Conventions Foundation - Advanced

The dark, shadowy atmosphere of my Thriller Production is clear from the opening. The black background for the titles fading out onto a black and white film clip evokes connotations of dark and dangerous. It suggests a flashback, also adding to the danger as it is something that is essential to remember. The atmosphere was enhanced by delaying the face of the protagonist by wearing a mask based on the character 'V' from 'V for Vendetta'. By incorporating both of these conventions, I am ensuring the traits of a thriller film are clear - the audience immediately are absorbed into the genre. I followed these two particular conventions to be safe in establishing the genre: when the viewer sees the black and white film and the hidden face of the protagonist, it creates a feeling of unease; the unknown would fear them. It was effective as the mask is unexpected, as is the appearance of the man in the mask.

I challenged the hidden protagonist by revealing his identity in the next scene. By doing this, it adds apprehension to the concept of a hit man - the audience are now aware he appears as an ordinary citizen, in a realistic setting (another convention of thriller films). The crowded, bustling streets add to this image of the unusual situated in the norm. Reflecting on this, I did not challenge the convention and simply followed it creating a very ordinary look - I would like, now, to have experimented with different settings, like I did in my A2 Music Video.

Being a fan of Alfred Hitchcock's films helped when creating a red herring - by the hit man being assassinated, it created a rift, almost a paradox in the idea of how someone could decieve a man who makes a career out of killing others. This was effective as it was unexpected - the audience were kept on the edge of their seats to a complete twist in events. Arguably, I was doing this to conform to Saul Bass, "Settle them down and create a sense of anticipation... hit the ground running." In my opinion, this is taking a complex idea and showing it in a simple way. This, again, shows I was playing it safe by following geniuses of the thriller genre.

This changed in my Advanced Portfolio. I wanted to challenge the conventions and make my music video unique. One of the most used conventions in Goodwin's Principles would be the 'notion of looking'. This was challenged by the eyes often looking away from the camera lense, creating a seperation between the audience and the music video: they are aware of what they see. After following conventions in AS down to the letter, this shows development in confidence.

In my AS Media Production, I could have used fast paced close ups to create a disjunctive feel. Instead, I was determined for the story to be clear - in my A2 Media Production, this was not the case. I used the fast paced cuts to fit the music to visuals principle as well, developing a link between what the audience heard and what they saw on screen. This fast cut montage also developed the idea of a narrative and performance based music video - this is common within the genre of music. This shows progression between the two as I was not afraid to try more difficult conventions.

The star image motif that linked to both my ancillary tasks was the lyrics to visuals. The protagonist and supposed lead singer holding signs with the lyrics on was used for the album cover and created a subconscious link for the audience between all products. This shows a development in my intention for the products - everything was done for a reason.