Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1. My opening to a thriller film, Stone Statues, is a film which tries to challenge some of the generic aspects of thriller films through but uses other aspects to confirm itself within the genre.

The title of the film is Stone Statues which is linked to the fact the main character starts in a graveyard and there are gravestones everywhere. Thrillers such as Pyscho hint at their being something to do with the name of the film and what happens in it. The real reason it is called Stone Statues is because of the stone angel in the back ground when the title of the film first appears.

The main location of the film was a cemetery in Wymondham. The features of the place with it being a graveyard gave me the option to link it with the ending of The Third Man and especially the stone angel in the middle of the cemetery gave me an idea which links to the weeping angels in Doctor Who. The cemetery is a dull place and suits the generic conventions of a thriller film which firmly places it in the genre.

The ending of The Third Man

                                                         The Weeping Angels

The road at the bottom of the cemetery isn’t a place that would normally see a crime happening but I tried to challenge the generic conventions of the thriller genre and tried to have a place that would shock the audience because a crime wouldn’t normally happen there. The crime happening at a cemetery helps put fear in people’s minds because of the fear or spirits and poltergeist which are mainly linked with the dead and having it at a cemetery means that people will have fear that this could happen to them. Having the hit and run attack on the road means that it conforms to one of the generic conventions of having a damp wet road and that’s where mine takes place.

When choosing what to dress Sofia, I wanted to choose something that would challenge the normal stereotype for women in thrillers where they wear red lipstick and a dress. I watched the movie Time lapse to get some inspiration because that is a modern day thriller and has the female characters wearing modern clothes rather than those of the typical thriller genre. I thought that having a contemporary style of clothing would be better than having any that were associated with the genre in a typical sense.

I wanted Sofia to wear a band t-shirt and jeans and a hoodie because it challenged the stereotype that females dress elegantly and are all sweethearts. I thought that it would suit my character better than the normal style of clothing.

The choice of soundtrack was inspired by the opening theme of Midsomer Murders because it is quite slow and uses what seems to be the sound of an oboe. The theme tune to that inspired me to find something along those lines and I chose it to grasp the audience.

I left it on a cliff hanger because then it grasps the audience in wanting to know more and wanting to watch more of the film. I also left it on a cliff hanger because it is a typical convention in thriller films and to confirm it amongst the genre.

In summary, Stone Statues uses different forms and conventions that would please a modern day audience. The same type of theme tune from Midsomer Murders, the stone angel from Doctor Who, and the stereotype challenging clothes of Sofia.