AS Course work Overtaken

Overtaken Final Draft

Overtaken Thriller Opening

In what way does my media product use, develop and challenge conventions?

My thriller opening challenges conventions as well as use conventions. An example of my opening using conventions is the fact that the victim is female, which is very common in thrillers, for example, the film "Night and Day" consists of a female victim and male hero.

However I did go against conventions in some ways, as my film did not feature any hero at all. this is unusual as there is usually a battle between a protagonist and antagonist when there is disruption of the equilibrium, but in my thriller, the main character is battling herself as this is a psychological thriller.


I also challenged conventions by including a female lead which is uncommon in thrillers.

The shots/ camera angles I chose in my thriller piece use some conventions of thrillers, for example the last shot of my thriller (the low camera angle shot) was inspired by a scene from the film "What Lies Beneath." Although this shot is a low angle shot which usually implies that a character is in charge, it has the opposite effect in both my thriller and "What Lies Beneath" and shows that the character feels uncomfortable and scared.

The music I used in my thriller uses conventions of thrillers as it creates tension because of its slow- slightly off key tune. The strings at the end of the opening also emphasizes the anxiety that the character is feeling. similar music is used in other psychological thrillers such as shutter island.

This character and the character from my thriller are similar in many ways, for example they both lack confidence in themselves and are introverts, these characters are also both psychologically disturbed hence being the main characters in psychological thrillers. Both Nina Sayers and the main character from my thriller are very paranoid for no apparent reason.

I chose this shot to highlight to the audience the importance of the phone. I also thought this shot looked interesting as and conveyed the characters feeling (unsettled) by the awkwardness of the shot and the fact that the characters head isn't in the shot. This shot also creates tension by hiding the characters expression.




I chose this shot to convey how my character is feeling (disorientated) it also creates tension and mystery as the shot is not steady.
An example of a similar shot to this is in the "Bourn" films, where it was used to exaggerate the hectic situation.

How does my thriller represent certain social groups?

The only Character in my thriller opening is a female character who is between the ages of 26 and 34 and is also from a middle class background. This is a typical character choice seeing as she is nothing out of the ordinary apart from her mental health issues. My character is also represented as a victim which is again typical for a female character and does not challenge any conventions, furthermore the audience is led to believe that they already know everything about her because of her social status. My character is also represented as mentally ill which may be seen as atypical however, it is thought that females are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses.

What film company might distribute your film?

The production company that I believe will be best to produce my film is DNA films as it is a British film company that have produced films such as;

• Far From the Madding Crowd (2014)
• Ex Machina (2014)
• Sunshine on Leith (2013)
• Dredd (2012) (co-production with IM Global, Lionsgate, Reliance BIG Pictures, IMAX and Entertainment Film Distributors)
• Never Let Me Go (2010)
• Shooting Someone (2009)
• Amelia (2009) (co-production with Fox Searchlight Pictures, BBC Films, and UK Film Council)
• 28 Weeks Later (2007)
• Sunshine (2007)
• The Last King of Scotland (2006)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     These films are also all an independent, low budget films and most are for example"28weeks later"                                                                                                                                     DNA Films was founded by Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew Macdonald and its headquarters are in London.  I feel the this production company will be suitable for my thriller. Also the actors used in the films produced by this film company do not tend to be well known which would make this company even more suitable for my film.                                                                                                                                                                                                 The distribution company I would use for my film would be "Paramount Pictures UK" due to the fact that they have distributed a range of different genres of films including thrillers such as; "Raider of The Lost Ark", "Transformers" movies and "Mission Impossible." Paramount pictures is the fifth oldest film company in the world and was founded in 1912  by Hungarian born Adolf Zukor.  This company would be a good company to produce my film as it is very large and my film can therefore be viewed on a large scale (worldwide) it is also well known and can therefore gain my film more publicity. This film company will also allow me distribute it on several different platforms e.g. Blu ray, cinema, DVD etc.
• 

Target Audience Member

Favorite TV programmes;
-Heroes (because it features people that are different to normal people which is similar to my thriller as my main character has characteristic that are outside the norm.)
-The Following (because there is constant tension and there is always mystery and a sense of there being something unknown which is similar to my thriller as there is a lot of mystery)

Music (and music artists);
-Lana Del Rey (because music is slow and mysterious which creates anxiety)

My target audience member will probably be about 20 years old and could either be male or female and will enjoy mystery.