Evaluation - Question One

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

Antagonist from Scream

Antagonist from my media product

My media product uses conventions of real media products such as 'Scream', a 1996 thriller film. In 'Scream', the antagonist wears a mask to conceal his identity. Hidden identity is conventional to a thriller film for several reasons; it means the antagonists emotions are hidden from the audience, disallowing them to form a relationship with them. This creates enigma as they do not know much about the killer, what he looks like, his emotions or intentions and they are therefore led to wonder what he is thinking and what he will do next. Also, the identity being hidden by a mask creates suspense. This is because the mask suggests that the antagonist is a serial killer who is likely to kill again and again. This is supported by the fact that 'Scream' has several sequels.

Hannibal Lecter

 Conventions from my media product 'Targeted.' can relate and be compared with convention from a series of thriller films about Hannibal Lecter, a cannibalistic serial killer. One film from this series goes by the name of 'Silence of The Lambs'. Both 'Silence of The Lambs' and 'Targeted.' feature a serial killer who is twisted, psychologically damaged and unpredictable. This appears frightening to the audience as the unpredictability and ruthlessness of the antagonist makes them wonder what will happen and what the killer will do next. This is because the disturbed behaviour of the killer is unusual and therefore uncomfortable for the audience to watch.

My antagonist with pictures of his victims

A shot designed to frighten the audience

In my sequence, the antagonist is shown to be pychologically damaged when childhood photographs appear on the screen of his mother with an aged film filter. This added a dark and slightly twisted feeling to the photograph that was of a mother and a child. The audience will notice that the mothers hair is the same colour as the serial killers victims. This shows him to be twisted and disturbed which is further highlighted when photographs of victims are shown on a wall as the antagonist has crossed them off and is circling one. This unravels part of the narrative; the man is a serial killer and has murdered several victims in the past and is about to kill again. This creates suspense as the audience know what he is about to do next.  At the end of this scene the killer turns his had sharply to suddenly face the camera. This will surprise and frighten them.

However, unlike 'Silence of The Lambs', my opening sequence features the antagonist regularly. In 'Silence of The Lambs', Hannibal Lector is only shown for sixteen minutes throughout the entire film despite the character proving to be successful and conventional to the genre, provoking fear in the audience. The film could have been a lot more effective if the serial killer was featured more regularly to frighten the audience. Because of this I focused my narrative and opening sequence mostly on the serial killer, his life and his background story rather than making him a secondary character like Hannibal in 'Silence of The lambs'. As a result, more creepy and disturbed characteristics of my antagonist is shown to the audience which makes the media product more dramatic and scary for the viewer.

Other conventions in my thriller include the location it was filmed in. My group decided to set our media product in an abandoned house in the middle of a forest because we believed this would appear more frightening to the audience. Feedback from our target audience proved this to be true as they thought that it was conventional for a thriller to take place in an abandoned or isolated location because it makes them believe that the victim has less chance of escaping if no one else is present or nearby. This makes the victim appear more vulnerable and the audience fears more for them which as a result increases the suspense.

In 'Targeted.' the victim is portrayed as isolated throughout. Besides the fact that the only other character in the sequence is the antagonist, she is first shown tied up alone in an abandoned house. She escapes from the house but then finds herself alone ina  forest before the antagonist catches up and again she is in a place with seemingly no one else but the killer.

The victim in my thriller sequence is female and the antagonist is male. This is conventional to a thriller film because a female victim is perceived to be a lot more vulnerable compared to a male victim. This is especially true when the antagonist is a male as they are portrayed as more dominant and threatening killers than female antagonists. This helps the audience build a relationship with the female victim because they feel more sympathetic towards them when they are shown as more vulnerable. Also, the viewer feels more sympathetic towards the victim when they disbelieve that she will escape. This makes them want her to escape even more, building tension and suspense and then provoking pathos when she does not escape.

I provoked this feeling of sympathy from the audience in my thriller in several different ways. The strong and bold mannerisms of the antagonist suggest that he knows he will eventually capture the victim as he always does, making the audience believe that he is too strong and fast for the victim to escape. All of the antagonist victims have been female which adds to the fact that he is more dominant and powerful than them because none of them have escaped.

Another way we decided to portray vulnerability and dominance in the characters through conventions was to use cinematography techniques. Using a high angle shot looking down on the victim made her appear more vulnerable and innocent while using a low angle shot looking up at the antagonist made him appear more dominant and threatening. Again, this allows the audience to feel more sympathetic towards the victim and suspenseful about her safety while they feel more frightened and vulnerable themselves compared to the antagonist. The vulnerability created in the audience also helps them relate and put themselves in her point of view.

Low key lighting is conventional to the thriller genre which is why we decided to use it throughout the sequence. It highlights the shadows and exaggerates frightened facial expressions of the victim while conotating that the antagonist is hidden in the darkness or that he has secrets that are hidden.Low-key lighting is used mainly in the forest as the antagonist chases the vicitm.