mid shots and close ups. We felt that this was a good use of angles which enabled certain details to be focused on throughout the sequence

Camera Angle- High- Low

High and low angels are common in thrillersHigh angels are used to show superiority over another character, often used in conjunction with the villainLow angles are used to give a sense of powerlessness or weakness, often used in conjunction with the victimLow angels can also give added height to a character which can help inspire fear and insecurity in a viewer

We used both high and low angles in our production, and in no particular order. We didn’t use any particular angles to represent superiority/inferiority in regards to a certain characterWe also used a cantered angle to suggest imbalance and instability We used and challenged conventions as we used the same angles, but not in relation with what they’re typically used for/to suggestBelow is the example of cantered angle used

We decided to use own camera angles depending on what fit the moment best, we didn’t use them in comparison to any real media product, but just used them when appropriate throughout our production

Mise-en-scene Often quite dark surroundings and at night, to represent an uneasiness and fear of the unknown

We put our film in black and white and added an effect called ‘keying’, which made the product even darker

We used a variety of different techniques for our mise-en-sceneThe black and white effect is

Villain is often in dark clothing to show the darker side of their natureVictim often in warmer, brighter colours to reflect their personalityProps used to help give a sense of the villains/victims characterHorrors/thrillers are often in black and white to help add to the eerinessAn example of this is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho – Filmed in 1960, it was deliberately made in black and white to add to the mood of the film

Another example of a different type of mise-en-scene can be seen in the ‘Woman in Black’ – This is filmed in colour, however the settings are quite old, shabby and run down looking. The scenes are always quite dark, reflecting the genre and gives the audience an idea of the surroundings and what is to be expected in the film

We believe that this adds an easiness to the productThe dark also creates the ‘fear of the unknown’ and it allows products to lose certain details and not be as clear, again adding a feeling of mystery and eeriness to the productThe antagonists costume was a big, baggy coat, a hat and leather gloves, which we thought fit with the conventions of the genre and aided in showing who the character wasThe victim was dressed in

typical teenage clothes of a hoodie and jeans which also helped to establish they’re characterWe also took

advantage of the sunlight on the day and used this to create our ‘stalking silhouette’ scenesWe filmed on an empty street which makes it seem more menacing as you get the impression that there would be nobody around to help the girl if she got into dangerWe also used the spiky fence, and look out sign to help the audience get an understanding of the filmThe villain is filmed through a thorny bush, to show that there is a danger to them For the ‘shed scene’, we used an old, run down looking shed to add to the feel of the character, all the props inside (newspaper, hair, photos) help to give an insight into the character and the film

similar to Psycho with the effect used to add a veil of mysteryThe characters clothing and age is similar to that of the Lovely Bones, and although this film was set in the 70s, the victims clothing was common for teenagers of the time, as is our victims, in a hoodie and jeansThe building use in the shabby shed scene was similar to that of ‘The Woman in Black’, in which the run down exterior of the building sets a feeling that bad things will happen in there and also that the building is quite foreboding

It can be seen in the images above that colour is just as effective to portrays the eeriness, and is becoming more common/conventional of modern day thrillers

At the end the antagonist is placing pictures on the wall which spells out the name of the film which helps to show that he is stalking herWe mostly stuck to the conventions of a thriller in our mise-en-scene, however we did develop them quite a bit, and challenged them as ours was mostly filmed in daylight rather than at night

Editing - Jump Cuts- Match Cuts- Reverse Shots- Cutting Rhythm

Jump cuts are common to increase pace and give a sense of the distortionCutting rhythm is fast paced in scenes of actions to increase tension and suspense, but slow and drawn out for the majority of the film to help set an eerie moodThis can again be seen in Possession, in which the film starts on a series of jump cuts which help to set the scene. This appears in a series of flashing photographs from a police report giving away the nature and background of the film, which is cut up with the title scenesAn example of one of the images can be seen below, giving away some background and context of the film, as well as shocking the audience

We used a sequence of jump cuts throughout our production in the form of the ‘flashes’ to show the nature of the film and give the audience a sense of the context and to build up tension in order to put the audience on edgeWe used various different images to do this and placed them throughout at irregular intervals to challenge when they would be expected by the audienceOur flashes are split up with action from our film rather than titlesThis is similar to real media products, and we used this as we believed it was an effective way to create the feeling of our filmThis is an example of one of the flashes from our production

Our editing jumps from fast to slow; fast moments for the flashes in a series of jump cuts, to slow periods when the characters are on screenOur aim was to make the audience jump and realize that not all is as it seems, and although something quite dark s going on with this young girl being stalked, in actual fact, something much darker is at play This also helps add to the uneasiness of the film as it jumps from fast to slowHere, it is similar to the film ‘Possession’, as these jump cuts also feature in the film quite heavily

Sound Low tonedEerieQuietStrings are a common instrument to help build up tension

We used eerie, low toned music, which contained a series of different sounds It began with a series of clicking sounds, which gradually progressed and

All thrillers use this style of music as it help adds to the tension and creates the feel of the film and the genreSuch films include ‘The Grudge’, ‘One Missed Call’,

Slow paced at times to put the audience on edgeFast paced during action to create an anxious feel and increases with drama Digetic sound is also frequently used, and in particular footsteps, often of the villain to signify someone’s being followedGives an inside to contents of film and what is going to happen

gained more instruments such as the piano, which signified a change is the type of scene. This piece of music also contained words, which is very rare for the thriller genre, however the words were appropriate as they were quite dark and fit in with the nature of the film

‘Silence of the Lambs’ and many more

Narrative Theory A thriller normally contains an older, highly intelligent male antagonist, and a young, vulnerable, innocent female victim. The male is often hunting the girl and/or performing horrendous crimes. There is also someone trying to uncover who the ’bad guy’ is and expose him for who he really is

Our production normally contains the same basic narrative theory as it is a typical thrillerWe have what is portrayed to be an older, male antagonist, whose intelligence is unknownWe also have a young, female victim who is being followed by the antagonistIn the ‘shed scene’ we see the crimes he commits and what he does to his victims, showing he commits these horrendous crimesThe opening two minutes does not reveal if someone is trying to uncover his identity, as this would be shown later on in the film

The narrative theory is typical of most films in the thriller genreWe chose to introduce the victim and main antagonist in the opening 2 minutesWe didn’t go straight into any action as we didn’t want to give away too much of the film in the first two minutes, but just wanted to introduce the plot to the audience in order to them the feel of the film