Amanda Wan - Question 1

Question 1 - In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

From my product research of looking at the opening sequence of “Se7en”, it uses the convention of having mystery characters which keeps the identity of the villain/murderer hidden to keep the suspense going. Throughout the opening sequence, the killer’s face is not shown, instead the audience can only see his hands crafting away. I have incorporated this convention into my opening sequence, in which the stalkers face is not shown during the opening sequence, by doing so it can keep my audience engaged to the opening as well as to keep the anticipation going.  

Another psychological thriller convention which I have integrated into my media product is the use of lighting. From looking at “Blood Simple”, it uses the contrast of lights as well as shadows to convey suspense.  The contrast between light and dark lightings creates a mysterious and dark setting, giving a sinister feel. We have developed and interpreted this into our own media product, which we have used a dark photography room to replicate. The dark lighting had a very effective result in creating the mysterious and sinister atmosphere.

The choice and use of camera shots is also very important in creating a conventional psychological thriller opening, one of the most commonly used camera shots which we have used are close ups.  Tension are usually created in psychological thrillers through implications, facial emotions of characters as well as iconography are effective tool for creating tension. The facial expressions of our character as well as the suspicious footsteps of our mystery character is captured and presented through close ups.

Conventional character types are another thriller feature which we have used in our media product. Many thriller movies uses archetypes of female presented as sex appeals which are usually portrayed by beautiful blonde female, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is the perfect example as it uses blonde female lead to attract his target audience’s interest. Femme fatale is another typical archetype which are frequently use, they are shown to be very dangerous and seductive and will tend to lead the male character to chaotic ends.

We have combined both conventional female character types to form the character in our media piece, our character Chloe – is a combination of  both, she is shown to be very seductive through her makeup, especially her bold and loud red lips. However her dress code presents her as more of a sex appeal as she is shown to be wearing revealing clothing.