Evaluation: Question One

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

Our groups media product ‘charcoal’ followed the common themes and conventions that would typically be found in a psychological thriller.The ending of our film is a good example to show how we stuck to the conventions of our chosen genre, as we end our film with a flashback that reveals the main enigma of our film, as we show the audience who was behind the mask, and why. We did this to give the audience an unexpected twist, as it reveals the story behind the girl with the mask and that the whole plot was an april fools prank that went wrong. We wanted to end our film this way as we wanted our audience to experience the ‘shock factor’ from the enigma.

At a technical level, we made sure to keep up with the continuity of the conventions of our genre. This shown through our chosen narrative as we use the first person narrative, we did this as we wanted our protagonist ‘Deb’ to be the main focus of our film. It is a common convention in the psychological thriller genre. We also stuck to conventions of our genre towards the end of our film, as we showed the antagonist ‘Jane’ die, therefore we stuck to the conventions of the psychological thriller genre as often in psychological thrillers the antagonist gets ‘a taste of their own medicine’ and the protagonist does receive justice for what they went through.

We also worked hard to ensure that we didn't break any conventions of film and editing.This was shown in the scene where ‘Deb’ is locked in the art supply room, as we used obstructive and montage editing to highlight the frustration and distress of Deb so that the audience feel as though they are experiencing with ‘Deb’.

We also made sure that we didn’t break the 180 degree rule as it would have confused our audience, as it would show the cast in fragmented shots. We ensured that this rule was taken into consideration throughout our film,especially during the ‘chase scene’ where Deb is chased by someone in a mask (Jane) this scene is towards the end of our film. We did this as we didn’t want to confuse our audience, because if we broke the 180 degree rule, the audience would view the product from a range of different angles/ areas, which would confuse the  audience as they wouldn’t know where the characters are actually positioned.

We also attempted to do tracking shots during the chase scenes of our film. These shots proved to be fairly difficult, as our camera woman Amirah is relatively shorter than Elizabeth and Theresa,so she had to hold the steadicam a little higher to ensure they were in frame. Also Amirah had to run backwards so we had to make sure that the pathway was clear, Amirah also had to run at a faster pace than both Elizabeth and Theresa, therefore she had to be very careful so she didn't fall, which would have hurt her and may have potentially damaged her equipment.

We also applied Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposites to our film, as we showed Theresa’s character Jane to be ‘evil’ when in the mask, we showed this in the scene where she knocked out Deb, Elizabeth’s character as we made her look taller within the scene by using a low angle shot to connote to the audience that she had the power. We also tried to show Jane’s power over Deb in the scene where Deb is regaining her consciousness, we did this by making ‘Jane’ stand over ‘Deb’ who was slumped on the chair, therefore this showed that Jane had the power over Deb as Deb was currently defenceless, as shown by the way she was positioned in the scene.

We also wanted to use a ‘shot reverse shot’ in our film, as we wanted our audience to be able to associate with the characters of our film. So we chose to use reverse shots of specific conversations so that our audience would be able to to what the relationship is between each of the characters in our film. E.g. in the flashback scene we used a shot reverse shot to show the relationship between ‘Jane’ and ‘Tina’, we also used this technique so that the could clearly hear the dialogue, and understand the main plot/ enigma of our film.

Shutter Island (shot reverse shot)

When creating / editing the title sequence we wanted to establish our characters as well as our chosen enigma. This was done by showing our audience the ‘villain’ (Jane in the mask) as well as showing our audience images of knives to that they would be able to associate these weapons with the villain. These knives will also connote danger to the audience, so they may think that the masked character will commit a murder. Knives are also a common code and convention of psychological thrillers. We also wanted to throw our audience off of our chosen enigma so that they would be more shocked when the plot was revealed. We did this by showing images of ‘Deb’ and ‘Tina’ that have been scribbled over, this gives the idea that these two characters are targets of the character behind the mask.

We also make sure that the binary opposites in our film, Deb and Jane, were highlighted within the title sequence, this way some insight could be created within the film, so our audience would be aware of the ongoing theme within our film. We also wanted to do this as it is a common convention within psychological thrillers that the binary opposites are highlighted throughout the film meaning that it is clear who the ‘protagonist’ and who the ‘antagonist’ is within the film.

We also used music that would make our title sequence seem more eerie and scary for our audience so the audience would get an insight that the storyline as it would create the sense that something bad is going to happen within the film, and would build tension within the audience. e.g. sharp sounds within the title sequence score would connote danger to the audience, mixed with the disturbing images/ shots used.

For our title sequence we got some inspiration from Se7en as we liked the way that they used a compilation of shots/ images to create an eerie, tense atmosphere for their audience. This gave us the idea to show a range of shots including shots of knives, and ‘blood’ swirling around in water. We also liked the use of the book as we liked the way it showed something different on each page we also liked the idea of pictures of people that had their eyes crossed out in it. This was the inspiration behind the book in our title sequence, as well as the picture we had in the book of the ‘victims’ of our film, that had been scribbled over.

In our film we used a range of shots including medium close ups, close up and long shots, we did this so that the audience is able to see the facial expressions of each character as well as their body language, so the audience would be able to fully connect with the character. This is because they wouldn't just sense the characters emotional state from their dialogue, they would be able to see how the character is feeling from they way they look and how they are positioned, therefore they would be able to fully understand the characters emotions and may even relate to them. This is why we made sure that in certain scenes such as the flashback scene that we used both close ups and medium close ups to show some of the body language of the two friends sat down, as well as their facial expressions while they were talking. From this the audience would be able to see, hear and relate to the emotions of the characters, they would also be able to get a sense of the characters personality, this would help the audience feel as though they know the characters of the film well. E.g. in the flashback scene both Jane and Tina were shown laughing and smirking whilst planning an April fools prank on their friend Deb as revenge for a prank they previously had played on them. This would create the idea to the audience that they are vengeful and quite mean people, as they don’t see anything wrong with playing a bad prank on a friend that would possibly cause them harm. Therefore the audience would have a negative view on Tina and Jane for pranking Deb, they may also have more sympathy for Deb because her friends have played a bad prank on her. But the audience may side with Tina and Jane for getting their own back on Deb. So it is possible that for the audience to relate to each of the characters/ view them in a range of different ways.

(Se7en close ups/ medium close ups)

Our film is a sub genre of the thriller genre. We chose to make a psychological thriller as our group greatly enjoy this sub genre, so because of this we were very familiar with the codes and conventions used to create a psychological thriller.

Originally we wanted the antagonist of our film to be male, and to be the boyfriend or our protagonist (Deb) to create a twist within our media text. We wanted our antagonist to be male as it is a common stereotype within psychological thrillers of the antagonist to be male, as men are often viewed to be the more powerful, stronger and dangerous of the genders. We also wanted our protagonist to be female as it is common for women to be the protagonist in psychological thrillers, as women are often stereotyped to be the weaker gender and to be ‘damsels in distress’ so it is common for female to play the protagonist role. However we then decided to abandon these stereotypes and have both a female antagonist (Jane) and a female protagonist as we didn't want conform to the usual stereotypes as we wanted our film to be a little different.

Our film conforms to many of the codes, conventions and theories that are used in the making of psychological thrillers. An example of this would be Tordorov’s narrative theory, as this theory suggests that psychological thrillers should start with an equilibrium, then have a disturbance and then end with a brand new equilibrium. Our film follows this theory, as our film starts with an equilibrium of three friends in an art class. A problem then occurs as Jane’s charcoal snaps, problems then seem to continuously occur for Deb as she is being followed by a masked person with a knife, that turns out to be Jane, Deb also loses Tina. The new equilibrium is set at the end of the film, as Jane dies meaning that Deb is danger, this is confirmed as sirens are played in the background connoting to audience that Deb is now safe and that the police would be investigating the incident. Therefore, as expected by Tordorov’s narrative theory the protagonist survived and was triumphant, as she got her justice. Our film then ends on a flashback, this gives the audience time to reflect on the friendship of Jane, Deb and Tina, so the audience would be able to think whether or not the result (Jane’s death) was a suitable punishment for the prank she pulled on her friend. It also gives the audience time to think about the motive of this prank, and whether or not this motive deserved this form or prank, or whether they should have pulled a less severe prank. Therefore the audience is given the chance to decide for themselves about the ending of the film. So our film stuck to the conventions of a psychological thriller as it is common for psychological thrillers to have an ambiguous ending so the audience can think about whether or not the prank played by the two friends is acceptable, and whether or not the punishment was acceptable.

Another convention of psychological thrillers we used was the use of silhouettes, as they are usually used in psychological thrillers, such as ‘Psycho’ and ‘Film Noir’ to captivate the audience, so they are more engaged with the enigma “who is the silhouette?” Silhouettes are used mainly in ‘Film Noir’ where certain things are being insinuated to the audience, such as a character being killed. We took some inspiration from this, as in our film we used a silhouette to show that Deb is being followed, as well as to signify that the characters are in danger. We also liked the idea of using shadows/ darkness within shots as we liked how it created and eerie and enticing effect on the audience as they would want to find out what’s happening, as the darkness would connote mystery and danger to the audience. We used darkness in the scene where Deb get locked in the art supply room as we wanted to make sure that audience was fully aware that Deb had been targeted by the silhouette, and we also wanted to do this to connote the idea that Deb was in great danger. We wanted to use a lot of long shots and medium close ups during this scene so that the audience could sense the fact that Deb was scared and nervous from both her body language and facial expressions.

Psycho (shower scene)

Film Noir (silhouettes)

We didn't want the ending of our film to be the death scene as we wanted to reveal the twist of our film to the audience. We thought by putting the twist scene at the end of the film our audience would be more involved with the storyline as they would try and figure out themselves who the person behind the mask was. We also thought that by having the flashback of the planning process of the prank at the end of the film, the audience would be able to figure out whether or not the accidental death of Jane was a good act of karma, or if they thought she didn't deserve to die. Therefore they would be able to make their own educated judgements of this film.

Our group wanted to make sure that we included a flashback within our film as from research we found that flashbacks are a common convention of psychological thrillers. Also during the reflection process of planning our film, we decided that this would be the perfect way to reveal the enigma of our film. Therefore we planned to include a flashback as it fitted well with our storyline, as it allowed us to involve past events into our film, and also helped us stick to the codes and conventions of psychological thrillers.

We also liked the idea of using a range of shots including long shots, medium close ups and close ups, to show each character's emotions through both their facial expressions and their body language. This way the audience would be able to get a full sense of the characters emotions, as they would be able to look at the physical signs of the characters emotions, so they can fully see how they feel, and maybe even relate to these feelings. These shots are also useful for allowing the audience to familiarize themselves with the characters as they would be able to pick up certain traits from the character, so by the audience being able to view this they would feel as though they know the characters well. These shots would also make the audience feel more involved as they would feel familiarized with the characters, so they would be able to relate to the characters feelings. Therefore they would be more involved the plot and would also try and piece together the storyline to try and figure out who the character is behind the mask. So the by including a wide variety of shots we made our audience become more involved and engrossed in the plot of our media product, this is what we wanted to achieve.

So I believe that in many ways we developed on the common forms and conventions of real media products, as we researched the psychological thriller genre and took inspiration from real media products such as Film Noir and Se7en. However we did break some common codes and conventions of psychological e.g. usually in psychological thrillers the antagonist is of the male gender, as they are seen to be the more powerful and dangerous of the genders. However we broke this convention as we chose to use a female antagonist.