By Sam HulmeCandidate Number:7083Centre Number: 30215

Codes and Conventions

Social groupsMedia Institutions

Audience for the media productAddressing

the audience

Learning new technologies

Progression from the preliminary task

Thriller genre

IntroductionA Thriller genre is defined as a genre consisting

elements of suspension, tension and excitement to build a climax atmosphere

Our group was assigned to construct a media product that consists of codes and conventions from the media genre for a maximum of 2 minutes.

During the project it consisted of the following: Research- Analysis of existing media products,

codes and conventions, target audience Planning- Storyboards, shot list, costumes,

locations, script, Dates and times, props, equipment Media productAnd Audience feedback, evaluation

Codes and conventionsOur media product has used conventions from the thriller

genre of the following: Element of darkness/Low lighting- Noir Claustrophobic locations- College/Corridor Obtrusive editing- montage, jump cuts, sound bridge Photographs/Stairs- To create tension Two or more characters psychological preying each

other’s mental ability- protagonist/antagonist Flashbacks- montage scene from the photograph Contrast of black and white for colour representation

conventions Variety of tracking, close ups, medium shots, POV Soundtrack is slow and builds up suspense Conventions researched from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

The carousel scene consists of flashback and dreamscape environment making it perfect for the psychological thriller sub genre

“Face Off” was our biggest inspiration because it contained mostly useful and different mise-en-scene techniques which our group found both interesting and different. Some techniques that we applied were:

•Dreamscape colour filter- making the environment link to memories and create confusion for the audience•Colour representation- the white horse used to represent innocence but however blood on the horse represented death•Use of slow motion to enthuses the death of the protagonist•Contrast between protagonist/antagonist•Soundtrack of the carousel creating suspense and tension for the audience•Diegetic Childs laughter which linked to the relationship between father and son

The contrast of good/evil was one of our main developed conventions

However our media product has challenged some conventions of the thriller genre but the main convention is including more horror aspects which can affect the narrative of the media product. Horror films show supernatural, explicit gore, use of nightmares and haunted locations.

Our media product has shown more horrific aspects through out the following scenes:

1. Burning montage- Fairground from the film Terminator 2/ photograph

2. Death scene with the use of his characteristics and explicit gore

3. Antagonist representing as nightmare, protagonist responds to him through fear and horror

4. Diegetic heartbeat building up nightmares

Throughout the conventions used for the media product our group had decided that our media product was to be classified as a psychological thriller sub genre and

some aspects of the action sub genre as well.

Psychological thriller

Photograph represents the back story and purpose of the protagonist

The antagonist has hidden his identity with the white innocent mask

The use of flashbacks and the burning scenes relating to the protagonist’s past

Including dreamscape colour to create confusion Realistic- smoking in a

urbanised area

Observing the book on the desk- unknown purpose

The soundtrack makes the atmosphere very perceptive

Also another thriller media product that has inspired us is “The Dark Knight” although its similar to “Face off” as an action thriller our group was more interested in the mise en scene. Some conventions used in the media product were very useful such as:

White Clown masks- used to convey and hide the identity which created a false impression of innocence

Sophisticated Clothing- Links to their representation of masculinity making the antagonist seem stronger and masculine

Composition of shots- during our ideas we were thinking for our media product to include similar shots such as the following clip from 1.22-1.29 a close up of the mask (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0&feature=related)

This type of shot zooms in at the mask making it create mystery and suspense for the audience showing the antagonist’s unknown identity and purpose. Our group was originally going to use this shot but instead we have changed it to an over the shoulder shot creating the same effect.

Although the Dark Knight is an drama/action our group have decided to include the dramatic aspects which link to the psychological sub genre

Social groups Gender

Our actors are represented as stereotypical men , as the males are represented as strong, athletic and social important compared to women e.g. Smoking because our research for our target audience has shown most expect the antagonist to be 25-40 yrs old. No women are used because our group though males would be more interesting

Age

The age group in our opening sequence are represented as adults around 25-40 yrs old. This is represented by the two male actors and the research expect a psychological to relate to 15 or over ratings.

Class

Our actors in our thriller are represented as middle/ working class through out the use of clothing from hoodies,jeans and t shirt which creates realism. This also links to sociology that its proven that working class does commit most crimes.

Stereotypes

The antagonist is represented as a stereotypical stalker whereas the protagonist is represented as a typical victim with scared characteristics.

Nationality

Our characters are represented as British because most people during the questionnaire have mostly mentioned the filming location to be in the USA. But however due to travelling, our group has decided to choose the UK and England in order to make it simplistic and affordable.

Media Institutions Our media product would be distributed by a major

Hollywood studio such as Paramount pictures or Warner Brothers similar to other thrillers such as Face off and the Dark knight for global distribution.

Our media product would be mass produced and globally distributed for multimedia from both cinema and DVD- linked to the audience feedback

Our media product is made in the UK so therefore our media product can be funded from the UK film council. Also it can be distributed into locally as a TV movie on TV programmes such as Film 4 which shows a lot of British films.

Our media product is rated 15 or over due to explicit gore and use of horrific images which may be restricted for younger audiences

Our media product would be successful because other psychological thrillers such as “Inception” was also distributed by Warner brothers similar to the “Dark knight”. By researching reviews most critics thought “Inception” had contained individual twists and turns that are exciting to discover as their cumulative visceral, intellectual and emotional impacts.

Therefore “Inception” does contain allot of dreamscape and supernatural elements similar to our media product. Therefore our media product can have similar distribution and reviews as Inception. But however Inception’s mise en scene is more highly developed compared to our film so therefore in order to receive the same reputation our group must considered developing the technologies and mise en scene in order to gain high potential. And also our group has used the main soundtrack in order to alter and create a mixed soundtrack.

Audience of our media productOur target audience 15+ Males and females Males and Females that are particular teenagers or adults that are 18+

in hard working social employment People that particularly enjoy psychological thrillers that create

mystery and suspense for them and that go to the cinema monthly

Other films that are similar to ours with similar audiences Face off- their media product had acclaimed both audiences and

critics. The film included lots of dreamscape elements and dramatic surprises for the audience, which is similar to our target audience for psychological aspects.

The Dark Knight- They had a broad range of audiences making themselves very popular and successful. The opening sequence covers allot of mise en scene of the composition of camera shots and clothing making the audience feel confused and scared of the narrative.

•BBFC (British Board of Film classification)

By researching on the BBFC website http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ our group has discovered that the 15 age certificate contains the following:•Strong and painful violence that images as sadistic or gory •Easily accessible weapons aren’t glamorised •Horror contains threat and menacing images unless sadistic•Dangerous behaviour should not effect detail which could be copied•Drugs- not to be used to promote or encourage younger audiences for miss use•Language- there may be frequent use of strong language , stronger terms may be acceptable, aggressive use of language acceptable.•Theme- no theme is prohibited provided treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds

Therefore our media product has shown loads of characteristics for 15 age certificate making it more easier to aim for 15 or over audience members.

Attracting/addressing the audience•Our audience profile is 15- 40 yrs old because our group felt that most of the scenes were too horrific and confusing for younger audiences.

•Our media product has attracted most of the target audience through the use of the climatic narrative through the staring scene it progressiongly builds tension and psychological atmosphere allowing the audience to feel very concerned of the protagonist

•Our media product has included lots of conventions that the audience has thought about in our questionnaire such as including 15 rated content , set in urbanised location but our group has chosen isolated as well in order to create change in emotions and makes it more mysterious.

•Our media products has also included using the present time period and for our gender in both the protagonist/antagonist both are male.

•For our colour representation most of the audience believe that black clothing does associate the antagonist to become present with evil

•Mise en scene

•Through the use of camerawork from basic shots to more complex shots such as side angles our target audience has shown different emotions and interpretations making the narrative very complex and confusing. Most camera angles are related to the “Dark Knight” so therefore our media product would gain similar meaning and atmospheric moments. However during our first ideas in story boards our group had changed camera angles/shots in order to make it more psychological and mysterious for our target audience.

•The characters in our media product are young males which relates to the questionnaire, this establishes connections between the media product and the audience because our audience are young and teenagers. Our characters played by Luke Parker and James Mellor would show realism and act like ordinary people. Also people found that our soundtrack was very depressing and weird. A screen shot to show

our group has changed ideas that originally it was a close up of the hand that flicks the cigarette instead our group has used an over the shoulder shot

Our group had decided to publish our media product onto a facebook page in order to show more feedback from our target audience:

During our audience feedback most of the comments have been said that the media product was very confusing which links to the sub genre of our media product. Most audience members thought the use of montage and jump cuts made the media product very effective and emotional. And finally most people also thought that most believe it was a psychological thriller.

This shows that loads of audience members particularly love the film. And it shows great interest showing that our media product is very interesting and climatic.

These comments show both dramatic and psychological aspects showing that some audience members are confused and some believe the film is more horrific. Our group has felt that the horror aspect has effected our sub genre. It also attracted older audiences such as the couple which widens our target audience range.

Technologies learnt During the preliminary task I had little knowledge of technologies but

during the main task I have learnt so much different media such as: Different camera shots/ angles- by using new camera angles/ shots,

my ability for the hand held camera has improved since the preliminary tasks

Editing software- During the main task I have learned to use imovie by experimenting different filters and montages for example during the photograph scene our group has edited scenes in order to build a montage showing that our skills are developing. Our group has also improved our knowledge for colour representation and cross cutting editing. And included special effects such as slow motion and cross dissolve in order to build up interesting composition.

Garage band- By using current songs/ soundtrack our group has edited with the use of garage band in order to create sound bridges and synchronous sounds to make a soundtrack that would appeal to the audience. I have learnt, with the use of garage band, how to alter the pitch, tempo and form of the soundtrack.

Camera Strengths and weakness Strengths

1. The camera was easy and simple to use it for our media product

2. During our filming we have used different angles for the camera such as low/ high angles by using either a tri pod or hand held strap showing that our depth of field has improved

3. It was easily connected to the imacs in the college allowing us to import/export footage more faster

4. The camera was small and hand held with a hand strap allowing us to use POV shots and tracking shots with high mobility

Weaknesses

1. The camera was less advanced showing that it made some scenes didn't show the characters due too being too dark, because the camera didn't focus much even with the torch.

2. The camera was hard to focus on particular objects or characters due to the lack of concentration of the shot.

3. The camera size enabled us to record some of the complex shots such as the character turning 180 due to the lack on technology and accessories for the hand held camera

•Soundtrack/ sounds During our editing our group had used different soundtracks from copyright free

sources from YouTube such as: Dead space trailer soundtrack Inception soundtrack Untitled 7 by Signor Ross Welcome to limbo

After searching for soundtracks we have altered and edited them in order to blend it with the footage so we can create great composition and form.

Our group has also researched on the imacs for diegetic sounds in order to make the scenes more realistic. Our group has managed to find a copyright free website and our group has included the following diegetic sounds:

Heart beat Door Footsteps Electrifying sounds Screeching sounds

•Unreliability's during the main task During our filming our group did had problems during filming that

during some scenes were too complex due to being the camera out of focus and too much movement. So our group had decided to change the scenes from the storyboard in order to make it less complicated and effective. For example the ending scene with the blood on the hand had shown too much movement which has made it very unstable and too dark.

Also our group had problems with the light and darkness that during our planning our group have had to decided so much in order to film on a low light date for the opening scene.

However during our filming and editing, our group had decided that our ideas have expanded that has cause us to go over the brief of 2 minutes eventually adding 3 minutes in total. Our group has felt that we shouldn't interfere with the footage because we believed that with our skills and knowledge our film had built great tension and suspense which would receive high potential for the target audience.

Preliminary TaskSince our preliminary task I have learnt to follow acquired and briefed

shots in order to build and create an opening sequence that would shows the following specific shots:

Shot/reverse shot Match on action 180 degree rule

The preliminary task therefore has helped me to gain more confidence and improved knowledge of the camera and different composition of shots. This has also helped me to understand technologies and to become more confident.

The preliminary task has also helped me to plan more detail and factual observations in order to plan out a detailed and scene with different meanings. After filming I have learnt basic editing techniques about montage and jump cuts which has given me basic skills in order to start the main task with my group.

Planning

After the preliminary task the main task has helped me to develop my skills even further and to acquire new techniques in order to extend my knowledge. I have learnt from the following during the main task:

Research- our group has learned lots of new analysing techniques such as narrative and mise en scene in order to analyse current media products. This has helped us to identify and acquire the conventions from the genre so our group can considered using similar techniques.

Locations- our group has expanded our ideas by considering bigger and wider areas that allow better variety

Storyboards – during the main task our group has learned to combine and discuss ideas so we can acquire structure and show teamwork also dedication

Clothing/ Props- this has helped us how to show the roles of the characters through the use of colours representation

Shot list- our knowledge for different type of shots and time management has increased allowing us to consider which shots are the most effective for particular scenes

Filming/ Editing

Our group during our main task have developed our filming skills and techniques, it’s also development our time management and developing ideas. During filming I have also learned how to control and have learned how to use the equipment more effectively since the preliminary task. Also during our editing our group’s knowledge for new technologies has been enhanced since the preliminary task. By learning new editing techniques this has enhanced our media product to become a psychological thriller such as using colour filers and sound bridges. And our group has learned to be more expressive and learnt to become more enthusiastic and considering new ideas and developments in order to prevent any problems from affecting the preliminary task.

ConclusionOverall I believe that our media product did succeed in

fulfilling the task. But however although our planning and research has been helping us to develop lots of ideas and forms, I feel that the media product does include more horror aspects which can affect the main narrative and sub genre of the media product giving people the wrong impression for our media product.