Now that our A2 Products are done and our Media Portfolio is drawing to a close we now must evaluate our work in depth, in this question I will be evaluating how my media product 'Behind Closed Doors' used and developed thriller conventions and plots concerning domestic relationships against real media products I have researched.
First of all what are the codes and conventions of the thriller genre? and what are the stereotypes of characters in a domestic abuse relationship?
Codes and conventions of thrillers:Genre explanation: A thriller usually consists of a battle between the protagonist and the antagonist character which then leads on to a chain of bad happenings to build tension and suspense before the initial climax and ending.
Protagonist: Typically the protagonist is the one trying to restore order and normalcy to the chaos in one way or another, they are usually the vulnerable one being chased after or sort our by the Antagonist, the audience usually creates an empathetic connection with this character because of their innocence or vulnerability.
Antagonist: Usually the antagonist is evil and/or crazy, they conflict with the protagonist and sometimes have strong agenda's for them from the offset.
Conventions:
- Low key Lighting
- Quick Cuts
- Shadows
- Tension Music
- Changes in the angle of shot
- Protagonist is in the mercy of the antagonist
Stereo-typically the victim in a domestic abuse relationship is the female who is portrayed as the weaker of the two, being innocent looking and vulnerable. The domineering abuser is therefore the man who is stronger, bigger and looks rough. The clothing says a lot about the characters and the angles used show where the power is held between the two, often with the camera looking down on the victim or placing the aggressor in the rule of thirds making them a focal point meaning they hold importance. Dominance and weakness is also shown in the characters body language, the female/victim will have hunched shoulders or will typically look down. The male will have drawn back shoulders and will lean into the victim threateningly.
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| Key frames from 'Enough' |
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| Key Frames from 'Behind Closed Doors' |
The pictures for my 'Behind Closed Doors' Key frame are not in ascending order as they were numbered after arrangement but I will explain and evaluate in ascending order in connection to 'Enough's' key frames.
1) Image 1 of 'Enough' is a still of the protagonist with a background shot of her and the night, it is dark and shadowed this serves its purpose to set the scene and atmosphere, corresponding with that is ours picturing our protagonist sitting at a table, the background is dark and sets a tense atmosphere. A typical thriller convention is the movie has shadows and dark scenes and we picked up on this convention from the movie Enough and integrated this into our work, for further tension we added blurred effects over our "Past" scene of our product making the scene seem more dark and tense.
2) Image 2 of 'Enough' is a shot of the Antagonist in action, the antagonist is typically violent or destructive, in this instance the antagonist is violent as it's a domestic violence thriller, shot 2 of 'Enough' is a picture of the antagonist attacking the protagonist, because this is a tense moment in the movie the scene is dark and the Antagonist is shadowed for effect. We implemented this device in our product when the antagonist attacks our second protagonist at the end of our movie, the first 'attack' was not dark and shadowed as we wanted the audience to question the intentions of the antagonist at the start of weather he did mean to kill his spouse.
3) Image 3 is a change in the angle of shot, usually used to portray a sense of something and put you into the scene more. In 'Enough' the change in angle is used to show the protagonist's vulnerability with the camera looking down on her but off to the side, the audience feels like an active viewer in the scene and therefore captures their attention. Not only does it show vulnerability to the protagonist but it empowers the antagonist the culprit of such events. In our short film we used this angle when the protagonist, Alice dies; this is shot in the point of view of the antagonist though and therefore immerses the audience into his shoes creating questions for them which is also another way to raise suspense.
4) Image 4 is a shot of the protagonist in the mercy of the antagonist; for 'Enough' this is portrayed in a violent way where the antagonist has the protagonist by the hair and is subjecting his dominance and control upon her. Where as in our product the Antagonist is trying to manipulate and soften the protagonist so she will bend to his wishes without the use of violence but with the use of psychological manipulation that the audience will piece together further on in the short.
5) Image 5 is an over the shoulder reaction shot of the protagonist's realisation that their spouse is nasty and an antagonist. These shots were used to show the dawning horror and realisation on both actresses faces to the audience. In 'Enough' this is after the protagonist has first been struck that she realises her spouse is evil, this is also a crucial point for the audience to identify the Antagonist. For our product we replicated this moment but without violence being subjected to her, we have her looking down upset as the antagonist breaks a picture frame of the two of them purposefully and another shot of her a few seconds later in the bathroom crying holding her head in distress, this is a minor hint to the audience that Richard could be an antagonist but it doesn't become a realisation till a little later.
6) Image 6 is a still of the protagonist weak and at the mercy of the antagonist, showing the stereotypical feminine victim side. In 'Enough' she is looking up to the antagonist displaying the power once again and in our short we have her shying away from his violence, with hunched shoulders holding her head in fear.
7) Image 7 is a shot of the protagonist trying to restore the equilibrium and take charge of what is happening to them. This is the turning point in the thriller where the protagonist tries to help there self. image 7 of 'Enough' is a still of the protagonist becoming dominant and fighting back, you can see in facial expression that the innocent wide eyed look is gone and a hardened look has replaced it. We replicated this convention by having our protagonist try and leave the antagonist to restore her equilibrium.
8) Image 8 are stills of the Antagonists, in 'Enough' he wears a business suit to show his power and look more like a man, this makes him seem more threatening than if he was wearing normal everyday clothes so we dressed our antagonist the same for the same threatening powerful effect.
