In what ways

does your
media product
use, challenge
or develop
forms and
conventions
of real media
products?

1. Story, and how the opening sets it up

At the start of the film we
wanted to set up the story, how
it will develop from this point
onwards and how the thriller
can adapt from the opening
sequence. This is highlighted
through our first shot showing
our protagonist Josh. The long
shot is also a time-lapse,
heightening the vast amount of
time he has been by himself
and the lack of communication or
relationship that has occurred in
this time. This shot serves to
construct Josh as isolated from
the outset, which is what the
story line surrounds and follows
how Josh copes with this
isolation. Therefore the opening
sets this up as it is clear to the
audience that Josh is not a
sterotypical teenager, that he
may not conform to what they
would expect. This conforms to the generic conventions of a thriller, as mystery is
created through the strange portrayal of Josh and his motive. Yet it also conforms to
the conventions of an opening title sequence as well, as the narrative exposition is
made clear, setting up the story which is the main aim of the opening title
sequence.
When looking upon real media products and examples of how to portray Joshs
story from the offset we looked at the opening sequence of the film Gone Girl.
Shown above is a similar long shot, where the main body stands central leaving
dead space around them. Again this heightens the loneliness of the character,
setting up the film for his either rejection of this isolation or acceptance.We decided
to use this shot in order to portray Joshs isolation from the offset as this is what the
story is based on, yet we also developed the shot from what Gone Girl did. Using a
time lapse in central London other participants were used in order to highlight
separate relationship and how Josh craves this type of company, in contradiction to
Gone Girl who left the character totally alone. We wanted to develop this shot in
this way to heighten how Josh is not simply isolated, but how he desires other
company, setting the story for how he will achieve these other relationships.

2. Setting and Location

The setting of our opening sequence is in popular Trafalgar Square, based in
central London. We did this to be able to explore the simplicity and vast amount of
relationships that surround ever day life. By engulfing Josh in other relationship it
serves to heighten his isolation. The location is what made this possible as it further
heighten the loneliness felt. This also incorporates our sub genre of murderous
passion, as the multiple relationships enable a passionate element to ensue within
the thriller. This however challenges the conventions of the thriller genre as the
setting is not common of a thriller. Often dark rooms or lofts are used to make the
audience feel trapped, yet through using wide open spaces we were able to
challenge the conventional thriller setting, allowing us to explore further themes of
isolation. Through our research in films such as Se7vn and The Guest it is apparent
that thrillers are often based indoors, yet we also look upon Gone Girl for inspiration
about the location. Long shots of the setting are used to highlight the vast amount
of land and area surrounding the characters. This being the route we wanted to
take, so we incorporated more shots similar to that of Gone Girl than other films we
researched.

3. Title of the film

The third frame selected shows the title of the film ENRAPTURED and font and
typography we decided to use. We decided from the offset to use a white colour for
the titling as from our research we had seen this worked best. For example the shot
from Sleeping With The Enemy uses a white title against a black background, this
highlights the actual title, suggesting the name contains significance. Enraptured
means to give intense pleasure or joy to, so has further significance towards the
rest of the film. We also looked upon The Guest who used a purple old fashioned
font on a black background. As a group we decided against this as we felt it lacked
a modern feel that we wanted our film to contain. We also enlarged the tracking as
we felt it gave further significance to the title, which draws focus to the title as a
whole. This typography and institutional information conforms to the conventions of
the opening title sequence, using the conventional features of titling to convey how
it is an opening sequence. Overall we were please with how we used the
typography and sans serif font to portray the modern aspect of our thriller film.

4. Costume and Props

Throughout the pre-production
process of planning and
storyboarding our opening
sequence it was apparent
through research how vital
mise-en-scene and especially
costume and props were in the
film. We wanted to use this
close up shot of moving feet, to
increase anticipation as the
second lot of feet followed. A
similar shot was seen in The
Guest, however this was a
tacking shot following the feet.
Being the main focus we had to
look upon the shoes wanted for
both characters. For Lucia the
costume is normal everyday
wear, nothing to extravagant or
boring, using popular branded
trainers to illuminate to the
audience how she understands fashion. In contrast to Josh who is seen to be
wearing reds and many layers. One factor of this was to be able to spot him in the
crowd, by using a bright colour. Another being red is often associated with blood
and violence in thriller films, which we wanted to connote with our character Josh.
Inspiration for costume came from much research, highlighting how the protagonist
often dressed as a misfit or not like a common stereotype of their age, meaning this
is how we decided to dress Josh.

Not many props were used in our opening sequence as we felt this would take
away from the main focus of the stalking scene. One prop used is the phone, to
take a picture of Lucia, highlighting the modern nature of the film. By using a
camera phone the audience can align themselves to the characters, forming more
suspense when something happens to them. This suspense created is a generic
convention of thriller films.

5.How the characters are introduced

To introduce our main
character we decided to
place him central in
multiple shots where he is
alone. The first shot
witnessed like this is the
long shot time lapse. By
placing him central and still
he is the centre of
attention, yet not many
opinions can be formed
quite yet leaving mystery
of this character. The next
shot is then the close up
shown above. This serves
to illuminate how Josh
may be perceived for the
rest of the film, be him
attributing to
unconventional teenage
boy stereotypes it enables
the audience to
understand how he is not a normal teenager. Also we researched into the rule of
thirds, and decided against this for our character Josh, we wanted him to look out of
place and almost uncomfortable on screen. We figured out the way to do this was
to place him dead centre forcing the audience to look at him, making them feel
uncomfortable in his presence. This contrast to our shots of Lucia where we applied
the rule of thirds, making the audience feel more natural when looking at her as this
is where they automatically look. This rule of thirds used enables us to introduce
our characters for the rest of film, as they evoke reactions from the audience which
will form opinions of the characters and stick with them for the rest of the film.
Through the introduction of characters we have conformed to the conventions of an
opening title sequence, meaning we have used conventions of real media products.

6.Camerawork and editing

To create a
thrilling
opening
sequence
we built up
the speed
of editing
throughout
the
sequence.
At first the
editing was
sinisterly
slow,
creating tension as the audience wondered when the action would pick up. Then
we had a succession of quick shots to construct the stalking section. This match on
actions used quicker editing than before to heighten the suspense and thrilling
nature of the actions. Then the editing again slowed down to illuminate Lucias
blindness and vulnerability. We used the editing to our advantage in order to build
suspense and tension, which is a generic convention of the thriller genre.
We also used a wide range of shots from close ups to long shots to pans. These
shots aided us in introducing the characters and the genre, as intimate close shots
were used throughout to present the weak characters as vulnerable. Another shot
we found useful was mid shots yet of the back of the characters, as seen above. By
filming from behind further mystery is created about how the characters are feeling,
or if they are oblivious to the action. We understood that even more vulnerability
was created through filming shots from behind, as seen in the film Gone Girl.
Overall the vast range of shots used enabled us to build suspense in our opening
sequence, conforming to the conventions of a thriller film

7. Lighting
In our opening title sequence we decided on only using natural lighting, simply for
convenience when filming. This meant we had to systematically choose when best
to shoot throughout the day in order to achieve the best lighting, aiming for dimly lit
evening time we shot around 3/4pm in the winter time. This allowed the type of
lighting shown in the shot below. This lowkey lighting offers a sinister feel as
anything could occur, this is often used in thrillers to make the actor seem more
isolated and in danger. We looked upon the natural lighting used in Gone Girl for
inspiration, seeing they used similar dim lighting. However we decided against
using dark or poorly lit areas as we felt this conformed to a horror film better which
we did not want to achieve. So by using dimly lit yet not dark lighting an ominous
tone is still set, while still conforming to the typical thriller conventions of mystery
and isolation.

8. Genre, and how the opening suggests

it
The eighth frame
chosen illuminates the
sub genre we have
chosen, being that of
murderous passion.
The first draft of this
shot contained warmer
colours, with many
natural red and pink
tones. This steered
away from the thriller
genre and towards a
romantic one. Although
the shot depicted the
passion and relationship
needed we had to alter
the colours to heighten
the dark and cold
atmosphere of the shot.
Blues and greys were
used in this shot to help
suggests the genre of
murderous passion, as the actions show love yet the colour allows for an ominous
tone. This was also seen within The Guest where loving relationships are depicted
yet through other harsh factors such as the women's costume and characteristics
the thriller genre is ensued. A voiceover is also used throughout the opening
sequence which heavily influences how the genre is depicted. The deep
monotonous voice used creates a sinister tone of the main character, this sets the
thriller genre from the offset as it is clear to the audience of the tone of this film.

9. How suspense is created

The final frame shown to the
left depicts how suspense has
been created in our opening
sequence. The multiple use of
long shots in our sequence is
used to present our characters
as isolated and vulnerable,
building suspense as the
audience are unsure about
their safety. These long shots
are also seen in the opening of
the film Sleeping with the
Enemy, where many long shots
are used in order to present the
antagonist. These shots serve
to construct him as a isolated
character, who may not
conform to a typical friendly
adult yet in fact quite unhinged
in his actions. This enables
suspense to be created as the
audience can not learn about the character as they would with multiple close up
shot, through being less intimate long shots create mystery and therefore
suspense. Suspense has also been created through the voice over, in this point of
the action Josh says This is where it all began building the suspense as we are
left unknown to what has begun or why this point of the film is significant. We are
certain from this point that both Joshs life and Lucias will take an abrupt turn from
this point forward, creating further suspense as the audience are left unknown to
this change. Through suspense being created the sequence conforms to the
generic conventions of a thriller theme. By using Charles Derrys definition of a
suspense thriller it is one which evokes a reaction from the audience, which our
sequences does through leaving the audience confused on Joshs motives.