looking back at your preliminary Task,what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The shots we used in our Preliminary Task were the 180 degree Rule, Match on Action and Shot reverse Shot. In our opening sequence we used all these elements. For example; in one of the scenes when the girl is talking to the other character, the camera is positioned behind the character, which gives the effect of showing who the who the character is looking at.

a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMX4zT3ug5izVD_4eNxqnT2pQZkds-DK1jnrjPyIehAjShSNa7EkhPXVEn1mhAHd4XbjDQ2qfibbb-En6L-HOQn3oz2jbIJaAcKTxf9zUbXLdrohVpR4OL-Tr3w5oqVU5w0ofQFYGYOmy/s1600/shot+reverse+shot.jpg">

This is an image of a 'Shot Reverse Shot' which shows that we used this in our preliminary task. Since we used this element into our task, it made us improve as we used one of the scenes as a shot reverse shot to show which character is looking and talking to who.

We developed our skills by using the different elements we have learnt from our Preliminary task and adding it to our opening sequence.

Using these range of camera elements has shown our progression becuase since we added these elements to our opening sequence this shows our understanding of the elements and that we learnt how to use them. We also used elements such as;special effects. For most scenes we used transitions. E.G. Fade out. In one of the scenes it fades out to another scene. We also used the spiral effect holding the camera and slowing turning the camera upwards towards the full picture.





This is a screenshot of the spiral effect. At the beginning of our opening sequence we used the camera to work its way upwards following the stalker

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

The conventions of a thriller film is what we expect to see in a thriller movie. We expect to hear screaming, gun shots,people dying,and a dark atmosphere. These conventions should be present in a thriller film. In a Thriller opening sequence there must be conventions but not all the conventions should be present as it is only the opening. It should be quite dull/dark. The two thriller opening sequences I will be comparing to our opening sequence are; The Kingdom and The Shining. The sequence of The Kingdom is a cloudy and grim atmosphere and has military writing. It also has gun shots at the background. The Shining is a complete contrast. The background is bright and is very atmospheric with hills/mountains. The setting looks picturesque. The music is quite subtle and quiet but also sounds mysterious.

We have followed conventions to our opening sequence by having the background looking cloudy and grim. There are sounds of footsteps which demonstrates the idea that someone is coming becuase the emphasis is on the sound of footsteps.



This is a screenshot which shows a dark image which is similar to the thriller film ‘the Shining’ because its a dark picture which shows we have challenged conventions and followed them.

Character Profile

I will compare and contrast the characters from the opening sequence to real actors from the Thriller films.




This character is similar to Marie from the opening sequence as they are worried. This character is Jodie Foster who plays Kyle Pratt in the thriller 'Flight Plan'.



This character from the Thriller film reflects Marie becuase they are both anxious and concerned. Marie is anxious when she sees the child has gone and is dead and Jodie foster from 'Flight Plan' is also anxious when she finds her child is missing.



This character is from the thriller film 'The Strangers'reflects 'Tasha' from the opening sequence as she is a protective lady and extremely afraid. They both love their loved ones and protective over their loved one. kristian McKay is the character from The strangers is protective over her husband whereas Tasha from our opening sequence is protective over her brother.



These characters represent women as emotional and stressed becuase it shows how they are portrayed in the film, and how they react to certain situations which gives the idea of how women can be when they are in that position.

How does your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups

I will choose two characters from different thriller films that is simliar to the characters we have used in our opening aequence. 'The Strangers' is a thriller film. A character from the film is called ' Kristen McKay' and is a young lady who recently got married. This character is similar to 'Tasha' in our opening sequence becuase they are both afraid and protective of their loved ones. For example; Tasha loves her brother and is protective over him and gets extremely hurt when she sees her brother dead. This is similar to the other character from 'The Strangers' as when she sees her husband dead she also is terrified and damaged.

Another thriller film is 'Flight Plan' the character is called ' Kyle Pratt' which is similar to the character 'Marie' in our opening sequence. This is becuase in the film when she finds her daughter has gone she panics and gets extremely concerned with what has happened. In the opening sequence Marie behaves exactly the same when she realises the little child has dissappeared. Also, becuase this character is similar to Marie from the opening sequence as they are worried.

These characters represent women as emotional and stressed becuase it shows how they are portrayed in the film, and how they react to certain situations which gives the idea of how women can be when they are in that position. In Thriller films, women victims are sterotypically represented by the way they act in scenes. For example; if they see a shadow behind the door and it looks suspicious, they would still go to the door and see what it is. This shows that women are sterotypically represnted as niave and Innocent.

Distribution Research

For our opening sequence its an indepedant British film. We chose the small independant British company 'Pathe' to distribute our movie.

Contribution To The Opening Sequence

For our groups opening sequence we have created a Thriller opening sequence. I played as the 'babysitter' who looks after the child and leaves the child alone to collect some DVDs and when i come back the child is found dead in the bathroom. Im not the main actor in the opening sequence and im first introduced when I come to the bedroom and see the childs drawing.

Opening sequence

Film Title: ‘The Shining’
The titles that are presented in the film are blue, it is also quite a boring font and doesnt fit the mood as the music presented is creepy and this font doesnt match with it. The writing font is basic and only the title is coloured blue and surrounding the title are mountains and trees. It is bold which is significant because it stands out which is the first thing we see which shows that the title is the most important image of the film and we should be focused on the title. The film is directed by Stanley Kubrick, and produced by Robert Fryer.


Film Title: ‘The Kingdom’
The narrative is introduced in the opening sequence by starting off with an image of what looks like a deserted island and shows a date and shows different dates with different images throughout the opening. Towards the end it shows a person which could be the president speaking. The film language is military language. It is like the narrator is describing a war. The mise en scene is the images of people who are in the country ‘Arabia’ and showing terrorists walking around the streets. This gives me an idea that the film is set in Saudi Arabia and about a war. Sound is used in the opening, but sounds that come from guns, and aeroplanes. These sounds give clues that the film could be a ‘Thriller’ because it shows that there is killing involved and nerve racking tension which builds suspense

Film Title: ‘Fight Club’
Genre is introduced in the opening sequence because we see dark colours being presented which portrays a sense of evil. This could show that the film could be a Thriller. The character we see first is an extreme close up of a man which focuses on his eyes which looks terrified, he looks like hes being tortured. This introduces the main character because hes the first person we are focused on, he is our main focus. The conventions that are present in the film are guns which shows that this is what we expect to see in a Thriller film. The film tries and grabs the audiences attention because theres a build up of suspense using sound, the sound gets higher and louder which makes us feel anxious. The questions im left after watching the opening sequence are; Why is the character being Tortured? Who is he? What has he done to be in this position?