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

We decide to make a film opening sequence based on the horror/thriller genre. We wanted to create something that followed the conventions of these genres and so looked at other opening sequences such as Flightplan and Strangers to see similar conventions both these films had in their openings. From this, we constructed an opening sequence with these similar conventions to make it recognisable to the audience.


Conventions of opening sequences:

• Production/Distribution companies
• Introduction of main character

• Introduction of the narrative

• Music

• Other titles

We made sure we incorporated the above into our opening sequence in order for it to follow conventions.



I looked at the Flightplan opening sequence to see whether it follwed typical conventions and so i had an idea of exactly what to include.
From the above opening sequenc. we can see that it does follows the general conventions and includes:

We also tried to make typical themes of the genre evident.

Our opening sequence contains some of these typical themes for example danger and fear which is shown through the characters emotion in the opening.

Our film opening does conform to narrative structure. Specifically to classic narrative pattern which during the course of a film, there is:

EQUILIBRIUM --> DISRUPTION --> RESOLUTION --> NEW EQUILIBRIUM

This happens throughout the course of the whole film so as we only filmed an opening sequence, it would be much unexpected to have all four of these.

At the very beginning, we have equilibrium as the girl is returning home from a night out and everything is normal, as there is no disruption. However as the opening progresses, we have a small disruption at the end which will then develop as the film continues.

Our character that we have introduced is the victim. At the end of the opening, we realise she is in danger. We have therefore introduced a villain who is not yet known and which will be revealed as the film progresses.

Finally, we made sure our opening sequence had the style of the horror/thriller genre

These include:

• Eerie music

• Darkness

• Odd lighting

As our opening had dialogue, we wanted to keep the music to a minimum so found a track that was scary but not too much so it wouldn’t drown out the sound.

The music we used was called ‘Eerie Angel’ and ‘Evil Eyes’.

This music was tense and fitted in with the thriller genre and the style that is usually expected.

Our film is brightly lit however we did film at night so it was clear it was dark at the time following the style of the genre. Also some parts, for example at the beginning, the lighting is very yellow which is typical of the genre.

3rd Shoot Reflections

Here are my initial thoughts on our third shoot:

• We worked well as a team
• We achieved everything we wanted to
• We did it all in good time

As this was our final shoot, there isn’t any other chance to improve anything.

Overall thoughts on all the shooting sessions:

Overall thoughts on all the shooting sessions:

• We all worked well together and managed things between us well
• They went well as we managed to get everything we planned done
• Overall, I think we really progressed throughout our shoots and got better and better each time

2nd Shoot Reflections

Here are my initial thoughts on our second shoot:

• Once again, I think we really worked well as a team
• We shot a lot of footage so this is going to be very useful for us
• I think we definitely managed our time better after the first shoot.
• The shot log was filled out completely so will be very useful to us when editing

Things I think we need to improve:

• I think we are going to have to use the back up shoot as there are a few shots we need to re-shoot
• We need to try and improve the quality of the voice messages as they are unclear

Rough Cut

Here is our rough cut after editing after our first shoot.

• I think the shots worked well
• The sequence flows so I think we made sure we didn’t break the rules of continuity
• The voice messages were only rough but we definitely need to re think how we are actually going to put them into the sequence

1st Shoot Reflections

Here are my initial thoughts on our first shoot:

• I think we all worked well as a team
• We managed to get everything done however I don’t think we managed time efficiently as we took much longer than expected
• After looking back on our footage, I think we filmed the shots well


Things I think we need to improve:

• Time efficiency. I think we could make a list of what we plan to get done every hour and try to stick to it
• We didn’t use the shot log so for our main shoot, we definitely need to
• We have had talks about changing the actress and I think this would be a good idea
• We need to now think about how we are going to do the voice messages

Ideas

First thoughts for opening sequence


- Horror Genre
- Female Victim
- Location in woods/scary house?

1) Young girl walking home after a night out and someone following her

2) Girl coming home to find someone in the house
3) Girl being chased through the woods by scary man

Opening Sequences

1)What forms can opening sequences take? Can you list the conventional features of opening sequences?

Opening sequences take many forms depending on the genre of film but they all have certain characteristics that they all contain in order to be successful opening sequences.

Conventional Features:
- Main character
- Setting
- Plot

2) What narrative functions of opening sequences can you identify?

- opening sequence needs to hook the audience and keep them wanting to watch more of the film.
- introduce main characters
- establish a location
- sometimes get hints of an enemy or the beginning of a problem that perhaps will take place

3) What do audiences gain from watching the opening sequence?

Audiences discover and can assume what is going to happen in the film.

4) What do film-makers gain from including an opening sequence?

From opening sequences, film-makers have to hook the audience and create a sequence that will make audiences want to keep on watching. The opening sequence is essential in ensuring people watch the film so therefore it gains the most number of viewers that it possibly can.