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

Narrative:In this screen grab from my opening, I’m trying to use the thriller convention of creating an enigma straight away for the viewer. This is because I have used the briefcase as a vehicle to drive the storyline forward. I have researched that thrillers such as Disturbia use a narrative subject to drive the story. An example of this is when the main characters dad dies and as a result it creates a chain of establishing enigmas and problems. The briefcase uses this convention because it creates the enigma of what the briefcase is, what’s inside it and what’s its importance to the story. I have recognized beforehand that traditional thriller openings contain a narrative convention to start the story. This may be in a case of a murder or, as I have done, used a prop to do this. An example of this is in Enemy of The State where

there is a murder within minutes of the opening. To continue on with this convention of narration, I have also included the thriller convention of a murder in my thriller. This is shown in the screen shot below the briefcase where a sniper rifle is looking at the main

character. This convention also drives the story forward as it creates the convention of something extraordinary in an ordinary situation.

Sub-Genre:My thriller uses many conventions to make it into the sub-genre of a conspiracy. This is because the thriller creates enigmas for the audience to

question and many times. A typical conspiracy allows for audience to have to work out many different problems to do with the thriller but also it lets them prejudge with there own opinion of the thriller. In my thriller the main character is using this convention as he turns from being ordinary to being a mysterious and anxious character who gets put in an extraordinary situation. I have used mise-en-scene to create a typical conspiracy thriller by using the location and costume that seems ordinary but it isn’t. The narrative itself is full of conventions such as establishing enigmas with a pattern, use of a murder and an extraordinary situation in an ordinary one. A typical conspiracy uses these conventions.

In these pictures above are screen grabs of the many enigmas that I think my film has created. It this uses the convention of creating enigmas as I have made many on a variety of different ways. More importantly these enigmas are also using the convention of a narrative pattern of establishing enigmas. In this case the first enigma is the briefcase where the audience questions its contents and relevance. The next enigma is the location; the audience is shown that it’s in a barn or farm location that seems ordinary. The other enigmas include: The character calling someone the audience aren’t told about, another character is unveiled but you don’t see his face and you only see him for 5 seconds, the caller being unknown and finally the guy in the passport which is shown to have relevance to the storyline as he is flashed up onto the screen.

Character:My thriller develops on the convention of a typical thriller character. In my thriller opening the main character is, for the first half, the only character shown to the audience. I think that I develop on the convention because the character doesn’t originally seem weak or powerless and also doesn’t seem like a hero or anti-hero. Instead the character is dressed in a business costume and acts in an ordinary situation. This then develops as the character arrives at the destination and decides to ring someone unknown to the audience. The fact that he looks around and feels the need to ring shows that the character is anxious. I feel that this is developing on the convention because the

character was originally challenging the convention because everything about him seemed regular however, halfway through the opening he then changes the audience’s opinion due to the phone call and events to follow.

Titles and Fonts:In this screen grab I have tried to show that I have used the thriller convention of typical thriller titles and fonts. I think I have done this by having the convention of the titles referring to the characters state. This happens by the titles moving around at all times that causes confusion, the way the titles appear and also the font I’ve used. The titles mostly either spin in or

spin at some point in motion. I have done this to try and get the audience to think about it as it comes across as hard to read. The font I have used is a typical thriller font that looks like handwriting or a typewriter. I did some research into thriller titles and fonts and got inspired by the thriller opening of Se7en. This included fonts like this to link the character to the handwriting of the fonts. In my thriller I’ve linked it to the character by showing the characters current state as the film leaves him. This is a state of confusion and leaves the viewers and character with many enigmas. The titles are shown to be hard to read and understand and I think this is how our character is relates to this.

Location:My thriller is set in a barn and farm location to represent an ordinary situation. We see the character walking along a country road which is aligned with houses. We then see the reveal of the barn and farm to show its main location. This may be typical for some thrillers when they are planning for something extraordinary to happen. I have tried to use the typical thriller convention of having an extraordinary situation in an ordinary situation. I think that happens in

my thriller as it seems to be set in a farm, which looks normal, however it then changes at an instance. I have got inspiration from the film Shooter. This is because near the beginning there are people driving in an ordinary situation yet, they are being severely watched and then get sniped. I have used this in my thriller because the guy is always being watched by at least two people who are shown briefly.

Techniques:The screen grab in the top right, showing the gate, was used to try not to reveal the main characters face to the audience. It was trying to use the convention of using microelements to build up suspense by not revealing the characters face. I used camerawork of the microelements to not show the characters face when he is walking and also using the close-up of a hand pushing a gate open. This then links to the image below it as I used a point of view shot to try and not reveal that characters face to the main character and to the audience. You can tell it is a point of view shot because I used handheld camerawork to try and give it this effect. This is also using the convention as linked with the gate.In the top left image I have used a film reel effect overlaying the main video. This was trying to create more enigmas as there is footage on the film reel that you can’t quite make out. I used this to build on what has already happened in the film and trying to get the audience to work out that they need to judge the film in there own way based on the conspiracy sub-genre that is created.