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

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

2. Narrative structure
Character types
Music and sound
Iconography
Themes
Editing
Mise-en-scene

4. A state of equilibrium at the
outset
A reinstatement of A disruption of the
the equilibrium equilibrium by some
action
A recognition that there
An attempt to repair the
has been some disruption
disruption

5. A state of equilibrium
No reinstatement of A disruption of the
the equilibrium equilibrium
A recognition that there
has been some disruption

6. The conventions of the thriller genre are mainly to do with sound
and editing, for example the use of quick cuts and camera angle
changes, music that gives tension and the quickening of pace
when appropriate. Tension created in a thriller can also have
something to do with the lighting of the scene, especially the use
of shadow, mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller
movies.
Our short film ‘Malice’ can be
seen as a thriller, however it
does not particularly play to the
typical conventions, as we
attempt to avoid darkness and
shadows except for in one scene.
Our film does use other
conventions such as including a
flash back, a small,
claustrophobic setting (mainly
the bathroom) and the use of
Our main character walking across a quick edits and enigmatic camera
dimly lit hallway adjacent to the staircase angles.

7. Music and sound
In our thriller, we actually challenged the typical conventions
with our soundtrack. In the short film ‘Bonvoyage’ by Joaquin
Cardoner which is of a similar genre, they have used a piano
based melody throughout the opening sequence, the type of
music used creates a lot of suspense and heightens the tension
as opposed to our short film ‘Malice’ where our music taken
from www.freeplaymusic.com is more techno sounding and in
my opinion gives our film a more edginess and uniqueness, as it
leaves the audience guessing ‘What type of film is this going to
be?’ , this also creates an element of mystery which we thought
would be a good element to incorporate into our film.

8. Although we had written a script, we allowed our characters the freedom to
‘stray’ away from their given lines to create a sense of realism, as we didn’t
want the characters sounding like they were reading straight of the pages.
With this freedom we hoped that the audience would feel some sense of
connection towards the characters. Also we thought, by not keeping the
actors confined to the script we though that the reactions would appear more
natural such as the shock and confusion – two emotions typical of the genre
Costume wise, as our film was set in a moderately normal location the actors
were allowed to wear anything they liked as long as it was suitable.
Aiden (left) simply chose to
wear just a plain blue t-shirt
to emphasise the casualness
of the location. Victoria is
dressed similarly and Levi
(right) is dressed a little bit
more smarter but still fits in
well with other two
characters.

9. Typically to cliché horror films,
our short film ends with the
‘Final Girl’ but straying away
from the conventions of both
the horror and thriller genres,
her fate is left undetermined.
(The final girl is a trope in thriller and horror films
(particularly slasher films) that specifically refers
to the last woman or girl alive to confront the
killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The
final girl has been observed in dozens of films)
Victoria (Chloe Lennon) is dressed quite feminine and girly, by
wearing a jumper with a heart on it and leaving her hair down.
This supports other films as she looks quite innocent and
venerable.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (final destination 3), Sarah Michelle Geller (Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween)

10. We felt that that the objects shown in the
background of the shot had a profound
effect on the realism of our short film and
was an important factor in connecting
with the audience, by showing everyday
items such as bathroom clutter it showed
that our characters were not ‘unrealistic’
and that they are still normal people.

12. Iconography of thriller films are usually items which appeal to
people either through wealth or power, usual iconography of
thrillers include guns/fast cars/explosions/low level lightning/
claustrophobic environments/gritty camerawork.
All three characters just about fit within the
frame, emphasising the claustrophobia of
our film

13. Iconography in horror films follow a standardized pattern, that
very usually deviates from the original format. The pattern in
horror films are set up to address the implied viewer which makes
the genre identifiable.
The connotation of the horror genre, tends to immediately tell the
viewer who and what is good or evil, and also identifies the codes
linked to them.
However in our film ‘Malice’, we
wanted the audience to struggle
to identify what is considered
good or evil, this deviates away
from the typical conventions of a
horror film because it is not
obvious and adds to the tension.

14. The editing of both horror and thriller genres of film tend to
speed up at times of any potential looming danger, this is used to
unsettle the audience. Quick cuts are also used to give the
audience to get a small glimpse of whatever is happening but not
fully(its often not what the audience can see, but what is implied,
and fleeting glimpses of some mysterious foe can offer the
audience a chance to fill in the gaps with their own, much greater
imaginative creation). Also the quick cuts of editing can represent
the adrenaline of such situations.
‘Malice’ tends to follow the typical editing techniques of horror
films by using quick cuts to heighten the tension and to give the
film pace as our film starts of quite slow but quickly picks up.