Evaluation Question #1

QUESTION #1In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge conventions of real Media Products?

Typical Genre ConventionsThe very first research task I did involved looking at different thriller conventions and outlining factors of sound, editing, storylines, themes, characters and settings which consistently appeared in a number of different thriller movies.

Opening Sequence Conventions During my research I looked into opening sequences and title sequences a good amount. (Refer to research tasks 10, 11 and 12). During these tasks I did begin to notice conventions which appeared over and over again.

Examples of these are

1. Titles

2. Introduction of the protagonist

3. General character stereotypes

4. Thriller Influences

The Protagonist The protagonist in our film does follow thriller conventions. The use of the detective has been used in many films such as shutter island, se7en, the silence of the lambs and rear window. Having the main character as a detective does underline the fact that we wanted our opening sequence to be a crime thriller, and having a detective also fit in with the subgenre we picked for our opening sequence which was crime. I took inspiration from the film ‘Shutter Island’ as we wanted the detective to start out confident, but towards the end of the film ‘If it was made into a full production’ we wanted the detective to be questioning his own life, and the way he lives it. In reflection I feel that detective hunter was a decent protagonist; he fit into basic thriller and crime conventions which made him a interesting character. If I was to change his character at all I would think about his attitude towards his relationships and his jobs. I would want to make him appear at either one of two extremes, a really friendly nice caring character or a ruthless angry character.

The Role of the Character BanksI believe that my opening sequence does challenge a number of different conventions you would within a thriller/crime genre film. I feel the characters don’t always match the stereotype of what people think they should be, a prime example of this is the character Head Detective Banks. Banks is a strong willed character who knows that she has to make the hard decision when necessary, she also is intimidating which is what you expect a head detective to be. I feel that there is two unconventional factors about Banks one being her gender, people expect a head detective to be a tall strong man who can just shout to get his opinion across, whereas Banks is a small rather stocky woman who uses her charm to persuade people to do as she says, This can be seen when she calls up the detective and asks him to come in on his day off duty. Overall I think the use of the character banks had a positive effect on my opening sequence. This is because she challenges a typical gender and genre convention to make an interesting character which is relatable to the target audience as well as fitting the role of the character perfectly.

The Influence Common Influences for thriller movies tend to be of historical events which have had a negative effect on society. An example of this is Texas chainsaw massacre, I think production companies like the idea of basing a thriller film on a real event as it makes it that little bit more realistic. My Thriller opening sequence was based on a game called Where’s the elephant which is a simple yet stupid game which is totally harmless. We tried to turn the elephant into a serious and harmful killer to create a sense of dramatic irony. In reflection I do think basing a thriller of this idea does make sense, but maybe it would be better suited at a thriller parody as making something which isn’t seriously and turning it into something suspenseful wasn’t easy. Another thing I would change if I was to make the opening sequence again is the presence of the elephant. It wasn’t clear from watching the opening sequence as to why the film was called where’s the elephant.

Conventional TitlesWhen it came to looking at different titles for my thriller opening sequence I decided to take inspiration from the film Se7en. Se7en had conventional opening titles which are of an average size, what appears to look like hand written font couple with quick jumps of the text to keep the audience alert. I tried to apply a similar concept to my opening sequence but tune down the use of movement, as I felt that the movement made it much harder for the audience to read and engage with the information available. On reflection I feel that I may of shied away from the movement a bit to much, I made the movement to smooth so the audience didn’t get the jump from the text which adds suspense and makes the title interesting.

Conclusion

Looking at the decisions I've made I can say they have had a positive effect on my opening sequence. Challenging stereotypes such as the head detective and choosing a unconventional influence has given my opening sequence that unique edge. As well as challenging stereotypes the stereotypes I chose to follow thriller conventions such a sour protagonist, detective hunter. I think this grounds our product as a crime - thriller. Because of this I feel that we can attract a wider audience, as there are a larger range of different characters which the audience can relate too, on top of this we still have typical thriller characters so people who enjoy thriller movies and still feel that our opening sequence satisfies their needs.