Task 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Chapter Fifty-Seven

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

My media product is in the form of a visual opening sequence to a thriller film. It involves a few simple shots which have been cut and arranged together with several title sequences passing through. I researched several different opening sequences to see the variety used in this form.

I liked the idea of catch me if you can having an animated opening sequence. I feel it leaves more to the imagination. I also think it doesn't distract from the names and titles. I did not have the skills to create an animated opening sequence though.

This opening sequence to 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' is more similar to Evangeline because they use titles in between short shorts of action. I also like the music and use of light and dark.

 

We chose thriller as our genre because I like the suspense and excitement built through seeing small shots of action interrupted by titles. The film Taken influenced our thriller because it is in the same genre although Taken consists of more action. In thriller opening sequences usually the protagonist is shown and the theme begins light and happy but changes very quickly to show something isn't right.

 We used a lot of titles and logos in our opening sequence. It gives little of the action away but still attracts the audience. They keys used in the titles were created and edited into the frame using photoshop and adobe premiere pro. They show the audience the theme is keyholes and keys. 

We do see domestic violence towards the end of the thriller though, expressing darker themes.

 

There is some foreshadowing in my opening sequence. We are unaware of what the girl is looking at until the sound indicates she is not alone behind the door. We also know there is a key theme because of the keys used next to the titles. We know the film will be thrilling as the music suggests something is about to happen. The silence at the beginning shows Evangeline's lack of understanding and the unexpected event she is about to witness.