Evaluation Question 1

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

We portrayed several conventions of the thriller genre into our film, specifically that of the psychological subgenre. Looking into the standard opening sequence of thrillers such as Dawn of the Dead, Die Hard, I Am Legend etc usually consist of fast-paced editing, setting up an enigma, establishing a narrative and introducing the main characters (usually a male protagonist). Simplicity seems to be a key convention of thriller openings. However, psychological thrillers look into the mental and emotional state of a person and how it is perceived in society. Taking into consideration that it is one of the more emotionally and intellectually demanding of the subgenres, we thought to create more of a complex structure for our opening. 

One of the conventions our film followed is the theme of the main character’s battling their mental illness and attempting to escape isolation. For example, elements of loneliness and isolation are portrayed in the film I Am Legend (2007). Prior to the reveal of their mental state, the characters surrounding them and the audience are left completely unaware of this. Suggestions of the character’s mental irregularities are presented along the way in small amounts and become more frequent up until the peak of their malicious intentions. Developing this concept, our film depicts one of the more low-profile mental illnesses and how it is easy for the characters to dismiss their unusual behavioural tics.

The presentation of our titles were minimalistic and simple. The convention we followed was to display the text over a black screen, which drew attention to the music and sounds that sets the overall tone of the film. Applying and developing this idea, I added a clip of Kelsie chuckling spitefully (after adjusting the colour levels) to accompany my film title ‘A Demon within Us’ after its sustained appearance on a plain black screen. The intended effect of this was to startle and make the audience question what they are watching.

Something commonly used in terms of editing are jump cuts and rough, choppy cuts. I used sharp, choppy cuts to disorientate the audience. 

Television series, 24, introduced the split-screen allowing us to watch from different characters’ perspectives of the same situation at one time.

Screenshots from political thriller, 24.

I used the split-screen technique, distorting the typical chronological structures of films, which challenges the conventions of thrillers. I did this to portray the contrast between two distinct types of people, foreshadowing conflict between them.

Screenshots from my film opening.

We followed a number of conventions of thrillers in the music and sound aspect. There is usually little to no dialogue in thriller openings as it is left to non-diegetic music and background sounds/noises to create the appropriate atmosphere for the film. This also allows the audience to develop their own perceptions of the characters and locations portrayed on the screen. We replicated this concept into our film as we felt it was suited to the film’s narrative and structure.