This document analyzes the opening sequences of two films - a thriller called "Retribution" and a comedy called "The Imposters" - through a nine-frame analysis. It finds that while some conventions are shared between the genres, such as displaying the film title, the thriller opening challenges conventions through unusual fonts, music, and credit positioning to build tension. In contrast, the comedy takes a more straightforward approach with centered credits and nature shots. Through shots of the victim, the thriller establishes a dark, confined setting and uses lighting and angles to convey vulnerability and power dynamics consistent with the genre.

1. Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Nine frame analysis of my film opening sequence called “Retribution”. The genre my film is
thriller.
Nine frame analysis of an existing film open sequence. This opening sequence is from the
film called “The Imposters”. The genre of this film is comedy.

2. I am going to analyse the similarities and differences between the shots in my opening
sequence with the shots in the existing opening sequence.
Shots one:
The first shot from my frame starts the opening sequence by displaying “Twisted Pictures
Presents” we have displayed who the film is presented by at the beginning because it
instantly tells the audience who the film is presented by so if the viewer likes the film they
know which company films to watch. This is a good way of them advertising themselves.
Using this for the first shot is useful because the audience always look at what appears first.
We have displayed the text using a mid-shot so it is not over powering but not invisible. The
first shot from the existing frame uses the same shot of display the film name “The
Imposters”, it has also used a mid-shot. The idea that it has a black background is really
good because it makes the white font stand out; this is why we have also used a black
background. However we have challenged these existing conventions because we have not
displayed the film name at the beginning. This is because we knew that the audience will
already be aware of the film name so it will not make much of a difference if we displayed
the film name later on. Both of the shots have used different font styles. The first shot in my
frame uses a cracked font style which fits in with the thriller genre of my film. This contrasts
with the first shot from the existing frame which uses a plain simple font style. This also
shows another way we have challenged media conventions because we have not gone for
the ordinary font style. The music in my opening sequence starts with
There is no music played throughout the first shot of the “The Imposters”, this may have
been done be to draw the attention of audience of what is going to happen because it is a
comedy film and they will be expecting to see something funny. The beginning of our film
sequence starts with horror music called “Halloween theme song”, we used this song at the
beginning as it is fast paced which builds tension for the audience. This shows we have
developed existing conventions because the majority of thriller/horror films starts with
quick paced music do draw in the attention of the viewers. It is interesting how both the
film sequences are of different genres but use the same shot, colours and style for the
opening scene. This shows how different genres of films can use the same conventions.
Shots two:
The second shot from my frame shows Lucy (victim) looking into the camera as she is
getting ready for school using a mid-close-up shot showing her hand movements and
uniform showing the viewer that she is a school student. This is a stereotypical shot of how
girls concentrate closely on how their visual appearance. The location Lucy is standing in is
the toilet which reflects the genre of the film as thriller/horror because she is standing in a

3. confined area which indicates she is restricted to moving around and is closed within that
location, this is stereotypical of thriller films because a lot of confined locations are used in
them to make the audience feel that someone is watching them. This shot introduces Lucy
as being in control of herself, she has got her elbows out telling the audience that she is
holding her hips, this reflect the confidence she has in herself. In this shot the audience can
see that she is getting ready to go to school because she is wearing her school uniform. Her
strong personality is also reflected through her clothes for example people that wear blazers
and suits often feel superior and well presented. This reflects her bubbly, outgoing
personality. This shot uses special effects by making this shot black and white as it is
showing a flash back of what Lucy did earlier that morning. Flashbacks are a key convention
of thriller because it reflects time and space causing dis-continuity in the sequences which
confuses the audience. The flash backs are black and white which is another key feature of
thriller films because they emphasise the use of shadows which can often appear as dark.
An example of this is in the film “Psycho” by Alfred Hitchcock. The second shot of “The
Imposters” also uses a mid-close-up shot of the man sitting drinking his tea/coffee. This shot
allows viewers to see the facial expression on his face looking as if he is disgusted. This shot
in itself may be funny for the audience because his face looks grumpy. This shot shows that
he is wearing a suit, dressed smartly so he must be in a high profession. The second shots
from both frames show similarities in their clothing. Our film sequence challenges the
stereotype that only men wear suits and women cannot. Lucy is also wearing a tie which
challenges this stereotype further because you rarely see a girl/woman wearing formal
clothing with a tie as it can be seen as unusual to some people.
Shot 3, 5, 7:
The third shot starts by displaying the credit “Jodie Smith”, this is the name of an actor that
comes later on in the film. The name of the actor is displayed on the bottom left hand
corner while the rest of the screen in pitch black, this creates tension. The third shot from
my frame displays another credit “Taylor Matthews”, this is the name Lucy’s abuser. This
credit id displayed on the on the bottom right hand corner. The seventh shot from this
frame shoe two credits displayed at the same time, “Lucy Smith” who is the victim and “Paul
Walker” who is the main inspector in the film. You can see that our opening sequence
displays the opening credits in several different positions throughout the sequence. This
reflects the uncertainty of thriller/horror films because anything can be expected. Similarly
the opening credits to the thriller film “Panic Room” displays its opening credits through
various angles as shown below:

4. This builds on the suspense. Therefore we have used a typical convention for the positioning
of the opening credits. However shots three, five and seven in “The imposters” frame
displays all the opening credits in the centre which shows continuity of the credit
positioning throughout the opening sequence. This could be because comedy films do not
use special effects as much.
Shots 4:
Shot four in the “Retribution” frame shows a high angle of the camera focusing on Lucy as
she is sitting tied to a chai in a basement looking around in a panic. This shot has been used
to make the audience feel that someone is spying in her and it makes viewers want to watch
on as they want to see who it is. This shot shows Lucy is still wearing her uniform which
shows that these events happened on the same day. Shot four from “The Imposters” carries
on from shot two which is showing the man getting sugar from another man sitting on a
table next to him. This shot uses a wide shot showing the audience that he is sitting in-
between high class rich people because the men wearing expensive suits and the women
are wearing formal dresses. The location of this scene shows tree and a lake in the far
distance which connotes nature, calmness, this focuses all the attention of the audience on
the man so viewers find his acting funny. In the fourth shot in my frame lighting is shining on
Lucy like a spotlight which highlights her as a lonely individual in the basement. Using
lighting as almost a spotlight on the victim makes them appear vulnerable and helpless. The
low key lighting used in this shot is a common convention of a thriller film which is used to
represent the victims hidden feelings inside them and it also creates suspense.
Shots 6:
Shot six of the “Retribution” frame shows a wide angle shot of Lucy tied to a chair. This
shows she is under the control of someone else but cannot escape. You can clearly see that
the location is in a basement which is typical of thriller movies because they are mainly
based around dark, confined locations. A wide range of mise-en-scene has been used in this
shot showing a lamp used, basket in shot four users can see a rope this informs and shows
the audience where this scene is located and how the abuser has prepared himself for the
victim. This equipment reinforces that the genre of the film is thriller. From this shot the

5. audience can see that there is going to be a pan around Lucy which will almost make the
audience feel that someone is walking towards her creating tension. Shot six of “The
Imposters” frame shows another wide shot of the man standing up welcoming a woman to
sit down with him. This informs the audience that he was waiting for someone.
Shots 8:
Shot eight of the “Retribution” frame shows a high angle shot, zoomed into Lucy’s legs
showing she is sitting and the abusers feet. The use of this high angle is to reinforce his
dominating power over Lucy. This is a common convention because most of the time
women are made to be the helpless victims while men are represented as strong and
dominating because they believe they have string physical power.
Shots 9:
Shot nine in my frame displays the name of our film which is “Retribution”, it is displayed in
red because red typically connoted blood, power, fire etc. Also the font style of the cracked
effect is the same as the title in the first shot this shows continuity from beginning to end.
Overall looking at both of the frames you can see that the “Retribution” frame uses a wide
range of camera angles and shots, this shows the frequently used conventions of thriller
which includes flashy editing and quick shots which create tension in a short period of time.
By contrast “The imposters” frame shows blatant continuity between the shots which
reflects the calm sequences of the comedy. More interesting thrillers have to use quick,
jumpy shots as a way of keeping the audience engaged, while comedy films are more
relaxed because they know that the audience will be entertained through the humour. This
also leads to the difference in the sound used. Also along with the visuals sound plays an
important part in getting a message across to the audience. Thriller films use intense,
upbeat sound tracks like we have in our opening sequence to keep the audience engaged,
this is typical of most thriller movies.