For AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

1. ANSWERED BY
Rida Zeeshan Siddiqui,
author of making-
duplicitous.tumblr.com
SUBMITTED FOR
DUPLICITOUS - a film
opening made for the AS
Media Studies Foundation
Portfolio
DUPLICITOUS
How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it
represent social groups or issues?
MARCH 15, 2017 CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION QUESTION #1

2. Summary
What is 'DUPLICITOUS'?
Our product is a film opening sequence titled
‘DUPLICITOUS’. It belongs to the thriller and
murder / mystery genres- genres that are
known for having very particular conventions
attached to them. Our opening sequence
attempts to both use those conventions and
challenge them in appropriate places in order
to create the desired effect on the audience.
DUPLICITOUS tells the story of a man who is
both a loving, doting father, and a cruel,
coldhearted murderer, and how he attempts
to hide his darkness from his son. Heavily
focusing on dichotomy in the visuals of the
film, DUPLICITOUS attempts to showcase
the extreme duality of this troubled man.
Conventions In DUPLICITOUS
Coming back to the thriller and mystery
genres, there are notable conventions of the
two that we chose to adhere to so that we
could fulfill the expectations our audience
might have when watching a film of these
genres. There are also some conventions that
we’ve challenged in order to better represent
the meaning and storyline of the film.
An example of a convention we’ve adhered to
is the ‘inciting crime’, reflected in our murder
scene in the warehouse. This violence-
centered scene was very important to the
opening sequence as is customary for most
thriller / mystery films.
A core convention we chose to challenge,
however, is the existence of two contrasting
individuals that serve the roles of
‘protagonist’ and ‘antagonist’. The hero and
the villain in DUPLICITOUS are one and the
same, two sides to one coin- Hakan. By
making Hakan serve both roles, the film
opening sets itself apart from what is
expected from it.
Most mysteries and thrillers require a solid
soundtrack to go along with the visuals on-
screen and generate a bigger impact on the
audience. Sometimes, sound can give the
audience important clues they require to
follow along with the story as well. This is
something that I used in our film opening- a
particular soud effect has been used to signal
a ‘flashback’ to the audience so that it is clear
that the murder happened before the current
DUPLICITOUS CCR Q#1 PAGE 02
c o n v e n t i o n s

3. Summary
tension is maintained throughout the film
and a twist or cliffhanger definitely helps do
exactly that. This is something we’ve adhered
to, evident by the abrupt ending after the
audience finds out that somebody is aware of
Hakan’s dark secret- somebody out there
knows tha the murdered his wife. This abrupt
cliffhanger would (hopefully) make anyone in
the audience want to continue watching the
film.
Although the short film opening itself does
not dive into or explore such topics
explicitly, DUPLICITOUS is meant to serve as
a commentary about a dangerous man whose
abuse and hatred towards his wife results in
a painful and broken childhood experience
for the son. Hakan murdering his wife in cold
blood (despite them being a happy family and
raising a song together) can be taken as a
commentary on the seemingly-intrinsic
feelings of violence and hatred that many
men harbour against women. Since the
characters of the film opening are meant to
be South Asian, our film opening also sheds a
light upon how violence against women is
still so frequently seen in our society but that
it is rarely-ever properly punished.
DUPLICITOUS CCR Q#1 PAGE 03
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n
events (of the kitchen and the park). The
flashback itself is actually also a convention
of the genre. Apart from this though, dark,
ominous music was used when appropriate
to properly emulate the fear and horror the
audience is supposed to feel while watching
the murder scene.
Yet another convention of the genre is: dim,
atmospheric, low-key lighting. This one has
been both sued and challenged by us. Where
our murder scene completely fits this
description to a T, our kitchen and park
scenes vastly contrast, and this challenging
of the lighting / gradation convention helps
portray our original intent: two visually
display contrast.
Extreme close-up shots are another example
of a genre convention that we’ve adhered to,
with the memorable close-up of Hakan’s eyes
that is used to transition between the murder
and kitchen scenes via a match cut.
Representation In DUPLICITOUS
Finally, it is one of the most important things
about the mystery and thriller genres that

4. Summary
DUPLICITOUS CCR Q#1 PAGE 04
c o n c l u s i o n
DUPLICITOUS also represents how many
children across the world suffer from their
parents' declining relationships. Whether by
divorce or otherwise, failing marriages
contribute heavily to giving children
childhood traumas that fester and negatively
affect them well into adulthood. Even if a
couple separates on a relatively civil note,
the child will still have to bear negative
consequences of their parents’ decision,
whether through not being able to
experience the same ‘normal’ things that
other kids their age can, or through being
ostracized by society for being a single-
parent child, it is indubitably the child that
will suffer the most.
Since these are unfortunate-but-important
topics to talk about, we attempted to start a
conversation on them through our film
opening DUPLICITOUS.