Evaluation- Question 1

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

Conventions of Thrillers:

• Suspense
• Male protagonist
• Antagonist
• Crime/Mystery
• Low key lighting
• Tension music

Conventions of an opening sequence:

• Title sequence (Production company, Cast names etc)
• Soundtrack
• Narrative
• Introduce key characters
• Enigma

Screen shot of a black and white shot.

My media product uses typical Thriller conventions such as tension building and music to create tension and build suspense. I also used some effects on the video, I used a black and white effect this is present in many Thrillers, for example 'Casino Royale'.

It is typical of a Thriller opening scene to have opening titles, we tried to include as many as possible. These included actors names, producers and who the film was by etc. I created the original Title sequence on After Effects, I used four colours throughout my titles: Red, White and black. I chose to use these colours because they all contrasted nicely against the backgrounds, and the colour red has connotations of danger and it is an intense colour. These connotations fit in well with the uneasy feel to my Thriller.

Screen shots of a few of the titles we included in our opening sequence:

Some opening sequences have short bursts of speech to build tension or to add to the plot and intrigue the audience. We decided to include some audio in the style of a news reporter, this worked effectively in adding to the plot and adding to the suspense of the opening scene.

We chose to cast a male protagonist as we needed a character who could be portrayed as intimidating and who would be able to create an un-settling atmostphere. This is a convention of a Thriller and we decided that it would benefit our film to include it.

Male protagonist