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

Our thriller "Red Snow" has been influenced by many media products, it has linked from the camera angles, locations, generic costumes and character types to the soundtrack, plot and Titles. The main links between our thriller and other media products is through the plot, The first of these links is animal Kingdom. In animal Kingdom we see Joshua, sitting in a bathroom trying to isolate himself from the murder which he thinks has just taken place, whilst in the bathroom the camera cuts to extreme close ups of items which belongs to the victim, this shows the audience that he cannot hide from the situation. We utilised this idea of escaping to a confined space in our thriller, only to find something worse in the room, in our thriller. This location was also utilised in order to create tension because the room feels claustrophobic and the shower curtains are creating an enigma within the room. This is very effective because it links to the murder of Marion Crane in Psycho, where a man brutally stabs a woman to death whilst she is in the shower, during the scene the killers face is always in the shadows creating the perfect enigma. This is an effective link because the character of Peter in our thriller is on the other side of the shower curtain, showing that he is the killer and he can't remember who he killed.

Another plot link is with Fargo, a thriller based around a man hiring to men to kidnap his wife only to find the situation turning gruesome and falling out of his control. This links well because the character of Blake links very well to the henchmen because he is shown getting his hands dirty dragging a body, whilst Peter is sitting in a bathroom far from the crime. This is foreshadowing that Peter let the situation get out of control and that he didn't mean for anything to happen to the girl that Blake is dragging along. Another interesting link is with the locations of both of these Thrillers, Fargo and our thriller "Red Snow" are both set in the snow, the snow links to the title because red snow connotes blood being splattered across the usually white snow and the idea that the blood leaves a stain upon the landscape and also across Peters life.

The costumes for our thrillers were based more around social classes than thrillers. We went for fashions which exist in sub cultures which have been stereotyped as being either good or bad natured. For example we gave Blake a black hoody to show that he is trying to be hidden but instead he is clashing with the snow to show his lack of purity. This hoody also gives Blake a rough, poor feel, which could link to the idea that he would do anything to get his hands on money, this links to the character of Jason from essex boys, who's fashion gives the distinct impression that he is poor but trying to conceal the fact. This link could also foreshadow Blake's actions later on within the murder. Tiffany, the murder Victim is wearing a bright orange, which once again clashes with the snow creating the idea that her body will be hard to hide. The orange coat also links to the idea that she is quite happy and was caught off guard. Peter wears a Large black coat and looks middle class, this could link to the idea that he has never had any link to murders before and had to bring Blake into the situation so as to successfully hide the body, the coat also links to Harry Lime from 'The Third Man', who wears a large black coat which does not conceal his appearance at all, this could link to not being prepared to hide from his actions. Another Interesting link is between Blake and Peters lower body, they both wear very similar trousers and shoes and this could show the audience that they are both similar characters and that they are both equally guilty for this crime.

Another intertextual reference with 'The Third Man' and our thriller is the Titles. The same font was utilised from 'The Third Man' in order  to strengthen the idea that the death at the centre of both films may not be all that it seems. This will be an effective link because it will make the audience think twice about Tiffany's death. Another link between the two is the large black coat worn by Harry Lime and Peter from our thriller. This was in order to strengthen the enigma around our character and could link to the idea that Peter may go into hiding.


In our thriller product "The Red Snow" we cut between the exterior and interior shots in order to create an illusion and that reality is being slightly twisted. This could link to the thriller "Fight Club" where the main character is fighting personal demons and consequently is not aware of his secondary persona. This cutting also helps to create suspense throughout the opening. we also used the worms eye shot from 'Once upon a time in America' to put the audience in the position of the character, this is effective because it brings the audience into the film and also helps link to the idea that the character above is in total control of the character we are seeing through. 


Another link between our thriller and "Once Upon a Time in America" is with the sound bridge used other both murder scenes. In "Once Upon a Time in America" a phone is heard ringing throughout a scene, whilst the camera cuts from victim to victim, this links the phone call to the deaths and shows the audience that it must be important. We used the same technique in out thriller to show the desperation of finding Tiffany. This is effective because the sound bridge carries on until he know longer needs to find her. 


Within the titles I used a cross dissolve in order to make certain parts of the white Title turn black, this is in order for the audience to see that throughout the thriller the bloody murder follows the characters. This is also effective because it shows that everything becomes corrupted by the characters. The white titles are almost foreshadowing the idea that the Red Snow is stained with corruption. 

Another link within the titles is the production company name, Torn Curtain was the name of Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 thriller. I used this name because it not only links to the curtains in Psycho which create the enigma but also because The character of Peter nearly tears the curtains down when finding Tiffany's body in his bath. This is a very effective because it foreshadows the events in the bathroom and also links to Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller Psycho.