1. Evaluation Q1-In what ways does your media
product use, develop, or challenge forms and
conventions?
Josh Tucker

2. Thriller Convention
As research we created a mind map of
various screenshots from different
thriller films. We analysed the 7
conventional features in the average
thriller film:
• Setting
• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• Themes
• Visual Style
• Iconography
We studied two thriller films (Prisoners
and Shutter Island)and analysed the 7
conventions within those two films.

3. Setting
This shot shows where our thriller film
takes place. The library is usually
labelled as a quiet and peaceful place,
but we added a dramatic twist by
having an antagonist and protagonist
within the library. The librarian (as
shown below) is an innocent citizen in
a comfortable surrounding. We
challenged the standard conventions
from thriller films, this is because of
the unusual scenery for the story to
take place. I took this screenshot from
‘Shutter Island’, the building would be
described as intimidating. A library
would not be seen as an intimidating
place, this is why we have challenged
this convention.
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4. Protagonist/Victim
Our victim is working alone in the
library. A typical protagonist would not
be seen in a library this connotes that
we challenged the conventions that
would normally appear in a standard
Thriller film. In the thriller film we
created the girl to be the only victim in
our film, this means that the attention
is solely focused towards he her and
the antagonist. The protagonist is yet
to be fully revealed fully as she is
missing at the end of our thriller.
Usually in a thriller film the
protagonist either goes missing or is
faced with difficult circumstances
throughout the film. We used this
convention as Kiera goes missing. The
middle shot is from ‘Prisoners’ the
victims go missing which shows a
resemblance to our film.

5. Antagonist
Our antagonist In our film ‘Index’ the
villain is presented as a typical
antagonist because of the dark
clothing, hidden face, heavy footsteps
and the slow paced walking. What also
makes our film use thriller conventions
is the mysterious whereabouts of our
character. The bottom picture shows
the villain with a section of his
emotion, and a hand drawing towards
the camera, this gives a sense that the
protagonist is in control and feels
confident and satisfied that the end is
near for the victim.

6. Themes
Our main theme is based around a
prisoner who has escaped from a
prison and targeting this young and
vulnerable girl in the library. We used
this convention which are often
presented in general thriller films. The
message ‘Escaped’ is bold and eye
catching, this adds further tension and
panic to the film because the viewer is
aware of the situation but our victim is
unaware.
The middle picture is a flashback of
the earlier moment in the film, quick
editing and in black and white. Many
flashbacks are shown in black and
white as shown in the bottom picture
which was taken from ‘Shutter Island’.
The use of a black and white image
shows sign of importance and
suspense because of the change from
the usual colour pictures. Characters
who have just escaped from prison
may have pictures shown in black and
white.

7. Iconography