Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media

product?

1. What are formal conventions?

My groups decided that for our title sequence that we would create a horror/thriller. We were inspired by film such as, Shutter Island, Psycho, and Se7en. We chose a thriller/horror as it gave us the opportunity to explore different techniques and our creativity.

Conventions are a series of rules that are commonly used when creating a film that fits the chosen genre. For example, the Mise En Scene, sound scape, clothing etc. In a thriller or horror the generic conventions are using dramatic and tense music and overall a dark theme.

Conventions are really important to follow when creating a movie as, the conventions are what make up the genre of your movie. For example, when creating a horror/thriller movie you have conventions such as; a dark setting, intense and dramatic sound effects and music, and the Mise en scene. These are the common conventions used when creating a horror/thriller movie such as, Insidious, shutter island etc.

It rare to see producers or directors challenge the conventions of their product. However, some tend to do this to get a different reaction from their target audience and build a conversation between the audience.

2. What is a title sequence?A title sequence is a short clip of the movie (around 3-4 minutes long) which gives a bit of an overview of what the movie is about and what to expect from it. It also gives away the genre for the audience.

The purpose of a title sequence is to give the audience an overview of what to expect from the movie. For example, an overview of the storyline and the genre without giving away too much of the storyline. They are also created to attract an audience and also build excitement for the target audience.

The conventions we expect to see in a title sequence are; idents, title credits, introduction of the genre, an overview of what to expect from the movie e.g. the tone and atmosphere, introducing the main characters and or characters, and lastly introducing the theme.

Below I have included an example of a title sequence from the movie ‘Se7en’. From the examples you can see that they use rather dark colours which usually connote danger and death, therefore giving the audience a brief idea of the storyline.

3. Conventions of a title sequence• Shutter Island was quite influential when creating our title sequence as,

we took inspiration from it and particularity the story line. However, we made the storyline different and into our own new idea.

The order of titles in Shutter Island’s Title Sequences:• In the movie ‘Shutter Island’ they use contrasting colours such as black and white, which fit the theme of thefilm as it gives them an idea of what the genre may be.

• Shutter Island is and example of a title Sequence that uses titles over moving images. In this title sequence they useBoth the colours red and white, which link to the storyline asThe colours connote danger and innocence. Throughout theSequence they also use a series of dark images which alsoCreates a sinister effect and tension from the audience.

• Another important convention in title sequences is the soundscape. In Shutter Island’s title sequence they use a soundtrack that links to the theme of the movie. They included a sinister and dramatic soundscape which is important as it also gives the audience an idea of what to expect from the movie as well as the genre.

• Below is an example of our original title ‘Sinister Escape’ and ‘Shutter Islands’ title. They are fairly similar due to the fact that we wanted to use the colour red as it connotes danger and death, which gives away the genre. The difference between the two is that four our title we used a font that is sharp and bold so that we could create a sinister effect to our title.

Our original title

4. Conventions of the genre – Macro and Micro conventions of film openings in your genre

Another influential film was ‘Psycho’ as it fits our genre of a Horror/Thriller movie.

• Micro conventions: In the Psycho title sequence most of it consists of titles using animation and motion up until the end of the sequence when the include a long shot of the city, then to a close up shot moving into someone's window as shown below.

Continuing with micro convention, within their sequence they use very dramatic music which creates tension for the audience. It also gives the audience a brief overview of what to expect. Another factor is that the whole title sequence is shot in black and white which leads to the connotations of death and danger, therefore linking to the tone and atmosphere of the movie.Macro conventions: Psycho’s title sequence is quite simplistic as throughout it they present their titles through using a black background with titles using animation and motion. In the sequence no one is introduced visually, however only in the titles. We were somewhat influenced by Psycho however mainly on their storyline rather than the theme of their sequence. Below I have included an example of my title and the title for psycho; They are fairly different as we used a different typeface and colour for our title.

5. ConclusionDuring the stages of creating out title sequence we made sure that we followed the generic convention of a title sequence as going against them is generally a rare thing to do and also create a lot of confusion.

The conventions that we followed whilst creating our sequence were the common ones such as, the tone and atmosphere. We carefully followed the theme of darkness (lighting) within our sequence so that the representation of our theme was clear. We also followed the convention of a thriller movie by using colours that connote danger and death such as, red and black. This is important to follow as it gives your audience an idea of the tone and genre of your film. Another convention that we followed was the soundscape. When creating a thriller or horror movie it is important to use music that fits the genre of your product, therefore in our title sequence we used a very suspenseful and dramatic soundscape for our product. Overall, in our title sequence we didn’t really challenge or develop the conventions as it was easier to follow the common convention that everyone follows when creating their product.

I personally think that my group were very successful in creating a recognizable title sequence as we followed the convention of a thriller/horror movie and we didn’t challenge the conventions.