Evaluation Question 1

 In what ways does your media produce use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product? 

For part of my production i researched what a thriller was and found out  A Thriller is a genre of film and televison which has numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods elict, giving viewers heighter feelings of suspense, excitement, anxiety and tension. Thrillers are created to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and this is the effect myself and Amy were hoping to create. After spending sometime researching i found which conventions were mostly used in thrillers and which were the most common. I found that these are:

• low key lighting 
• quick cuts
• shadows
• tension music 
• changes in the angle of shots 
• Diegetic sounds of breathing
• black and white shots 

I then researched what were the main conventions used within an opening sequence and found that these are:

• Opening titles 
• Title of film
• company that the film is produced by 
• soundtrack
• Introduction of main characters 
• Location 

     In thrillers there are usually alot of close ups and extreme close ups used whether its of a character to show their emotion or of props to show its importance and to aid the narrative.         

  As a group we decided to use certain conventions to fit our genre and style of thriller. We thought about which conventions and effects would suit our opening the best and make it look most effective to the audience. The editing and camera work are musts when creating any sort of video. On filming we decided to shoot a number of close ups to make certain things more obvious and to stand out more, for example the clip of the phone is a close up and this is so the viewer
can see the text being sent and this helps the

viewer to feel more apart of the thriller and 
have an insight to what is happening to the 
main character Abi. When it came to editing my         thriller i wanted to creat an uncomfortable atmosphere
 for the viewer to make them feel on edge throughout 
wondering whats going to happen next. My thriller 
opening could also be seen as fast paced as it never
stops. The person behind the camera ( The ex boyfriend) 
is constantly moving and following the female characters every move. 
 My Thriller also contains a jump cut right at the beginning after the gate is opened by the character behind the camera. This is to make it look like the character is walking quickly behind the female as it jump cuts to further forward.
   Sound and music is a key part of a thriller as It helps to add suspence and tension and also helps the audience to understand the mood of certain parts and to make certain parts become more significant than others. I added sounds into my thriller to help make it seem more mysterious. I also wanted to add authentic ambience sound so that the audience believes what is happening is real. This is a sound such as the loud gasping noise at the end my video. 
My whole thriller opening is also in black and white which fits in with the main conventions of a thriller. I decided to put all of the video in black and white due to filming having to be during daytime as I wanted the setting to be dark to make my opening seem scarier and more mysterious. I also thought that my opening sequence looked more professional when put into black and white as the lighting in each clip was different and not very clear. 

 

I also used changes of angles in different shots throughout my production. This is shown at the beginning of my thriller when the main character is walking up to her house. It shows the person behind the camera filming the girl from different angles and locations around the front of the house which suggests the idea to the viewer that the girl is being watched from all around, from everywhere. 

                                                      

                                          
In my thriller the main conventions of an opening sequence are also used throughout. The title of my film, the company that it has been produced by and the opening titles are shown throughout my film. This is so that straight away the viewer knows who the film was produced by but most importantly the name of my thriller as i want the title to be remembered. The title is shown in big letters so that the audience can see it clearly. The introduction of my main character is also shown within my opening sequence this helps to tell the storyline to my viewer so that they get a breif idea of what is going to happen throughout and what will happen later on in the film. I also introduced the main location in the opening as the girls house is going to be the location whuch is on screen the most.