E VA LU AT I O N Q 1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

SC R E E N SH O T 1The start of our opening sequence starts with a pull focus shot. This is to captivate the audience and to draw focus onto the female character and to signify she is of some

importance in our film.

When filming this shot we made sure that the props (the bed and pillows) were dark colours - black and white - which straight away helps to convey the thriller genre. Typically in thrillers the props used would be dark/dull colours as thrillers have dark mysterious atmosphere and

the dark colours can represent that there is something to hide and can also show danger.

The female charter has both red nail varnish and red

lipstick (applied a little later on in the

sequence). We chose this as red can

resemble danger but it can also represent

love which shows our female character can be perceived as both a villain/threat

or a sex object. Danger is typical in a thriller as they often

contain a lot of violence and threatening

behaviour and serious/dangerous

plots.

The title slate was blended into the

background, in the pillow. The font

chosen has an edge and looks ‘broken’

and mysterious. The font is in block

capitals which we feel fitted with the

thriller genre as thrillers are normally hard, bold and fast

paced.

SC R E E N SH O T 2

We used an establishing shot in our opening sequence; this was to create a mood and atmosphere for our audience and also show where our opening sequence will be set.

Although our location is not typical of most thrillers, as typically they are set in big cities, it does create the same atmosphere as most thrillers. The location gives a spooky,

eerie and mysterious feel; as the location is run down, isolated and dark.

The colours in our location are very dull

and dark as the location is run down and dirty. It

has low key lighting, which helps to set the correct atmosphere for

a thriller, and it is typical of a thriller to

use dark low key lighting.

The title slate was faded slightly so it

could sort of blend in with the background

and not drew too much focus away from

the rest of the shot which helps to set the

atmosphere for the rest of the opening sequence. The title slate was edited to

move along with the camera as it panned

along the wall and the title slate slowly

followed underneath the pipe. It was edited

like this to make it look more

professional; to show more skill.

SC R E E N SH O T 3The title slate was again blended into the

background, and it move along the banister as the females hand slid down; to make it look as if she is pushing the title slate. (could also help to

gives a sense that she is powerful)

The lighting and colour in this frame is very dark and low key. This create a mysterious and eerie atmosphere which is

common in thrillers. Also the light source at the back of the shot shows how the female is walking away from the light and

going into a darker more dangerous and mysterious area.

The camera doesn’t show the persons face, and this is to keep her identity hidden for a short while to help

build suspense, tension and mystery

as to who this character is and why she is important. As she is the villain she has to remain quite

secretive; it is common in thrillers to keep the identity of

the villain hidden and to not give their face too much screen time and it is also typical of film openings to use

shots that don’t show too many people or a villains/threats face as

they don’t want to give too much away at the very start so that

they can keep the audience in the dark

and guessing what will happen.

This shot has foley sounds of the females

heels as she walks. Footsteps are

commonly used in thrillers and film, the

sound is used to create suspense and mystery and it also

helps to create enigma codes as the person’s face/identity who is

walking is not shown so the audience

wonder ‘who do the footsteps belong to?’ ‘where is the person

going?’ and the sound is very definite, bold

and harsh as her heels hit the concrete which creates an image that

this person is quite dominant and

powerful.

SC R E E N SH O T 4A low angle shot was used to show the female characters power, importance and dominance. Low angle shots are

often used in thrillers to show someones power and authority, they are often used on the

villainous/threatening characters.

The female is wearing a dark outfit and this is to suggest she is hiding

something and is secretive. It is also to show she has a dark side and is a

dangerous and threatening character.

The soundtrack changes at this point in the sequence, it changes from being

fast, bold and dynamic just after the door

slams. The sound of the door slamming

was used to startle the audience and create a focus as an important part of the sequence is about to happen. The slam is followed by a

high pitched screeching sound

which creates suspense/a climax for the dialogue that is

about to be exchanged by the female and the

new character. It is typical of thrillers to

use sounds that create suspense and climax

for their action however it is not as common for a films

opening sequence to have a climax within the first few shots.

The shot was used to suggest the male victim

who is in the chair is looking up to

the female as she is threatening towards him. It shows a distinct

difference between the two characters power.

SC R E E N SH O T 5The female has the most

power which is shown throughout this shot. We chose to use an over the

shoulder shot to show the females dominance as she intimidates and

belittles the male character by bending down to his level and

talking at him before she slaps him. The next shot

shows good use of continuity and follows

the 180 degrees rule as it changes to an over the shoulder shot showing

the males face, which is commonly used during exchanges of dialogue and used throughout

many films and opening sequences; it helps to

keep the pace and flow of the sequence for the

satisfaction and understanding for the

audience.The location is very run down and dirty, which helps to convey that the male is

helpless and is in an isolated place which helps to show the difference in power and vulnerability - it is common in thrillers for the characters to be of

different power and control and it is often portrayed within the opening sequence who has the power and who doesn’t.

In this shot the female slaps the male, this shows violence and threatening behaviour. It shows that the male

character is in danger and has less power than the female; due to the nature of the action it means it fits in with the

thriller genre.

In this shot the soundtrack was faded

out so that the dialogue was clear to hear,

although it is not very common for opening sequences to feature

dialogue - we chose to include it to help convey

some of out story so that it would make

sense for our audience.

SC R E E N SH O T 6

This shot shows a male victim lower down than the female, showing that he has less power and status which

shows he is vulnerable - this challenges typical thriller films as the males are normally the more dominant and

powerful.

We used a high angle shot to show that the male is the most vulnerable out of the two characters, thrillers often use high angle and low angle shots to distinguish what characters have the power

and which characters are less powerful and in danger.

The colours and lighting in the frame are quite dull and dark, this is to help convey the thriller genre as typically thrillers are very dark to show the

danger and mysteriousness. The title slate is blended

into the background by having it a similar colour to the wall, this is to help

keep the focus on the main characters in the shot and to make the

opening look more professional as in most film openings the title slates are built into the

surroundings in the frame.

The male was positioned in the centre of the

frame and we used an over the shoulder shot to show that he is the focus and that he is in danger as the female is a threat

to him.

Our male character’s costume was a messy

suit, as in thriller openings it is common

for characters to be dressed quite smartly and it is often that the men would wear suits

and be of a high status/power. However because in our opening

the male is the victim we had to make him fit his

stereotype by making his suit dirt and untidy.

SC R E E N SH O T 7The location is not typical of common thrillers where the action normally takes place within a busy city. However it still creates the same feel for the action as it is mysterious, gloomy, eerie

and cold.

The camera is slightly off of the rule of thirds however the female is standing over the male

victim showing that she has the control,

power and dominance over the male. This isn’t very typical of

thrillers as the roles are normally vice versa with the male being the threat. However films such as Kill Bill

have powerful, threatening females.

This shot showed the female slitting the males throat. This is appropriate for a thriller as it is violent, dangerous and threatening, it creates a tense atmosphere and keeps the opening going at a fast pace. However in a lot of opening sequences violent action and events such as this would not be shown till later on in the film so not a lot is revealed but we used it to create enigma codes like ‘is he really dead?’ ‘why did she do that?’

‘who are they?’ and ‘what will happen next?’

SC R E E N SH O T 8This reinforces forms and conventions that

are used in real thriller films as they typically contain weapons such as knives and involve violence, death and blood like we included in

our film opening. Plots in thrillers often contain this as it creates face paced action, mystery and a dark atmosphere for the audience.

However looking back on our opening it is not typical of other film openings to reveal so much of the story straight away.

Normally openings build up tension and suspense to then have action in the climax of the film, we had a climax in the opening

- the female slitting the males throat.

The location adds to the atmosphere as it is run down and dirty which creates an eerie and

gloomy mood whilst the violent attack is carried

out.The soundtrack changes

at this point in the sequence, as the pace

picks up due to the action occurring. The

soundtrack becomes a lot faster paced and harder tone, which makes it a lot more

intense which builds the tension for the

audience.

The female’s costume is all black and she is

the villain in our opening sequence,

this is typical of thrillers to have their villainous characters in dark clothing as it creates a sense of

danger. It also shows they are a threat and are intimidating and

portrays they are secretive and have something to hide.

SC R E E N SH O T 9The knife at the end of the opening sequence helps to suggest that the film is a thriller as

typical props found in other media products that are presenting the thriller genre are guns and

knives as they are dangerous, scary and threatening.

The last title slate in our opening is the

director. Most films end with the director as the

last name in the title slate sequence; this is because the director

overseas everything in the film production,

they have the control over the film and all the actors and crew that are part of it. So the director appears

after all the actors and production crew as they are the main person involved.

For this shot we chose to use a pull focus shot as it creates mystery and suspense and it is typically used in thrillers for this reason. The pull focus shot helps to show

something is of an importance and in this case, it shows that the knife is important and the knife is a serious and threatening object which shows there is danger within the

film and adds to the thrilling aspect of the film.