1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For our opening sequence we knew we wanted to create certain enigma codes to put questions in the minds of the audience that only watching the movie will answer. This was also shown by Roland Barthes’ theory on enigma codes. We wanted to create a chase; this is a classic thriller signifier, especially at the opening of the film as it creates mystery and intrigue and makes the audience wonder what will happen next, it also sets a fast pace to the film. Suspense is created, as the identity of the antagonist is not revealed at any point in our sequence, apart from an over the shoulder shot used at the beginning of our sequence. This was done to ensure that the audience are kept in the dark throughout and puts more questions in their minds. We used a variety of shots to convey what was happening in our sequence. Close-ups were used to show detail of the character’s face and to allow the audience to see the emotions being conveyed in the main character’s face. A good example of this is the close-up used when Jessica is running up to the house; this shows the audience the panic and fear in her eyes as she looks around.
The Mise-en-scene was very important, as we wanted to create a creepy atmosphere; an example of this is in the scene where the audience see the main character running. It causes the audience to ask questions and wonder who the mysterious person is. Suspense is also created through the use of Diegetic and non-Diegetic sound. We used this convention in our sequence as we listened to different sounds and then selected the ones we thought would suit our sequence. We chose to use slow, tense non-Diegetic sound at the beginning which is typical of the thriller genre. The sound gradually gets louder to create a sense of confusion and fear. Dark lighting is a typical element used in thrillers to frighten the audience; we used different techniques such as darkening effects in our sequence to add a sense of danger and unease. Some of the conventions that are shown within our thriller opening indicate an influence that we have had from other thrillers such as the film ‘Taken’.
Figure 1 - We watched some thrillers and we noticed how their title posters related to their film and gave the audience an idea of the film. I created the title poster on Photoshop CS2, and it didn’t take me that long to create it as I had some experience with the software. We chose the colour red for our film poster as it’s a common colour which is used in the thriller genre. It is mostly associated with blood and connotes danger and fear. A convention that we decided to bring to our film was a short title. This came from the idea of keeping our audience guessing and allowing them to think of what our film could be about. ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock is an example of a real media product which uses this convention.
Figure 2 - To ensure that our sequence was effective we wanted to find a location to film that gave the visual codes we were looking for. We went on a recce and discovered a location which was perfect for our opening sequence. A convention of thriller films is using realistic setting to allow the audience to be able to relate to the story and to keep them in suspense. We applied this to our opening sequence by filming in a family home. Our product challenged the forms and conventions of thriller films as we filmed during the daytime in an open area, a typical location for a thriller would be in dark, atmosphere. As a group we intended for our audience to feel fear for the victim and to keep them guessing. For this reason we decided to film our victim running down an abandoned street.
Figure 3 - An example of a prop we used in our opening sequence is a telephone, this is a very important element in our sequence as the main character asks Melinda to call the police. The audience are led to believe that Melinda is making a call however they later find out that the batteries were taken out on purpose. This adds suspense as the audience may begin to feel some sympathy for Jessica. In a thriller the colour of a character’s costume is very important as it tells a lot about the personality of the character. For example we chose to dress our antagonist, David in a black jacket; we did this as it connotes danger. However we dressed Melinda in a white top and a dark pair of jeans which proves that the audience can’t always rely on costumes to judge the characters.
Figure 4 - Our sequence uses camerawork and editing to support the stereotypical conventions of a thriller and to frighten the audience. When filming Jessica we put the audience in her shoes using a Point Of View shot. This is a convention used in thrillers to put the audience in the same position as the character.
Figure 5 – We used bold font for our titles as this would stand out more. We used the color red as this is typical of thrillers. We wanted our audience to feel fear before the sequence even begun.
Figure 6 - I chose to screen grab this shot as it’s the first thing the audience see when the opening starts. It shows an over the shoulder shot of someone watching a girl running. This effective as it causes the audience to ask questions and it makes them want to know more.
Figure 7 – This shows an image of a young girl cleaning her windows. We chose to this shot as it introduces Melinda. She is shown as domestic and caring. We followed the conventions of a thriller as normally the bad characters are very decieving.
Our media product uses a number of forms and conventions that real media products would have. The brief of the thriller production was to devise, prepare, shoot and edit the opening two minutes of a new thriller including the titles. We researched different types of genres and we decided to choose the thriller genre, mainly due to the fact that our target audience are mostly interested in watching thrillers. Due to thrillers being broad, we decided to categorise our thriller into an action thriller however we realised that our opening sequence had some aspects which would make it suit the psychological thriller sub-genre. We used the conventional narrative pattern of Tzvetan Todorv to introduce characters and used a surprise by adding a twist at the end of our product.
For our opening sequence we knew we wanted to create certain enigma codes to put questions in the minds of the audience that only watching the movie will answer. This was also shown by Roland Barthes’ theory on enigma codes. We wanted to create a chase; this is a classic thriller signifier, especially at the opening of the film as it creates mystery and intrigue and makes the audience wonder what will happen next, it also sets a fast pace to the film. Suspense is created, as the identity of the antagonist is not revealed at any point in our sequence, apart from an over the shoulder shot used at the beginning of our sequence. This was done to ensure that the audience are kept in the dark throughout and puts more questions in their minds. We used a variety of shots to convey what was happening in our sequence. Close-ups were used to show detail of the character’s face and to allow the audience to see the emotions being conveyed in the main character’s face. A good example of this is the close-up used when Jessica is running up to the house; this shows the audience the panic and fear in her eyes as she looks around.
The Mise-en-scene was very important, as we wanted to create a creepy atmosphere; an example of this is in the scene where the audience see the main character running. It causes the audience to ask questions and wonder who the mysterious person is. Suspense is also created through the use of Diegetic and non-Diegetic sound. We used this convention in our sequence as we listened to different sounds and then selected the ones we thought would suit our sequence. We chose to use slow, tense non-Diegetic sound at the beginning which is typical of the thriller genre. The sound gradually gets louder to create a sense of confusion and fear. Dark lighting is a typical element used in thrillers to frighten the audience; we used different techniques such as darkening effects in our sequence to add a sense of danger and unease. Some of the conventions that are shown within our thriller opening indicate an influence that we have had from other thrillers such as the film ‘Taken’.
Figure 1 - We watched some thrillers and we noticed how their title posters related to their film and gave the audience an idea of the film. I created the title poster on Photoshop CS2, and it didn’t take me that long to create it as I had some experience with the software. We chose the colour red for our film poster as it’s a common colour which is used in the thriller genre. It is mostly associated with blood and connotes danger and fear. A convention that we decided to bring to our film was a short title. This came from the idea of keeping our audience guessing and allowing them to think of what our film could be about. ‘Psycho’ by Alfred Hitchcock is an example of a real media product which uses this convention.
Figure 2 - To ensure that our sequence was effective we wanted to find a location to film that gave the visual codes we were looking for. We went on a recce and discovered a location which was perfect for our opening sequence. A convention of thriller films is using realistic setting to allow the audience to be able to relate to the story and to keep them in suspense. We applied this to our opening sequence by filming in a family home. Our product challenged the forms and conventions of thriller films as we filmed during the daytime in an open area, a typical location for a thriller would be in dark, atmosphere. As a group we intended for our audience to feel fear for the victim and to keep them guessing. For this reason we decided to film our victim running down an abandoned street.
Figure 3 - An example of a prop we used in our opening sequence is a telephone, this is a very important element in our sequence as the main character asks Melinda to call the police. The audience are led to believe that Melinda is making a call however they later find out that the batteries were taken out on purpose. This adds suspense as the audience may begin to feel some sympathy for Jessica. In a thriller the colour of a character’s costume is very important as it tells a lot about the personality of the character. For example we chose to dress our antagonist, David in a black jacket; we did this as it connotes danger. However we dressed Melinda in a white top and a dark pair of jeans which proves that the audience can’t always rely on costumes to judge the characters.
Figure 4 - Our sequence uses camerawork and editing to support the stereotypical conventions of a thriller and to frighten the audience. When filming Jessica we put the audience in her shoes using a Point Of View shot. This is a convention used in thrillers to put the audience in the same position as the character.
Figure 5 – We used bold font for our titles as this would stand out more. We used the color red as this is typical of thrillers. We wanted our audience to feel fear before the sequence even begun.
Figure 6 - I chose to screen grab this shot as it’s the first thing the audience see when the opening starts. It shows an over the shoulder shot of someone watching a girl running. This effective as it causes the audience to ask questions and it makes them want to know more.
Figure 7 – This shows an image of a young girl cleaning her windows. We chose to this shot as it introduces Melinda. She is shown as domestic and caring. We followed the conventions of a thriller as normally the bad characters are very decieving.
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