G321: Evaluation Question 1

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

My group’s thriller is mainly inspired by the films ‘Se7en’, ‘Animal Kingdom’ and ‘The Third Man’; it combines the twisted psychological aspect of ‘Se7en’ the distorted corruption of ‘Animal Kingdom’ and generic conventions used in ‘The Third Man’. The low key lighting within scenes of the film can cause a sense of concern and anxiety, often associated with the thriller genre. For example, the scene of the enigmatic figure looking at the boy sleeping creates a sense of fear, perturbing the audience and suggesting corruption within the figures mental state. Various tilt shots are used within my group’s thriller. For example, the tilt shot used in the scene where the boy is walking down the hall creates a sense of mystery, nightmare and illusion suggesting the boy has woken up to a nightmare reality. The tilt shot could also represent the boy's alienation from society, and could show how mcu hhe is yet to understand about his surroundings. The trilby hat is a classic feature of noir thrillers, as shown in films such as ‘The Third Man’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in America’. The enigmatic figures used in our thriller, all wear a trilby hat; this connotes deviance, whilst adding to the mystery and unknown identity of the enigmatic figures. This is used in ‘The Third Man’; Harry Lime is often wearing a trilby hat, which suggests he is a menacing and mysterious character, and has no feeling of empathy for any of his victims.

My group has decided to call the main character (the boy) Jonathon Cody, and the Mother, Eve Cody. The surnames of the characters are a direct reference to the Cody family in ‘Animal Kingdom’. The Cody family are linked to criminal actions such as drug dealing and theft, but Smurf (the mother) and Joshua (the son) have a strong bond with each other, which we tried to portray in our thriller. The boy’s first name, Jonathon, means a gift of god. In our thriller, the audience does not know of Jonathon’s fate, Jonathon could be killed, but he could also survive, this keeps the audience guessing. The name of the mother, Eve, relates to the story of Adam and Eve. Eve is seen as the perfect being, but her greed gets her in trouble. We thought Eve would be a good forename, because it’s suggests the mother’s greed eventually got her killed, which has a dramatic effect on her son, which may break the bond they share with each other. The name Eve is also a reference to the classical femme fatale, in 'Once Upon a Time in America'. The mother is similiar to Eve, as she gets gunned down, in the opening sequence, this could therefore have negative connotations and may suggests the mother's  fate, before revealing her death.