1. QUESTION #1
In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge conventions of real
Media Products?

2. Typical Genre Conventions
The very first research task I did involved looking at different thriller conventions
and outlining factors of sound, editing, storylines, themes, characters and
settings which consistently appeared in a number of different thriller movies.

3. Opening Sequence Conventions
During my research I looked into opening sequences and title sequences a
good amount. (Refer to research tasks 10, 11 and 12). During these tasks I did
begin to notice conventions which appeared over and over again.
Examples of these are
1. Titles
2. Introduction of the protagonist
3. General character stereotypes
4. Thriller Influences

4. The Protagonist
The protagonist in our film does follow thriller conventions. The
use of the detective has been used in many films such as shutter
island, se7en, the silence of the lambs and rear window. Having
the main character as a detective does underline the fact that we
wanted our opening sequence to be a crime thriller, and having a
detective also fit in with the subgenre we picked for our opening
sequence which was crime. I took inspiration from the film
‘Shutter Island’ as we wanted the detective to start out confident,
but towards the end of the film ‘If it was made into a full
production’ we wanted the detective to be questioning his own
life, and the way he lives it. In reflection I feel that detective
hunter was a decent protagonist; he fit into basic thriller and
crime conventions which made him a interesting character. If I
was to change his character at all I would think about his attitude
towards his relationships and his jobs. I would want to make him
appear at either one of two extremes, a really friendly nice caring
character or a ruthless angry character.

5. The Role of the Character Banks
I believe that my opening sequence does challenge a number of different
conventions you would within a thriller/crime genre film. I feel the characters
don’t always match the stereotype of what people think they should be, a prime
example of this is the character Head Detective Banks. Banks is a strong willed
character who knows that she has to make the hard decision when necessary,
she also is intimidating which is what you expect a head detective to be. I feel
that there is two unconventional factors about Banks one being her gender,
people expect a head detective to be a tall strong man who can just shout to
get his opinion across, whereas Banks is a small rather stocky woman who
uses her charm to persuade people to do as she says, This can be seen when
she calls up the detective and asks him to come in on his day off duty. Overall I
think the use of the character banks had a positive effect on my opening
sequence. This is because she challenges a typical gender and genre
convention to make an interesting character which is relatable to the target
audience as well as fitting the role of the character perfectly.

6. The Influence
Common Influences for thriller movies tend to be of historical
events which have had a negative effect on society. An example
of this is Texas chainsaw massacre, I think production
companies like the idea of basing a thriller film on a real event as
it makes it that little bit more realistic. My Thriller opening
sequence was based on a game called Where’s the elephant
which is a simple yet stupid game which is totally harmless. We
tried to turn the elephant into a serious and harmful killer to
create a sense of dramatic irony. In reflection I do think basing a
thriller of this idea does make sense, but maybe it would be
better suited at a thriller parody as making something which isn’t
seriously and turning it into something suspenseful wasn’t easy.
Another thing I would change if I was to make the opening
sequence again is the presence of the elephant. It wasn’t clear
from watching the opening sequence as to why the film was
called where’s the elephant.

7. Conventional Titles
When it came to looking at different titles for my thriller opening
sequence I decided to take inspiration from the film Se7en.
Se7en had conventional opening titles which are of an average
size, what appears to look like hand written font couple with
quick jumps of the text to keep the audience alert. I tried to apply
a similar concept to my opening sequence but tune down the
use of movement, as I felt that the movement made it much
harder for the audience to read and engage with the information
available. On reflection I feel that I may of shied away from the
movement a bit to much, I made the movement to smooth so the
audience didn’t get the jump from the text which adds suspense
and makes the title interesting.

8. Conclusion
Looking at the decisions I've made I can say they have had
a positive effect on my opening sequence. Challenging
stereotypes such as the head detective and choosing a
unconventional influence has given my opening sequence
that unique edge. As well as challenging stereotypes the
stereotypes I chose to follow thriller conventions such a
sour protagonist, detective hunter. I think this grounds our
product as a crime - thriller. Because of this I feel that we
can attract a wider audience, as there are a larger range of
different characters which the audience can relate too, on
top of this we still have typical thriller characters so people
who enjoy thriller movies and still feel that our opening
sequence satisfies their needs.