Thriller Conventions

A crime at the core of the narrator (often murder, but not necessarily).

A complex narrative structure with false paths, clues & resolutions.

A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved.

A protagonist who is systematically - empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.

Extraordinary events happening in ordinaty situations

Themes of identity

Themes of mirroring

Themes of voyeurism

Protagonist with a flair which is exploited by the antagonist
Titles often reflect an aspect of the protagonists/antagonists psychological state
there is oftenn a scene towards the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril.

Mise en scene which echoes/mirrors the protagonists plight.

Note!! this post was originally made on the 24/02/09 but had to be reposted as it would not show on my blog.

Alfred Hitchcock

Tuesday, 24 February 2009


Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock born 13 August 1899 was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and films with spoken dialogues, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood.Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. He remains one of the best-known and most popular filmmakers of all time.


Hitchcock used some of his own experiences as a child in some of his films such as "Psycho", Hitchcock told how his father once gave him a note to give to a policeman to lock him up for 10 minutes for behaving badly and how his mother would make him stand for hours at the foot of her bed when he had misbehaved and he uses these past experiences in some of his well known films.





Hitchcock's films were very diverse and made films ranging from romantic dramas such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith to the dark and sinister "shadow of a doubt" and "notorious".

Near the end of his life, Hitchcock had worked on the script for a spy thriller called "The short night", but the story was never filmed. This was due to Hitchcock's own failing health and his concerns over the health of his wife, Alma, who had suffered a stroke. The script was eventually published posthumously, in a book on Hitchcock's last years.


Hitchcock once commented, "The writer and I plan out the entire script down to the smallest detail, and when we're finished all that's left to do is to shoot the film. Actually, it's only when one enters the studio that one enters the area of compromise. Really, the novelist has the best casting since he doesn't have to cope with the actors and all the rest." (interview with Roger Ebert in 1969)
Alfred Hitchcock's oscar nominations were:



Best Director in 1960 for Psycho
Best Director for Rebecca (1940), Lifeboat (1944), Spellbound (1945), and Rear Window (1954).

Producer for best picture: Suspicion (1941).
Note!!
This was originally posted 24/02/09 but had to reposted as it could not be accesses for some reason.
Posted by Jordan Hunt at 12:28

Evaluation

1.In what ways does your media project use, develop or challnge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our video differed from usual thriller concepts which usually start in a dark place with ominous sounds and visuals but our video started with an establishing shot in a bright place, our project was set entirely in daytime to put across the view that the killer does not care wether he kills in daylight or not which contrasts usual thrillers where murders take place in dark areas.

2.How does your media project represent particular media groups?
The group that is portrayed in our project is the teens and young people as they are the types of people acting in the video, also it could be said to portray people around the south-eastern area of London as this is where the film is set and filmed and also the fact that most murders carried out n the UK are committed by young people in their teens or early twenties.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media project and why?
The Media institution that might distribute our film would be a company that makes films on a tight budget such as film 4 or united artists. this is because these companies have been known to make excellent films in low budgets and our film would definately be a gritty low budget film and these companies, film 4 especially have bought out phenomonal films at only fraction of the price of some high tech films that are not always up to the standard of there films.

4.Who would be the audience for your media project?
The main audience would be youths 16+ as in our film we wanted it to represent true events that occur day to day all over the UK and we think that people our age can relate to this as these are dangers that people face all the time. This sort of crime. teenagers being killed happens alot in the UK and you see it weekly on the news so people know this is based on a very true, very serious issue. Another group of people that it might attract are people who like to try to get into the mind and figure out hat is going on inside the head of a psychotic killer.

5.How did you attract/address your audience?
The way that we attracted our audience and adressed them by showing local areas within the community that seem normal but this view is changed after the events that occur within the said community as people are killed and the communitys image is tainted by this.

6.what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?
I have noticed that when i first tried using all of the technologies used in processing our film i found them really hard to use and very complicated but since i have been using them much more i can use them easily now and make good use of the oppurtunites they create in making much better films and prodicts.

7.Looking back at your prelimanary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the product?
Looking back at my preliminary task i have learnt that varied use of camera shots adds a good effect to the shot and that over the shoulder shots add a certain degree of franticness to the film. I have also learnt that it is best to film at daytime nd darken the film via editing programs rather than filming at night as it appears too dark on screen. There are a number of faults that i now know we should improve such as the establishing shot which was too long and it would have been better to use a tripod for the image of the dead body to give a clearer view of what has happened.

Thriller movie complete!