QUESTION 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

 Our production, named Out of the Blue is made in the style of a low budget art house thriller. We named our film Out of the Blue due to the use of props. For example, the murder weapon used by our (attempt at a) modern femme fatale, which is a blue rope found by the lakeside.

To develop and use thriller

conventions we shot our thriller in Norwich at Whitlingham lake. We chose this location due to the wide open spaces that suggest the isolation of the victim that we meet within the opening. Within this location, we also noticed that the water added to the atmosphere through restricting the characters movement and suggesting that he is alone in all aspects. Similarly, we also shot our thriller in this location due to the art house aspects that we have attempted to encouraged into our production. For example, the natural spaces that surround our victim appear to show the purity and beauty of the location in which we can notice that the character is taking his photographs in. The natural environment portrays the idea of safety and tranquillity which is later destroyed by the appearance of our attempt at a modern femme fatale and the shots of the murder toward the end. However, our production does not abide by all of the generic conventions that are often seen in thrillers. The location that we used does not use claustrophobic spaces to add tension or suggest an inability to move on the characters behalf.
We also used naturalistic locations within our production to reference other thrillers such as Heavenly Creatures in the murder scene.

The characters used within our production both challenge and develop archetypal thriller characters and conventions. For example, the main character within our production (named Billy), is shown to be challenging archetypal male representations through the way that he very quickly, becomes the victim in the piece shown through the murder toward the end of the opening. Billy also develops the stereotype by travelling alone to his photography destination, this is showing him to be an independent male character that is more often seen within the thriller genre. The second character that we introduce appears from the offset as an attempt at a modern femme fatale. This is present in t he clothing she wears, the way that she moves and her placing on camera. The character of Danielle wears a black hoodie and dark jeans. This dark colour reinforces the idea that the character is dangerous and thus due to the character being female, she is challenging stereotypes for she is not the generic vulnerable and weak type. Additionally, toward the end of the opening, we can notice that the antagonistic character of Danielle, wears a number of rings on her hand. This was made in reference to the character of Bill from Kill Bill vol.1, where we see him in the opening, wearing similar jewellery. Another reference to the same thriller is the idea that our antagonist has blonde hair, similar to the character of The Bride implying that she is somewh at dangerous and intimidating. When we introduced the antagonistic character within our production, we applied limited camera angles and movements to add the idea of, again, tension and danger. Alternatively, with the character of Billy, the victim, we made sure to place his persona on camera for most of the shot, establishing his personality and identity to the viewing audience. We also used certain close ups of the victim to again, allow for identification and assurance with the audience. The movements of the characters also portray them to be developing archetypal thriller characters. For example, the antagonistic character walks slowly presenting the image of a somewhat predator within the opening and the fast but relaxed walking of the victim implies vulnerability and obliviousness of the coming events and his hazardous surroundings. The names of the characters also develop and challenge stereotypes. For example, the name Danielle for our antagonist can suggest many ideas, the name can be taken as extremely feminine through the regular use of it, however the name also consists of Daniel presenting the independence and masculinity of the character. The name also reinforces her power and the ways in which her actions represent this. The victims name, Billy, was chosen in reference to the vulnerability and easily influenced character of Billy within the thriller Essex Boys for our victim is in a similar position mentally and physically when we s ee the character in Essex Boys within the car at the beginning of the film and hear his narrative voice.

Props and objects

Due to the plot of our production, the main character and victim Billy is shown to be using a camera. This is because, we found that if using such a prop we can enable the audience to feel as if Billys eye sight is limited making him more vulnerable as he cannot see that approaching danger that is lurking behind him within the opening scene. This prop also reflects Billys social class and background allowing the audience to relate with the characters once again. Another prop that we used within our production was the murder weapon, the blue rope. We used this to make the murder scene seem more personal and hands on as the antagonist is far from the victim in much of the production apart from the end, enabling the audience to feel that Danielle (the antagonist) is much more intimidating and that Billy (the victim) is vulnerable.

Lighting and sound

The lighting within our production develops thriller conventions as due to our thriller being located outside in a natural setting, the lighting was ambient. This allowed our thriller production to become more fresh and raw for there was no chiaroscuro lighting to enhance certain aspects or features of either the characters or the location itself. Although the lighting was ambient, it was not bright, but instead, dull and almost dark at some points. This was to add a certain frightening and tense atmosphere to the scene, enabling the audience to understand the presence of the mysterious being that we find to Danielle and to also understand the foreshadowing of the murder scene towards the end of the production itself. The sound track that we used, Emotional dark music The Eternal Forest was chosen due to the naturalistic and orchestral sound that it had and added to our piece. The natural location in which our production was filmed is reflected through the sound track for it sounds somewhat natural and simplistic, complimenting the scenery. Similarly, the dramatic tone that is also noticed through the soundtrack enables the foreshadowing of the ending, again, allowing the build up to create tension. Additionally, the orchestral side to the sound track develops the idea of Billy being an artistic character so that the audience members can relate and somewhat empathise with him in his time of crisis toward the end of the opening.

Camera angles and transitions - editing Our production develops the conventions of many thriller aspects such as the camera angles. Within our production, Out of the Blue, we used many close ups and extreme close ups to add tension to the piece. Toward the beginning of our production, we shot a rule of thirds close up of Billys side profile. This adds tension by making the scene seem somewhat claustrophobic and as if it is enclosing the victim himself. This is similar to many of the camera angles that we notice from The Third Man for example, when we see Harry Lime running through the streets of Vienna. We also used extreme close ups of Billys hands on the camera to limit the eye sight of the audience, reflecting that of the character, placing both in the same situations and again, adding suspense. The side profile close up of Billy is again used in the killing scene for it reflects upon his journey in many ways and this also shows that the first shot was in fact, again, foreshadowing the ending. However, the long shots that we used of the antagonistic character of Danielle allowed the audience to gain a view of her but not to identify with her for she is suggested to be mysterious and dangerous. So, toward the end of our production, the close ups of Danielles hands added emphasis onto the death scene and reflected her appearance as more personal than before as the audience has something to relate. When editing our final production, we used many fade to black transitions to reinforce the idea of the claustrophobic spaces and that feeling of seclusion from society that the audience grew to associate with both the character of Billy and his environment at the lake.