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

After going over our initial ideas and confirming our final idea, we decided that the genre of our opening sequence most likely fitted in the sub-genre of psychological thriller. Though some thriller films have death and murder in them, the absence of it in our opening sequence allows the audience to be clear on the fact that our opening sequence is not a horror, revolving around gory murder. The hidden identity of the masked man and the anonymous phone call show the audience that this is a psychological thriller. The kidnap of the child is also a theme prevalent in other sub-genres of thriller films e.g. crime thrillers. However, before we started planning we had to brainstorm conventions of psychological thrillers to make sure we would achieve the best opening sequence possible 

Below I have analysed and compared Dark Summer in how it uses, develops or challenges the forms and conventions of real media products.

How does Dark Summer use, develop or challenge the conventions of the genre of psychological thrillers?

Comparison to a real media product: When A Stranger Calls (Walton, 1979)

Narrative Conventions

Dark Summer can be identified as following different types of narrative structure conventions usually seen . Below, I have applied the sequence to two notable narrative theories:

ROLAND BARTHES' THEORY: The Five Codes

VLADIMIR PROPP'S THEORY: Classic Narrative Pattern

The style and form of our opening sequence is neat, though full of tension. The smooth camera work and narrative shows the audience that our opening is a sophisticated film, like other thrillers such as When A Stranger Calls. Following typical narrative techniques found in other films conform to the convention that all films follow some form of narrative structure. We also followed the thriller convention of victims and villains, and vulnerable women and children.