social pharmacy d-pharm 1st year by Pragati K. Mahajan
How my media product develops conventions of the action thriller genre
1. In what ways does your
media product use, develop
or challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?
Evaluation Q1
2. Narrative was the first subject
we raised when working in our
group. We had to allocate a
genre in which we wanted our
film to fall into. With all genre
there are certain stock
narratives, themes, characters
and settings that need to be
shown throughout the film.
5. We wanted to include a fast pace
film that would have the audience on
the edge of their seats in
anticipation. As a group we also had
a good understanding of this genre
as shown on our blog. (link to genre
analysis). Our research allowed us
to identify different elements we
should include in order to make the
film work for our genre.
6. Textual
Analysis: How I
Live Now
In my textual analysis of the film
opening “How I Live Now” (2012) I
focused on the development of
characters to set the tone of the rest
of the film and how they acted as a
feature of the genre. The hostile
approach felt by Daisy in the
opening sets the tone of the
overhanging threat that is soon to
disrupt the activity of this group of
youngsters. This can be seen to
have an influence over the opening
of our film. Ava starts the film being
relaxed and enjoying herself and is
met with the earth shattering news
that not everything is always as it
seems and that everyone can just
7. Our Narrative
Within the first 2 minutes of our film we establish
that there is a disequilibrium where nothing is as
it seems or as it should be, and this remains for
the first act of the film according to Sid Field’s
three-acts. During the first 20 minutes of the film
(the first act) these unanswered question will
continue to stack up. The narrative is driven by
attempts to restore the equilibrium.
8. Stock Characters
Ava is the only main character that we meet in the opening.
She is the stereotypical teenager at the beginning of the film
and is thrown into the world of the unknown. The main
protagonist then seeks out help from a much larger group that
also have been landed in the same situation and share the
same goals. This group then attempt to succeed at a much
bigger target than previously thought about, much like in I am
Legend (2007). Neville is devoted to understanding the
creation that has developed after a bacterial plague that has
infected everyone around him. His discovery of a cure which
can heal the infected is in itself saving the whole world.
These typical teenagers are thought to have everything figured
out in their lives up until they are unexpectedly thrown into a
world that leads them to question the very make-up of their
lives. With this they find out that not everything is as clear as
they previously thought it was. This is similar to the character
Nathan in Abduction (2011), who discovers that his whole
childhood is built on lies and he spends the rest of the film
rediscovering who he really is.
9. Stock Setting
The storytelling starts out in a typical
house in a suburban town where
everything appears normal and content.
The setting then continues to distort until
it develops into a world that not even the
characters can recognize.
10. Stereotypes Met
With the beginning of the film we wanted to paint a
picture of a typical teenager and, to ensure this
occurred, we had to consider many of the
stereotypical opinions of a 16 year old teenage girl.
The stereotypes we took into account where as
follows:
1. Teenagers are always on their phones – she is
clutching her phone on her walk home, it wakes her up
and when she realises that everyone has gone the first
thing she runs for is the phone.
2. Teenagers go out and drink – she staggers home late
at night
3. Teenagers are reliant on their mothers – it is the first
person she calls out to when she gets in and also
when she wakes up.
11. It was important to
develop a clear layout of
all the repertoire of
elements for our genre
so that we could ensure
that we either directly
linked to it or challenged
it.
12. SETTING
• Urban cities
• Suburbs
• Darkness
• Abandoned areas
ICONOGRAPHY
• Car chases
• Guns and weaponry
• Explosions
• Deserted building
• Low key lighting
CHARACTERS
• Ordinary citizen pulled into
danger
• Powerful villain
• Supporting characters – who
journey together, resulting in
one of them betraying the rest of
the group.
NARRATIVE
• Focus on the protagonist
• Hero must overcome the
problems
• Good vs evil
• Violence
• Fast paced action
• Unexpected plot twists
• Uncertainty
13. What we developed in our 2
minutes of film
SETTING
• Urban cities
• Suburbs
• Darkness
• Abandoned areas
ICONOGRAPHY
• Car chases
• Guns and weaponry
• Explosions
• Deserted building
• Low key lighting
CHARACTERS
• Ordinary citizen pulled into
danger
• Powerful villain
• Supporting characters – who
journey together, resulting in
one of them betraying the rest of
the group.
NARRATIVE
• Focus on the protagonist
• Hero must overcome the
problems
• Good vs evil
• Violence
• Fast paced action
• Unexpected plot twists
• Uncertainty
14. Codes and
Conventions
that we
Challenged
Most of the successful action
films are based around strong
willed fully grown male
protagonists, for example
James Bond and The Bourne
series. However, Silence in the
Streets follows a small
teenaged girl as she fights to
defeat a powerful government.
