Evaluation Question 1 - "In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?"

In my thriller opening, we have used, develop and challenged
the forms and conventions that have been seen in so many thrillers.
In my opening sequence, many techniques such as the usage of a macguffin, suspense, a cliff hanger and the creation of an enigma code helped create the experience that differentiates thrillers from other genres.

The Macguffin

The usage of a macguffin, in this case a letter, helped to provide a drive to the story line and set up the plot as characters want to know the contents of the letter but are not shown.
It helps in connecting the characters together as all they have one thing to do with this mysterious letter.

There are many thrillers which use macguffins as maintaing the storyline but in reality have little or no narrative explantion.

For example in Casablanca (1942), the letters of transit are used as a macguffin as it is the major object that the protagonist pursues and provides a story line to see how he obtains it.





The Letters of Transit from Casablanca (1942)

The Usage of Enigma Codes

An enigma is a question, character or action, which is thrown into the thriller to make audiences think and answer why it was done.
 It is usually hard to explain or answer at first but gradually the answer is revealed throughtout the thriller.

Actions such as the passing of the letter to the protagonist and the bounding of him also create this enigma as questions are raised as to why these actions have occured and only the film will help answer these questions.

The Filming of Scenes in Black and White and The Usage of Low Key Lighting

The filming of scenes in black and white creates the effect of a flashblack, creating sense of time and space disorentation, a dive into a character's past could explain why he's in that particular situation.

The usage of low key lighting, especially on the antagonist, show his dark and evil side. 

It makes the antagonist more feared by the viewer as you won't be able to see him; not knowing his real intentions and goals also adds to the mystery of the character.

Norman Bates of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is often potrayed
has low key lighting to show his dark and evil side. 

Just like Norman Bates, The Boss also has low key lighing portrayed on him to show his dark and evil side.

The quest set for the protagonist is usually one that is forced upon him, he can not back out of it

The events that the protagonist find themselves in are often caused by external forces out of their control and put into situations that will find hard to back out of. 

They often have to solve the issue at hand or kill the protagonist in order to get of the situation.

A good example of this is in the film North by Northwest where
Roger Thornhill is put into a situation out of his control
and the only way to get out of the events is to solve it.

The Use of a Cliffhanger

 This means that the future for charcters after the events in the story is unresolved or certain;this leaves the audience eager to know what will happen next.

The sequence ends at a gunshot thinking that the protagonist has been killed leaving the viewer with an
enigma which has to be solved.

 

The opening sequence of Memento also employs a cliffhanger in a sense
as it not known who committed the murder. 

Place Appropriate

Our thriller is set in an urban and every-day setting like most thrillers of today; it helps in creating the idea of a realistic situation where any ordianary citizen could be drawn into the situation the protagonist is as he/she is in realistic settings.

A good example is the Bourne film series,
which three films are all held in urban
settings.



Just like the Bourne film series, our film opening is also features
urban settings, which helps create realism of the events occurring.