Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1:

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

Conventional Features of a Thriller Film

• Protagonist • Antagonist• Themes • Setting• Iconography• Visual style• Enigmas

ProtagonistThe protagonist in our thriller is a detective, which is a conventional type of character to be seen usually in thriller films such as ‘Prisoners’. He is researching information and looking for clues to lead him to finding the wanted murderer. This is also typical as it is portraying him as perhaps the hero trying to solve the problem. His costume is typical of what you would see a detective wearing: rench coat, suit and props including detective badge, papers and notebook are iconic props of the detective and crime genre.

This image is from Prisoners of Jake Gyllenhaal the detective

AntagonistThe antagonist in our thriller is the ‘wanted’ murderer. This type of character is conventional for thrillers. His stance and facial expression makes him look menacing. The costume choice of dark and black clothes are also stereotypical of serial killers in thriller films.

ThemesThe main theme of crime is shown throughout the thriller. This is shown with the investigation the protagonist is doing, emphasising that it’s a crime being solved. When the camera shows the extreme close ups of the words on the poster it seems the antagonist is perhaps repeating a murder or wanting revenge on the protagonist as the words used in the poster are representing what is happening at the present moments. There is a sense of panic when the detective looks around the room once he has heard a noise. In a conventional thriller these themes of crime, revenge, panic and repetition are common and our thriller is conventional in this way.

SettingThe conventional settings in thrillers are typically locations such as police stations, abandoned areas etc. Our action takes place in a library where the protagonist is doing detective work. This is not conventional of thrillers however, we chose this location as it suits with the role of the detective investigating. This challenges the conventions of stereotypical thrillers however there is no one else in the library giving the sense of an eeriness and the feeling he is in a large empty library.

IconographyThe iconography throughout the thriller is very conventional. Typically there are weapons in thrillers and in ours we chose a knife which belongs to the antagonist. The leather gloves could give the idea that he has killed people before (despite the fact we know because of the ‘wanted’ poster) and he is hiding his identity suggesting he has something to hide.

This image represents the tense music at this specific point in particular. The sharp loud crescendo music emphasises the panic or suspense that the footage shows. In this particular point in the thriller the camera tilts up to the antagonists feet and as we see the feet the sound increases. Sounds like this are iconic of thrillers.

Visual styleThe thriller is in black and white which gives it an overall tone and style that it is set in the past. The books on the shelves in the opening give a historical tone.

In the film ‘Fracture’ the antagonist is shown in a similar light as the one I used in my thriller. The contrast and higher brightness editing makes this moment stand out particularly as an important part of the film.

This photo shows the antagonist in Fracture

EnigmaThere are various questions of mystery that our thriller wants the audience to find out throughout the plot. At the start the feet at the top of the stairs makes us want to find out who he is and why he is there. When the antagonist is stood behind the protagonist we finally see his face matches the poster and the question of who's feet they are is answered. The conventional enigma in a crime thriller is that of wanting to find out who the killer is and why he is killing the protagonist. Our thriller fits with these conventions.