Evaluation- Question 1

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

My media product is the opening of a thriller film. We chose the story line of the disappearance of a teenage girl. This uses a typical storyline of a thriller film. We did this because it was a storyline which we could use and develop with the support of additional resources. This idea was inspired by BBC 1 series ‘The Missing’ in which a girl returns after she went missing.  A way in which we developed the storyline through the use of other resources is by incorporating the idea of a red van. This was initially my idea which was expanded on by the rest of the group. The effectiveness of the van was, if we had stuck with our original storyline and mise-en-scene, the red of the van would of linked with the investigator’s lipstick which could of shown a theme of villainess, another common convention of the thriller genre. However, we changed the mise-en-scene as red lipstick portrayed the investigator in a more prejudice way and gave her a jealous edge which we ended up not wanting. In thriller films, van are typically linked with disappearances so they are common features of thriller films and this supported us in portraying that our main character ‘April’ has disappeared. Additionally, we used it to foreshadow some links later in the film.

Another way in which we used common conventions of thriller films is by having the character of a damsel in distress which is essentially April who we obviously portray as a typical teenage girl who just goes missing one day and no one knows why. In relation to this, the character of April was based upon someone the whole group could relate to given we are all around the same age as her and this really helped us to develop a character profile of her and make her realistic. This was a really effective move and helped us to portray the thriller genre really well.

We have challenged the conventions of a thriller film by having an all-female cast. Typically, thriller films feature some male interference from the beginning and other thriller films have a predominantly male cast. I think we chose to challenge this because we wanted to show both female strength and female weakness. Additionally, I really wanted characters to clash and juxtapose themselves. Particularly, the character of Poppy portrays this juxtaposition beautifully. She shows this weak side where she is clearly shaken by her sister’s disappearance, however then actually admits she didn’t speak. This portrays theme of rivalry which is another reason I wanted an all-female cast. Typically rivalry is between opposite sexes or males. However, we portrayed rivalry among females. If we had been given the opportunity to continue forming the rest of the film, this is something I would of liked to emphasise even more.

We also challenged the conventions of a mystery thriller film by changing the typical setting. Both of the settings we show; a cosy family house and a rural area, aren’t typical mystery thriller settings but we have done this to make the victim’s disappearance so much more realistic. The informality of not having a police station at the beginning is there to foreshadow where the story line might lead and the seriousness of the case. I think it adds significance to the family and foreshadows something surrounding how it might be important in the rest of the film.