Our media product opening uses and develops conventions of the thriller genre in several ways. It keeps the main character's identity secret initially through camera angles like long shots from behind. It also creates suspense, voyeurism, and confusion through quick cuts between scenes. Enigmas are established, like whether a burial was reality or a dream, raising questions for the audience. Characterization is developed through costume choices that symbolize innocence versus danger and through setting scenes in locations that provide clues about the character. The typical portrayal of protagonists and antagonists is also challenged by keeping unclear whether the character is the villain or victim.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
In our thriller opening we included many different conventions which are typical of those in thriller
genre films:
In thriller movies the identity of a certain
character is typically kept a secret from either the
audience or someone who features in the film.
We have used this idea and incorporated it into
our own thriller opening. We made it so that the
audience were unable to identify who the main
character was straight away. In order to do this we
included camera angles such as long and over the
shoulder shots which were captured from behind
the character, keeping their identity a mystery.
The dark lighting throughout the scene also makes
it hard for the audience to identify the character.
By not having the character’s face in the shot until towards the
middle of our opening this also created suspense, creating enigmas and causing the audience to
watch more in order to find out who the character is and how significant this is to the narrative.
Another affect which we were able to create from these types of camera shots was voyeurism. This
is where the audience are able to see something within the film that a particular character does not
know they can see. In our shot, for example, we have placed the camera so that it is behind the
character as if someone is watching what they are doing. By featuring the tree to the right of the
shot this could indicate that this person is hiding and should not be there.
We also included handheld over the shoulder shots. From these it creates a ‘choppy’ affect as
though someone is walking behind them.
An optical illusion of some sort is also popular
in thriller based films in order to create
confusion and so we developed this idea so
that it would fit into our thriller opening. . We
have cut quick shots together of both the
character walking towards the camera in the
dark and her face as she begins to wake up. By
doing this, not only does it create confusion
for the audience, but it also cleverly portrays
the feelings and emotions of the character
themselves.

2. As mentioned, throughout our media product we have
included many different enigmas for the audience. This is
also very typical within thriller films. We have developed
this idea and included several through-out our opening,
all of which are particularly significant towards the
narrative which is later to unravel as the film goes on.
One of the main enigmas which we have included is
raised from this particular shot. By featuring this ‘point of
view’ shot of the girl washing mud off her hands, many
initial questions are raised for the audience. It has not yet
been made obvious whether or not the previous ‘burial
scene’ has been a dream or reality; this particular shot
makes it slightly clearer. Many different questions are raised at
this particular moment as the audience are faced with the idea that it what they have
previously seen may not actually be a dream. This raises questions such as: Does the character know
this herself? What is it that she was burring? What is she going to do about it?
We chose to develop the characterisation of our main
character particularly in the scenes after she has woken
up. In the second scene the location plays a huge part in
the narrative. We filmed it in my house and picked
carefully which rooms we were to film in. We chose to film
the scene in my bedroom as it is particularly girly and
includes many different props which could represent the
personality of the character, again raising even more
enigmas.
Another way in which we developed the characterisation
of the main character was through costume. We carefully
thought about what she should wear in each scene as the
representation of the character is crucial, with her clothes
being very symbolic. In the burial scene she is seen
wearing a white, floral dress. This could be interpreted as
innocence, reflecting the way in which people see her
normally. However, we made it so that she was also
wearing a red coat. In films the colour red is used a lot to
signify danger, because it can be associated with blood.
Therefore, we decided to use this idea in our thriller
opening to symbolise the ‘darker side’ to our character.
Towards the end of our opening the audience see the main

3. character putting on a school uniform. This we decided to include so that the audience were able to
know a bit more about the character. From this the audience are able to establish her age and the
fact that she is just a typical school girl. This makes it appear much more realistic yet provide a
strange twist on the way in which school girls are typically portrayed within the media.
Also in our opening, we have challenged the typical conventions of a protagonist or antagonist. We
have done this by keeping this remained as a mystery
and the audience are left unaware whether the
character is the protagonist or antagonist. By including
the scene where she is putting on her school uniform,
this creates a different perspective on the character as
she is portrayed as being ‘normal’. This then causes the
audience to question whether or not she knows what
she has done or whether it was intentional. For all the
audience know at this moment, there could be
someone else behind what appear to be a murder,
perhaps someone who is influencing her.