Question 5

Question 4

Question 6

Question 3

Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progress from it to the main product?

Our preliminary task was to create a thirty second - one minute short scene of a conversation of type. This was to consist of a two people walking into a room and having a conversation using different cinematography including a over the shoulder shot, a close up, a panning shot, a long shot, and a mid shot.

The reason we had to do this was to get to grips with the filming equipment, and to experiment with the different shots and how to execute them properly. This task allowed me to learn about the equipment we were using such as the camera and tripod. This allowed us to see exactly how they worked and what we could do with them, such as the camera settings and so on, and also how the tripod is handy in executing different shots while keeping the camera steady and stable. I also learned how to film the different shots using the equipment and how to capture each shot professionally and to good standard. During the preliminary task i found it difficult to get to grips with the equipment at first, as i didn't know all the functions of the camera and the tripod, for example i didn't know how to order my shots in the camera and how to manage them properly. It took me some time to get used to this but i did eventually, the tripod had different options of movability that could be tightened and turned in order to capture the shots you want, this took some time to get used to and i couldnt figure out who to properly move the camera on the tripod to execute the shot i wanted. After all this learnt how to execute all of my shots and i had found myself familiar with the equipment. The main shots i had trouble shooting was the panning shot, this was because i decided to film this on the tripod and at the time didnt know how to work it properly, this came out with a dodgy panning shot that didn't include everything i wanted in the frame, but i soon learned how to properly move the camera while keeping it steady on the tripod and found how the tripod is a key part of the filming process as it keeps the camera steady and stable. We came across different advantages and disadvantages while filming the preliminary task as it was the first time using the equipment. The different advantages we came across was that we found it easy to capture all the shots we wanted with ease due to the fact that we were using professional equipment and it prepared us for the filming of our sequence. We also found it easy and practical to use the tripod while filming our shots as it allowed for more stability and control over what we wanted to capture in our shot. On the other hand we came across a load of disadvantages and issues while filming. This included us finding it hard to operate the camera at first as we didn't know all the functions of it, this resulted in us taking at least 15 minutes in order to get to grips with the camera and how to work it. After this problem was faced we then came across more issues with the tripod. This was due to the fact that we also didn't know how to properly operate it, meaning we atleast took another 10 minutes to figure out how to use and operate it. When we finally found out how to work the tripod we then carried on to capture the shots we needed for our preliminary task, this became more challenging then we thought, especially the panning shot. We started filming a conversation between two characters about a dispute where the man results in killing his girlfriend. The over the shoulder shot was the first shot of the sequence and became a nuisance as we couldn't work out how to use the zoom on the camera and ended up with a distorted shot of the man entering the scene. As we carried on we filmed two close ups of the man and the girl having a conversation and this came with ease. As we carried on we still had to film a long shot, a mid shot and a panning shot. The mid shot also came with ease as we just had to film the man getting angry at the girl and we positioned the tripod correctly, the panning shot was by far the most difficult, this is because we had to film the camera moving from the girl as it slowly pans to the man when he strikes the girl dead with a metal pole. For this shot we had to get the timing right to make it look realistic and after about 20 minutes we realised this was taking too long and went with the best one, which looked fake and dreadful and the pole obviously didn't strike the girl. Lastly we ended with the last long shot to finish the preliminary task of the man realising shes dead, kicking the chair and running off camera.

My preliminary task helped with our thriller sequence as we had already known how to use the equipment and set up. It also allowed us to execute the staple shots right as we had experimented with them before with the preliminary task, and could easily incorporate this into our sequence. This allowed our sequence to look more professional and not as amateur as it would've if we not did the preliminary task and not have experimented with the equipment and shots before hand. We also had a lot on our plate with the sequence and getting to know the main gist of the equipment, setting up, and executing staple shots allowed us some relief when filming our sequence. We had learned how to operate the camera and watch different scenes back and also how to incorporate and control the different diegetic sounds while filming, we also learnt how to keep the framing of shots right and how to keep them in check and capture everything we wanted in the shot through trial and error (with the panning shot). When filming our thriller sequence we didn't use the tripod throughout. This was because we felt rather comfortable with the equipment and felt we could experiment more, this came out in our favour as we had filmed a point of view shot with the victim that gave a shaky effect to the shot, thus making the sequence more intense and conventional. 

Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Characters in a thriller are always key as they help move the narrative along and progress. It also allows the audience to relate to the characters and to build a relationship with the characters by sympathising/fearing the characters. They also allow the audience to feel certain reactions and emotions towards them and engage them into the narrative as they would connect with certain characters and would follow them through the narrative. 

In my thriller sequence i based my characters representation on their gender, age, clothing, and narrative role in the sequence. We created our characters to be represented as typical of the thriller genre with one antagonist and one victim, we made our representations as typical and conventional of the genre as we could so our audience could easily build a relationship with them and also relate to them easily. Our victim is a young, teenage girl. Being a female she is represented as vulnerable and weak, this is shown at the end of the sequence when she is dominated by the antagonist easily and doesn't struggle when he murders her. She is also not in control of the situation and her emotions as she is naive, this is present when she is freaking out and panicking when she notices the targeted photos on the wall as she is not in control of her emotions and bursts into an up roar when she notices her picture.  She is also portrayed as the lesser dominant and she is not physically strong as a man (the antagonist) and is portrayed as she can't take care of herself and defend herself, this is evident when she is dominated by the antagonist as he grabs her by the throat and she is not able to escape. The female is also a teenager. This helps with our representation as it allows us to relate the character to our target audience and helps them easily build a relationship with the character, this is because she is portrayed as innocent and dependant, as she can't take care of herself and will not be able to survive in this situation, this is shown when she is stabbed right at the end of the sequence.  Being young also allows the audience to realise that she is not mature enough to deal with the situation and is not in control of her emotions, this is evident throughout the sequence as she is constantly wailing and crying and is not able to remain calm and civil about the situation. This further more helps them to sympathise with the character as her rate of survival is limited. The characters costume also connotes a lot about her being. She is wearing a white top that connotes her innocence to the audience and there for makes them relate to the character as they believe she hadn't done anything to deserve this. Her narrative role also helps the audience to build a relationship with the character as she is taunted and stalked by an unknown killer. She was bullied over social media which relates to our teen target audience and helps them sympathise with the character, and she is then kidnapped and hunted because of this. This in itself allows the audience to relate to the character as she is being bullied and stalked, and allows them to automatically root for the character. 

The other character in my sequence is the antagonist, his identity is unknown but is represented as a much more powerful and dominant character, this is evident throughout the clip especially at the end when he dominates the victim and kills her. He is portrayed as older, bigger, stronger and more in control of himself. He is represented as a male which automatically connotes to the audience that he is physically over powering to the young teenage girl, and is represented as a dark, sinister man which allows the audience to fear his presence, this is shown when we first see the antagonist in the sequence when he approaches the window and the audience are unable to see the man due to his dark clothing, he is also rather tall and physically big and he stares at the victim through the window. He is also represented as an older character toward the victim, this allows the audience to realise that he is more wise, in control, and also more dominant over the victim, this adds to the suspense whether the victim will survive or not and allows the audience to almost haunt his presence. The antagonist also wears all black clothing and black face make up, this is used to represent him as a dark sinister man, who is hiding his identity away, making the audience engage in the sequence as they want to find out who the character is, his dark clothing also makes him seem a sinister being who the audience would fear. His narrative role is slightly blurred for a reason, this is because the character is portrayed as quite a mysterious figure, who the audience know nothing about and would fear his presence, all we know is that he has stalked a young teenage girl over social media, threatened her and kidnapped her in preparation to kill her. This makes the character more chilling to the audience as it is not mentally stable to do something along those lines, making him seem like a danger and a evil man. 

Both our gender representations are stereotypical. The female is represented as weak and vulnerable, while the antagonist male is represented as dominant and over powering. The female is a typical young, innocent and blonde female who is portrayed as vulnerable and not in control of herself and her situations, and is also dependant and can't take care of herself, this is conventional of the genre as many thrillers use this staple character to make her easy to relate to and sympathise with, thus engaging the audience into the sequence as they want her to survive, which is doubting as she is an easy target for the killer. While the antagonist is represented as wise, older and dominant over the victim as he is physically bigger, and also represented as quite violent and over powering over the female, this is conventional of the thriller genre as the antagonist is often portrayed as over powering, dark and dominant, making him a hard challenge o survive from. This for shadows the death of the victim as her chances of survival very low and engages the audience as they are on edge as they want the female victim to survive, even though her death is inevitable. 

Our target audience build a relationship with the characters as they relate to the characters and feel opposite emotions to each character. As i made the characters typical of the genre the audience find it easy to relate to the character of the victim as she is vulnerable and weak. They sympathise with the character and there for want her to survive even though it is unlikely. Our target audience are also around the same sort of age as the victim, and can relate to her issues with social media and cyber bullying, this helps the audience build a relationship with the character and allow them to see her innocence. They would also build a relationship of the antagonist of fear, as they would not know much about the character due to his hidden identity, and would also fear his physical and mental dominance over the victim, as they already relate to the character of the female (same age group, relate to her issues etc.) they can't understand why this character is doing what he is let alone know who he is, there for making the audience fear him even more. 

Question 1

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

Our brief was to create a two minute opening sequence to a thriller film that was conventional and engaging to our target audience. The conventions of a thriller include:

Silence, this is used in order to build tension and is used in the thriller film Shutter Island when the two police detectives are wondering an isolated prison cell and are engaged by a psychopathic prisoner. Silence is used to build tension and to create a sense of suspense for the audience as they don't know if anything will jump out at them at any moment. It also engages the audience as they wonder if anything sinister is going on and keeps them on edge throughout the scene and also curious as to what is going to happen. They also relate to the victim as they are scared for their life as they are vulnerable in the situation and are in the same scenario as them and feel as if something is going to jump out to them, intriguing them to watch on into the scene. In our sequence we used silence when the victim was making her way over to the targeted photos after the flashback scene, this built a sense of tension for the audience and intrigued them to why there is a sudden sense of silence keeping them on edge and wondering if the antagonist was going to jump out on to them.

Low key lighting is another thriller convention and is used to create a sinister atmosphere. It is used in the film Halloween in the opening when the killer is lurking around the dark house looking to kill someone. The sinister atmosphere engages the audience and connotes to them that they are about to be thrilled.This creates an enigma for the audience as they can't see everything in the shot and are engaged into the scene as anything can jump out and scare them at amy time. This also makes the audience feel a sense of suspense as they don't know what is going to happen further in the scene and they relate to the character of the victim as they are seen as vulnerable and unaware of there surroundings, we used low key lighting throughout our sequence to create a sense of tension and suspense for the audience, it also kept the scene hidden connoting to the audience that the antagonist is lurking around and creating a sinister atmosphere.

Female victim is another thriller convention and is used to relate to the audience. A female victim is used in the film Scream in the opening when a young, teenage girl is being stalked by an unknown man. This creates a sense of suspense for the audience and creates an enigma as to who the stranger is. They also relate to the character of the young girl as she is portrayed as innocent (as she is wearing white) and vulnerable in an isolated house on her own at night. The female victim allows the audience to build a relationship with the character as they are usually portrayed as weak and dependant, meaning they can't take care of themselves and are looked on a prey, the audience feel scared for the victims life and don't want her to be killed, there for creating a sense of suspense for there audience as they are on edge wanting her to survive even though it is unlikely. In our sequence we used a female victim as it allowed the audience to relate to the character and to sympathise with them, as they are portrayed as innocent and vulnerable, meaning the audience want the protagonist to stay alive even if its unlikely.

A knife is another convention of the thriller genre as it is a brutal weapon. A knife is used in the film Psycho when the antagonist is stabbing the girl in the shower. The iconography of the knife creates a sense of suspense for the audience as it for shadows the death of the victim. The knife is also a staple weapon in the thriller genre as it is brutal and creates a sense of shock for the audience because of the brutality of the weapon. The audience relate to the victim as they are scared for their life and are on edge to see them be brutally stabbed to death but the powerful antagonist. In our thriller sequence we used a knife as we decided it was the most conventional and chilling weapon to use in our sequence that would shock and scare the audience and make them feel a sense of suspense.

A mysterious antagonist is another convention of the thriller genre as it intrigues the audience. A mysterious antagonist is used in the film Halloween when the killer is shown in a point of view shot hunting the victim. This creates an enigma as the audience are unsure of who the killer is and become engaged and intrigued to find out who the killer is. This also creates a sense of suspense and tension for the audience as they feel on edge as to find out who the killer is and what his motivation behind the killing is. The audience also fear the antagonist as they don't know who he/she is and they relate to the character of the victim as they are represented as vulnerable and weak. The antagonist is also represented as over powering and dominant over the victim and allows the audience to feel scared for the victims life. We used a mysterious antagonist in our sequence to create an enigma and to engage the audience into the sequence as they would want to find out who the antagonist is and would feel a bigger sense of suspense as the antagonist is wearing black and covered up, meaning the audience find it hard to relate to him and fear him.

A isolated and unknown setting is another convention of the thriller genre as it creates an unsafe and sinister atmosphere for the audience. This is used in the film Prisoners when the police officer finds the body of the young girl in an abandoned and isolated house. This creates a sinister atmosphere for the audience, it also creates a sense of suspense as to whether the victim is alone with the antagonist and allows the audience to relate to the character of the victim as they feel scared for the victims life, as they are vulnerable and trapped in this setting and have no way of escape. This for shadows the death of the victim and builds a sense of suspense as the audience want the victim to escape and survive even though it is unlikely. It also creates a sense of tension for the audience as they wonder whether the killer is with the victim and stalking them, meaning he can create a jump scare for the audience as he can engage the victim at amy time creating a sense of suspense. In our sequence we used an unknown and isolated basement whereby the victim was held captive, we done this in order to create a sense of an enigma for the audience and to build suspense as to where the victim is and whether she can escape or not.

We gained certain inspirations from other thriller films, these included the isolated location where the victim is being taunted by the antagonist alone. We used this in our sequence as it created a sense of suspense for the audience and allowed them to relate to the character of the victim as they would be scared for their life. It also would keep the audience on edge as they would wonder when the antagonist would jump out on the victim and create a sense of shock for the audience. This inspiration helped as it allowed us to see what creates a sense of suspense for the audience, as this is a major factor and allows the audience to feel scared for the victims life.

Another inspiration we gained was the idea of a young female victim. We gained this as we found a female victim comes across as vulnerable and weak to the audience. This allowed them to relate to the character and to feel scared for their life. A female is also represented as innocent creating a sense of tension for the audience as they would want the victim to survive and to not be attacked by the antagonist. The female being presented in this way also for shadows her death as the audience know they wouldn't be able to survive over a dominant and powerful antagonist. This helped as it allowed us to see what the audience wanted with a victim and what sort of victim was easy to relate to and build a relationship with.

The last inspiration we gained was of a mysterious antagonist. We were inspired by this as they create  an enigma and engage the audience into watching on into the sequence and to find out who the killer is and why he is hunting the victim. The mysterious antagonist also creates a sense of suspense for the audience as they fear him and fear the life of the victim as he is represented as over powering to the victim and dominant. This helped as it allowed us to clearly see what our audiences enjoyed and what makes them thrilled when watching a thriller with an antagonist.

Our sequence is conventional to a thriller as it includes an enigma. This is conventional of a thriller as it intrigues the audience to watch on into the sequence and engages them into the sequence. The enigma we used was who the victim and antagonist are, why the antagonist is hunting the victim and what exactly happened for the antagonist to kill the victim. This thrills the audience and allows them to relate to the character of the victim which is conventional of the genre as they feel scared for the victims life. The enigma also allows the audience to engage into the sequence and to watch on into the sequence as they want to know what the narrative is about.

Another reason why our sequence is conventional of the genre is because it includes a female victim. This is conventional as females are often portrayed as weak and vulnerable. This is also conventional as the female is represented as scared and allows the audience to relate to the character and feel scared for their life. The female victim also is represented as innocent meaning the audience build a relationship with the character and want her to survive, the female victim also for shadows her death as she will not make her way out of the situation alive as the antagonist is represented as a male, meaning he is portrayed as more dominant and over powering over the victim.

The last reason our sequence is conventional of the genre is because we included a typical thriller narrative. This narrative involves a young girl being kidnapped and held in an unknown, isolated location where she is stalked and killed by an unknown killer. This is typical and conventional as it provides shock, surprise and suspense for there audience and thrills them. They are also able to build a relationship and relate to the character of the victim and are intrigued to uncover the enigma as to why she is there, and who the killer is and also what his motivations are.