I decided to present the first question of my evaluation on a Prezi, using images and screenshots to make it more interesting. I also split up my paragraphs into even smaller ones so that it wasn't too much text on the screen at once.
http://prezi.com/ydkxmqouquza/as-main-task-evaluation-q1/?auth_key=3061bb051a9e8aa0353f14c30bd87557d502deaa&kw=view-ydkxmqouquza&rc=ref-5763156
1.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Many conventions of the thriller genre are apparent in our
product, whether they be conformed to or challenged. For example, tension, suspense and
uncertainty are all common conventions that encourage the audience to want to
know what happens later in the storyline. We chose to fit the theme of
uncertainty but decided against the ideas of tension and suspense because these
themes did not fit with the events in our opening sequence and would be more
appropriate in the other events, which we planned for later in the film. Also, conventional plots
of thrillers are said to ‘involve characters, which come into conflict
with each other, or with outside forces the menace is sometimes
abstract or shadowy’ we chose to both use this convention and oppose it in the
lighting of our sequence. For example, in the car scene we chose low lighting
to add enigma (showing that something out of the ordinary is about to happen),
however, in the hospital scene, we chose artificially bright lighting to show a
contrast and also because bright lights have multiple other connotations; for
instance, seeing a bright light could symbolise many things including safety
(being associated with light houses for sailors), also, there is the saying “a
light at the end of the tunnel’ which implies that despite the current
difficult situations, there is hope. Furthermore, there have been a number of
cases where people have seen a bright light when they have had a near-death
experience (this happens to Lily in our sequence so we thought that bright
lighting was appropriate), and finally, in some cultures and communities, it is
thought that seeing a bright light symbolises life after death; we liked this
idea because once her boyfriend dies, it is as if Lily has to start a new life after
the death of Lily’s boyfriend.
Also fitting with conventions, we decided to
have an unnatural death, in the opening sequence however, you are unsure quite
how the accident occurred, and we hoped that this would cause the viewer to
want to continue watching the film because conventionally, having crime in the
core of the narrative of a thriller keeps the viewer keen to watch more. Themes
of mirroring are also extremely conventional and we use this in our idea for
the rest of the film where she is shown in the position as her best friend, also,
voyeurism is apparent subconsciously during the opening sequence but becomes
more apparent throughout the film. Having a complex narrative structure is also
a convention that we have chosen to use with false paths and clues, although
not all of these are apparent in our opening sequence they are all in the
narrative plan for the rest of the film- these effectively create enigmas and
keep the audience questioning when the resolutions to the problems will occur. Once again conventionally, we decided to use the
opening sequence in order to show the protagonists phychological state- and
also the reasoning behind it- we read that ‘the titles
usually mirror the type of film’ we therefore decided to have just the name of
the film, in a simple font, and fairly small in the corner of the screen to
show confusion and give a sense of the unknown and uncertainty which are themes
that we were keen to reflect throughout the film.
Again following conventions later in the film,
the antagonist (he who causes the crashes) has the disadvantage at numerous
points throughout the storyline when we think that Lily is going to come out on
top but eventually, he ends up victorious as Lily loses so many of her closest
friends and loved ones due to her obsession. Our entire film, including the
opening sequence, is set in typical locations and typical situations enabling
the audience to be attracted to the film and familiar places and relationships
are addressed throughout enabling them to relate to the situation and increase
the effect of the emotions. The main conventions of thriller genre are also
said to help the plot by determining the characters’ traits and experiences, we
also decided to keep this convention but challenge it slightly in the fact that
Lily is finding out things about herself as the audience are too, one of the
archetypes of finding true identity in a psychological thriller is the loss of
innocence which we see later in the storyline (http://maisieheskethmedia-main.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-storyline_24.html) when Lily becomes obsessed with finding the
antagonist’s true identity.
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