'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'
During the production of our media product as a group we made sure we used the correct Codes and Conventions of a thriller in order for it to relate and feel more like a thriller film. We found that including a lot of these conventions improved and developed our product as well. Firstly however the Codes and Conventions of a thriller are the characteristics and aspects that make up the actual thriller for example; Camera angles, Mise en scene, Characters, Editing etc. These were vital and well thought out throughout our product in order for us to get the best possible thriller opening we could. Here I am going to explain each convention about how our media product used, developed and challenged a real media product;
Mise en scene:
Costume: When thinking about costumes for our characters we wanted to make sure they were in casual wear as it would help make the whole thing look more realistic for the audience. This is why we chose jeans and a simple top for both of our characters as it suited their ages (16/17) that we were going for. For my character 'Lydia' I chose ripped jeans which helped relate to my age (the audience would find it easier to understand what kind of age my character was) and I simple jumper with only a design in the corner, this is because I did not want the attention to all be focused on my outfit rather than what is going on in the actual opening. When it came to the park scene my costume had added features like my blue coat and black trainers, also not drawing attention to my outfit but still having a youthful sense to it. However when it came to Chelsea's character 'Mia's' costume and my costume for the garage scene, we took a different approach . What I mean by this is we took the dialogue of what was happening in that scene and applied it to the type of costume we wanted. A lot of other thriller films will do this too, when someone is associated with something evil (either the one who is evil or is a victim of it) there type of costume will be applied to it, meaning they would most likely be wearing dark clothing e.g. Black. This is exactly what we did for our characters; When we first see 'Mia' we do not actually know at first that is her as our script tells us that 'Lydia' mistook her for her kidnapper due to her wearing all black and the camera being out of focus (unable to identify who it is). Allowing the fear to be built in my character and maybe the audience as well. We developed this idea by making sure for 'Lydia's' costume I was dressed in all black, this represents the evil and danger I am in, which is quite common in a thriller.
Props: During our time producing our media product we thought through our props carefully so they would not only fit nicely with our characters dialogue but also add a little more effect to the whole opening and make it feel a bit more realistic. Our props included; art work and a phone. The purpose of these two props is too add more character to our stars so our audience can begin to understand our characters. Many thrillers will do this to also add a sense of innocence to their characters and make the victims look vulnerable. For example; in our opening in the bedroom scene 'Lydia' is seen doing her art work, this is something that could be associated with innocence and also makes the audience sympathise with the character after watching the opening (she does not deserve it).
Setting: When it came to the setting of our thriller opening we chose something that we found would suit our story and dialogue. So when it came to the park setting I knew that it would be a good place to set this tense scene up. This is because in a lot of thrillers there will be an attack in a very innocent place, because it is unexpected. A park is a place of innocence as it is where children would play, meaning when our unidentified character begins to approach 'Lydia' it is therefore unexpected for the audience, making it that much creepier. This can relate to the film 'The 5th Wave', which I researched about, and I found that at the beginning there is a scene in a normal home, where there is a family talking about the current situation. In the next scene we see the family walking outside to see an alien ship fly over their house. What makes it so effective is the fact that it was unexpected because at first we are in an innocent families home, and then we are taken outside to where they are being attacked, much like our thriller opening.
Props: During our time producing our media product we thought through our props carefully so they would not only fit nicely with our characters dialogue but also add a little more effect to the whole opening and make it feel a bit more realistic. Our props included; art work and a phone. The purpose of these two props is too add more character to our stars so our audience can begin to understand our characters. Many thrillers will do this to also add a sense of innocence to their characters and make the victims look vulnerable. For example; in our opening in the bedroom scene 'Lydia' is seen doing her art work, this is something that could be associated with innocence and also makes the audience sympathise with the character after watching the opening (she does not deserve it).
Setting: When it came to the setting of our thriller opening we chose something that we found would suit our story and dialogue. So when it came to the park setting I knew that it would be a good place to set this tense scene up. This is because in a lot of thrillers there will be an attack in a very innocent place, because it is unexpected. A park is a place of innocence as it is where children would play, meaning when our unidentified character begins to approach 'Lydia' it is therefore unexpected for the audience, making it that much creepier. This can relate to the film 'The 5th Wave', which I researched about, and I found that at the beginning there is a scene in a normal home, where there is a family talking about the current situation. In the next scene we see the family walking outside to see an alien ship fly over their house. What makes it so effective is the fact that it was unexpected because at first we are in an innocent families home, and then we are taken outside to where they are being attacked, much like our thriller opening.
Camera Angles:
When it came to camera angles I wanted to make sure that we got a variety of different shots. In addition, with a thriller film you are given more opportunities to be more creative with the type of shot you are doing. So to develop these shots we used different shots like Pan, Track, Montage of shots, overhead etc. The pan that we used for the beginning shot of our opening meant that the audience would get a clear view of the setting and where our character is. A pan in a thriller can also be used for when a character is being watched, followed or chased, as the camera moves it creates more suspense. An example of this would be in the film 'Rear Window'. In the scene where we have a view from outside where we could see three windows, as the tension builds (and the assault begins) the characters go back a forth from room to room. As this happened the camera would pan from window to window, this built the suspense as we anticipate what is going to happen to the victim of the situation. Moreover this is why pans are effective for a thriller film, and even though we did not use the pan in this more popular respect we wanted to use it in the beginning as a shot in order to establish the scene so the audience could get a view of the setting and what is going on. This was challenging but I found it to be successful as it was an effective opening shot to set the scene for the audience.
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