1. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
Influencesof ourfilmopening:
I wouldpersonallysaythe mainfilms andseries whichhave influencedusuponcreatingour
narrative withinourfilm openingwouldhave tobe SinCityand Top of the Lake as theyboth
demonstrate aspectswe wantedtopresentwithinourfilmopening.Anexampleof thiswouldbe
the Vigilante role of ‘JohnHartigan’apolice officerwhodecidedtotake the law in hisownhands
whenhe becomesaware of the ambitionsof achildkillerwhohaspowerful friendsinthe
government.We decidedtouse thisas one of our keyideasforthe narrative as we likedthe way
that thisside storywasbaseduponrelevantstory’swithinthe news withcurrentcorruptionof high
formsof power,thiswashelpful forusasthere has been recentstory’s of victimscomingouttodo
mediawithsexual harassmentallocationstowardspowerfulcelebrityiconsforexamplethe Jimmy
Savile case.We alsousedthe aspectof political basedcrime baseduponthe SeriesTopof the Lake,
as it demonstratedcorruptionatitshighestpointwhichwe wantedtoportrayas itseemedtocreate
the disbelief of trust.
Binary oppositions:
 Justice Vs Crime
 Power Vs Weak
 Good Vs Evil
 Chaos Vs Order
 Youth Vs Elderly
One of the conventionswe usedwasaslow tense buildupinsteadof
an actionpackedopening,because usuallythe thrillergenre doesn’t
jumpstraightintothe movie plotasit theytypicallystartat the
equilibriumforthe viewertobecome familiarwith the characterand
geta sense of whatthe narrative isabout.Howeverthe use of the
voiceoverchallengedtypical conventionof athrillergenre,because
althoughthe narrative wasat the equilibriumwe decidedtoinformthe
viewerthe disruptionatthe beginningsotheywouldnotwhatto
expectwhichwouldbenefitusaswe wouldbe able to dictate the story
line toput the vieweroff suchasa plottwist.
Anotherwaywe made sure our filmopeningmatchedthe conventionsof areal mediaproductwas the use
of Mise enscene forexample ourmaincharacterwas a detective whoplayeda‘Maverick’character,thisis
a conventionfora thriller/crime genreastheyare usuallythe leadingrolesforthe filmastheyare usually
independentandgetthe jobdone alone.Forinstance inLaw AbidingCitizenthe maincharacter‘Clyde’
takesthe lawwithinhisownhandsto seekjustice forthe murderof hiswife anddaughter,we reflected
uponthese typesof character whencastingourveryownas we wantedtoportray these featureswithinour
filmopening.We didthisduringourvoiceoverwhenwe made ourcharacteraddressto the audience why
he personallyfeelsbetrayedfromthe governmentandwill personallystepaside fromhisjobandmoralsin
orderto restore balance withinthe lawenforcement. Anotherconventionwasthe settingaswe decidedto
setthe openingwithinanoffice aswe believeditseemedthe mostsuitableplace foracrime/thrillerto
beginasit wouldconnote tothe audience of anordinaryworldwhichtheycouldrelate too,whichwouldbe
beneficial tousagainas we wouldbe able to builduptensionmore easilybeforethe climax.