In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real med

Our media product is the opening of a thriller film and we considered the conventions of the genre throughout our project, using many of them. Principally, our narrative is quite typical; a vulnerable young woman is kidnapped by a threatening man. Kidnappings (especially of innocent women by a man/men) are prevalent in thriller films, such as 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed', 'Taken' and 'Fargo'. However, our film does challenge the convention of having a male protagonist because our main character is a teenage girl. As well as in the plot of our film, thriller conventions can be seen in various other aspects, evident in individual shots (such as these nine shots from our film opening).

‘Se7en’

‘Panic Room’

This is one of the first shots of our antagonist (Mark); it is a close-up shot at a slightly high-angle to obscure the character's face, therefore creating a sense of mystery. Antagonists in the thriller genre are often conveyed as enigmatic, creating suspense. For example, John Doe (the antagonist in 'Se7en') is first presented in the title sequence of the film in extreme close-ups of his hands and his face is not revealed until much later in the film which creates a sense of anticipation to engage the audience. Mark’s costume is presented in this shot; it is mostly brown, which emphasises his anonymity because it is a neutral colour. The gloves in his costume can create sinister connotations to emphasise the threat associated with him, foreshadowing his crime because gloves can be worn by criminals to avoid leaving fingerprints. The kidnappers in ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’ similarly wore gloves, as did the intruders in ‘Panic Room’.

This shot includes a mirror which is a common prop in thriller films, for example the protagonist of 'Se7en' gets ready in front of a mirror in the opening of the film in a similar way to the protagonist (Lila) of our film. Mirrors can be metaphorical, symbolising self-perception and potentially presenting our character as selfconscious; this is conventional because uncertainty and paranoia are common themes in thriller films.

Furthermore, the technique of presenting a character in a 'frame within a frame' has been used in many thriller films (often through the use of doorways and mirrors) to symbolise that a character is trapped. In this case, the technique could foreshadow Lila's capture. Additionally, the floral wallpaper in her bedroom connotes innocence which is conventional for a character who is a victim. ‘Se7en’

The idea of a 'frame within a frame' is used in further shots in our film. The crossing of the window frame over Lila, creating a matrix, emphasises a sense of confinement. Thriller films often use dull washed-out colour palettes to present bleakness (as can be seen in ‘Essex Boys’ to represent the hopelessness of the character’s desperate situation) which can be seen in our film due to the greyish colour of the brick wall which dominates this shot. Furthermore, because this is a long and wide shot, Lila's vulnerability is reinforced as she appears isolated; for example, this technique was used in 'The Third Man' to present the weakness of the character Harry Lime as he loses hope of escape from the police.

‘Essex Boys’

‘The Third Man’

This close-up shot presents Lila's face as she turns to look back over her shoulder towards Mark. Close-ups are common within films of all genres to present the emotion of characters through the actors' use of facial expressions. In this case, our use of a close-up presents Lila's fear and emphasises her paranoid action; paranoia is a conventional theme of our film. The sense of threat is emphasised by the fast-pace of this cut; from this point in my film opening, as the plot reaches a climax, I made the pace of the cuts faster to make it more dramatic and intense. The mise en scene in this shot is also effective – the dark colour palette and low lighting is ominous.

Furthermore, the peeling paint on the wooden shed behind Lila could be symbolic of the erosion of morality in society, linking to the antagonist’s imminent crime and conveying a common theme of thriller films.

After the close-up shot of Lila, we quickly cut to a low-angle mid shot of Mark, creating a sense of opposition. The low-angle presents him as intimidating and this suggestion of power is reinforced by the composition of the shot because he is positioned on a line of third within the shot; this was also done in 'Essex Boys' in the first shot of the ruthless Jason Locke.

‘Essex Boys’

The presentation of Mark as intimidating is reinforced in this shot because he is centralised.

He is also presented as dominant because he is in the foreground of the shot, whereas Lila is smaller in the background so is presented as weaker and more vulnerable. In this scene, I added the sound effect of passing cars to emphasise the diegetic sound of traffic nearby to establish the urban location (a conventional setting for thriller films due to the themes of disillusionment and crime which can be found in city life).

This shot shows Lila entering an underpass, a metaphorical space which is symbolic of a transition into darkness, like the tunnel in the opening of 'Essex Boys’ which symbolises Billy Reynolds transition into the world of crime.

Additionally, the confined space creates a sense of claustrophobia, foreshadowing Lila’s capture and heightening the unease for the audience. The underpass which we used contains harsh lights, another similarity to the tunnel in the opening of 'Essex Boys’, which suggests intensity. These bright ambient lights also create dark shadows across the ceiling; the contrast of chiaroscuro lighting was prominent in film noir thrillers because the dark shadows constructed connotations of evil and danger. Furthermore, the grungy graffiti on the walls of the underpass emphasise that it is an urban location and suggest the grittiness which is conventional in British thriller films.

‘Essex Boys’

Our characters are centralised in this shot, like Harry in a shot from 'The Third Man', creating a sense of finality; this signifies that, as Mark quickly approaches behind her, Lila's fate has been sealed. The non-diegetic instrumental music which I added to my film has been increasing in volume throughout and is at its loudest by this point in the opening to increase the rising tension.

‘The Third Man’

This is the final shot of my film opening, before it dips to black. It is a close-up shot which creates a sense of intensity and emphasises the importance of this part of the plot – Mark has grabbed Lila. The dip to black which follows signifies the darkness of Lila’s situation and connotes danger.