Evaluation: Question 1

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

For our AS Media task we have been given the opportunity to create a 2 minute long thriller film opening sequence which must establish characters, tease at a plot and must include titles. We decided to go with a 15 certified film so we could focus more on atmosphere rather than violence. Our media product has been designed with thriller conventions in mind and several of the key shot and ideas have been derived from other media products. We have attempted to use a variety of shots that help to add a sense of mystery to the piece. We have used focus change shots to help disguise certain characters or features from the audience. The fact we have taken this into account helps to show that we are using conventions that are typical of thrillers.

To decide on what we had to include we looked at typical conventions of both thrillers and film openings:

-          Conventions of a thriller: Would normally establish the setting as being dangerous and/or surreal location which helps to engage the audience. The use of the camera angles e.g. extreme close ups and establishing long shots, can make the viewer feel unease and uncomfortable and isolated and scared for the characters.

-          Conventions of an Opening: Would include using titles to establish the cast and some of the key crew (director, producers etc.) A scene to establish the main character and details about them.

A wordle to show some of the key elements we wanted to include, and have included in our opening.




















 We included a mysterious male antagonist who works in the shadows, which helps to add a constant impression of danger.  We have used our audience research to help select the thriller genre we wanted to use. We wanted to establish the main characters in the opening and we did this through the use of camera shots, framing and costume. We set the hero up as having enormous power by framing him centrally a lot, and following him as he discovers clues. This helps to give a detective feel as the audience feel that they need to find out more as the story unravels. We set the victim up as being paranoid and nervous, and this made the scene tense, due to the fact it was building up to a climax. We set the murderer up as being mysterious and calculating, as you only see him briefly and he starts off as out of focus, which gives an air of professionalism.

We wanted to use the theme of isolation in our opening like No Country for Old men, or Inception, as these films both start with very isolated backdrops. No Country uses countryside, and Inception uses an isolated beach to create a sense of loneliness and isolation which helps to reinforce a sense of danger which helps to grip the audience. Inception uses a beach with rough seas and we wanted to capture the feeling of loneliness and a lack of civilisation in our thriller. These openings worked well so we wanted to use the ideas to create our own tense beginning with similar themes running through it that would help to grip the audience. We also wanted the piece to be very stylised and we looked at some of Quentin Tarantino’s work as inspiration and we ended up drawing heavily upon his style for the title sequence (with the freeze frame and the names, similar to this intro scene from his film, Inglorious Basterds:

Here is an example of how we have used inspiration from the film, No Country for Old Men in our opening. We used the idea of a massive countryside setting to create an isolated feel. The composition of the shot draws heavy attention to the long road, which helps to give the impression that it is miles from anywhere. We have used a filter to make the image blander and chilling which helps to give an isolated feel.

 We continued to use shots of the country road even when it was not the main focus to help reinforce the sense of isolation.

We kept the villain in the background and out of focus to keep his identity a secret. The use of this technique helps to give the audience a sense of looming danger.

 In our thriller we made sure all of our scenes were well lit, but we then proceeded to adjust the whiteness on the murder scene shots to give an extra sense of coldness and loneliness. Because of this the whole scene looks quite bland and isolated which is exactly the look we were going for. We also decided to film the opening as a dual narrative: The two scenes filmed interlocked but were not flashbacks, as the opening in inception, for example was two scenes set at different times. The use of the two scenes helped to tease and then draw in the audience, to be wanting to know what happens to the characters, or ask what is the significance of this?


Oh and here's our director's commentary: