This is the first question of my evaluation.

1. Question 1: ‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?’
Our thriller opening is a spy thriller named ‘Torment’. Spy thrillers often contain elements of
action and are driven by a story or mystery which is where most of their appeal come from. With
this in mind, I’ve decided to compare our thriller with the most recent instalment of the popular
action/spy thriller series James Bond: Spectre. I’ve used this as it contains similar themes and
styles that our thriller does.
1 – The first image depicts a torture scene, which is very similar to our thriller opening. It is set
in a small room but unlike ours the lighting is much more high-key showing the slight difference
between an action film and an action thriller. A thriller would likely be darker and give off a larger
sense of danger but an action film is usually brighter and gives off the impression the victim will
escape.
2 – This shot captures a fight scene aboard a helicopter. The manner, camera angle and
composition of the shot alone demonstrates the large budget the film had being produced by a
multinational conglomerate. The extremely high key lighting once again separates this shot from
our opening as our exterior shots were still had quite a sinister atmosphere. The shot must have
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 99

2. required very high quality equipment, including a large green screen and very impressive
camera apparatus.
3 – This picture shows Bond chasing someone in the snow. The location for shooting here once
again indicates that this must have been a high budget film. This is sinister shot, displaying
some of the thriller themes the film contains while the gun is an icon for spy films. However, one
thing to note is the gender of the lead roles in both films. Ours has a female protagonist which is
quite different from most spy thrillers in the market.
4 – This scene displays James bond running atop a building with a gadget. Gadgets are a
staple in spy films and are often used to demonstrate the technical ability of spies but in our
opening Joan Riede makes use of a torture weapon instantly making our film more malevolent
in tone.
5 – This shot shows a beautiful lady walking through the centre of a dining room. The woman is
placed in the centre of the shot to emphasise her significance and dominance over the room.
Despite a woman showing dominance here being similar to our opening, it is not quite the same
as she is only being presented as a love interests rather than a lead spy. Even though she
seems empowered in the shot this on the contrary quite degrading, as it reduces most women in
spy films to love interests.
6 – This is a seemingly simple shot of a cool car racing down a road but it once again shows the
contrast between action films and action thrillers. This shot adds nothing to the plot of the film
but is only meant to be flashy car and increase the ‘wow-factor’ in the film, meanwhile thrillers
are more interested in creating an interesting or intriguing mystery or story over flamboyant
picture shows.
7 – This shot is quite a simple shot with both James Bond and a mysterious lady in black
clothing. The costumes suggest that the scene has some dark themes, possibly a funeral,
however the lighting is quite high-key, yet the atmosphere is solemn, creating a nice balance
between the serious and the light-hearted.
8 – This is quite a sinister image compared to the others. The costumes imply that there is evil
to be done and the masks make the characters seem more enigmatic as they cover their
identities. The inclusion of such a lively environment though also displays the money available
to hire extras and set designers to create such vivid surroundings.
9 – This is the title card of the film, Spectre. It uses a pretty straightforward and bolded font to
sum up the nature of the main character in his work, straightforward and bold. Placing all the
letters in capital makes the title stand out and it makes use of a bullet hole in the ‘C’ to capture
the image of a spy film as guns are very commonplace in them. It also uses black and white to
not distract from the simplicity of the title and its style.

3. 1 – This is a wide high angle shot of a Russian spy in a suit waiting on a bridge in a park. The
lighting in this shot is notably quite low-key despite being outside. The fairly low-key lighting
helps establish that the themes in the film might be slightly darker than in most spy films,
particularly because it’s a thriller. The small size and insignificant positioning of the spy also
makes him seem more mysterious as he blends into the scenery to some extent and doesn’t
seem to give off any hints as to who he is.
2 – This picture encapsulates a hostage who is looking terrified at the woman standing above
him. The use of an over the shoulder shot here ensures the protagonist stays an enigma to the
audience, while the worried look on the hostage’s face also notes that she is a force to be
reckoned with. The central positioning and the lighting’s focus on the hostage however connotes
that he may be more important than we think at first glance, and may carry some vital
information.
3 – This shot is a close up of the Russian spy’s hands as he attempts to take the SIM card out
of his phone. This brings the enigma code into play as it makes the viewer question his reasons
for taking out the SIM as it is often seen as a suspicious act due to it preventing your location
from being tracked. This is used in quite a lot of films and is an effective way of showing secrecy
without having to use speech.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

4. 4 – This image shows a gun being pointed at a dejected hostage. As mentioned before the gun
is a very common iconography for spy films and helps transition the film from the thriller genre to
the hybrid action/spy thriller genre. Once again the hostage is very much the focus of the entire
shot in terms of both lighting and positioning, proving his significance.
5 – Our thriller opening opens on a following/over the shoulder shot of the Russian spy,
purposely concealing his identity while at the same time giving of the impression that he is being
followed. This once again gives off the mysterious atmosphere that most thriller films make use
of. The scenery there is also notably empty and isolated, insinuating that he has purposely
placed himself in a secluded area to be hidden from others.
6 – This shot, like number 2, makes use of the over the shoulder shot of the protagonist
standing over the hostage, but in this case it is from behind rather than the front. Yet the
hostage, from this angle, still looks defeated and exhausted from the torture. We hid his face to
emphasise the strain put on him through torment by just using body language as we thought it
would be more effective and a smart way to transition into the next part of the narrative in the
opening.
7 – This shot finally reveals the Russian spy’s full face as we see him on the phone speaking in
Russian. The effect of this will most likely make viewers conclude that he is a villain, as Russian
speaking characters are frequently made to be adversaries of English speaking in films,
especially in spy ones. It is not revealed in the opening, but he is speaking to Joan. We did this
to maintain the level of secrecy over his identity and keep him more of a cryptic character.
Facial expression here is also quite important as it shows his frustration and urgency,
highlighting the necessary efficiency spies must have, particularly in spy thrillers.
8 – This is simply one of the title cards in our thriller. It mirrors the calculated, professional and
serious attitude that spies must show towards their work, without making the film look less
authentic. This option is fairly similar to most other spy films who make use of more
straightforward fonts rather than curly or fancy fonts that may be seen with comedies or
romance films.
9 – The very last shot is a mid-shot capturing the hostage in his worn out state. The rest of the
entire shot is pitch black in order to focalise the hostage, specifically his expression and body
language. These help show his absolute defeat and lack of hope, emphasised by the darkness
around him. This is quite different to Spectre, which has a quite bright torture scene and is not at
all quite as hopeless, as mentioned earlier, as it gives no atmosphere of any real impending
danger or tragedy.