Evaluation 1 - In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

The Title of the Film

The title of our thriller develops forms and conventions of a film opening. We chose the title "The Following" as it allows the audience to interpret the film coming up. We also felt that it gives the impression that the film is going to be quite scary and un-easing. Many people suffer traumatic experiences from being followed every year. We have decided to use this to help express the fear people go through. We watched a lot of different types of thrillers, most of which had names specifically about what was going to occur in the film. Taking this into consideration we felt as though we would follow forms and conventions and went with "The Following".

Setting/Location

The location of our opening is split between an empty car park and a dark alley. Both of these locations were chosen to give the audience the impression of loneliness and helpless. After watching other thrillers of followers and stalkers we wanted to use dark and small locations, adding to the loneliness. Switching between locations increased the vibe of loneliness and also helped create a variety of shots available, giving us more ideas and possibilities. The two locations contributes to forms and conventions of a thriller as it is helping the audience to portray their own interpretation of what is going to happen next.

Costumes and Props

We created a poster of one of our locations as a prop in our thriller. We managed to put it on to a pillar in the car park and smeared dark lines across the back of it. This was to create fear in the character and tension amongst the audience. We felt as though using the poster by itself did not create the fear and tension we wanted, and so managed to add dark lines to the back of it acting as finger marks. By sticking to the theme we decided to have the "follower" dressed in all black with only his eyes showing so that he cannot be seen. We felt that by doing this we were contributing to forms and conventions of a thriller as it is creating a dark and mysterious vibe.

Camera Work and Editing

At the very beginning of our thriller we had the name of our group appear in an empty alley. Straight away this tells the audience that the oncoming film is going to be spooky. We used iMovie which had a selection of film openings, however there was only one creepy theme which made it easy for us to choose. In the middle of our opening a sequence of flashes occur showing the character wearing full black with only his eyes on show coming closer and closer. This develops to forms and conventions of a thriller as it helps portray that the character is the "bad guy". Throughout our thriller we used a variety of camera shots and angles to help create tension amongst the audience. Due to our chosen locations, we able to use more shots than expected and so changed the way we envisioned our film.

Title Font and Style 

At the beginning of our thriller we introduce our actors on 2 separate sides of the clip. This is based on the opening of cape fear, where the names of the actors playing the "bad" characters appear on the right and the names of the "good" characters appear on the left. We also slightly changed the font of the "bad" character to help the audience distinguish who is who. We felt as though by using the same features as cape fear, a famous and high quality thriller, we are following codes and conventions of a typical thriller.

Story and how the Opening Sets it up

Before we started filming our thriller we decided we wanted to create a tense atmosphere and a sense of loneliness. We also wanted to use two different settings in time, for example using flashbacks, future visions etc. By watching our opening we feel as though we have portrayed this through a variety of key features, the main being our choice of locations. Our location settings gives the audience a sense of loneliness and creates an un-easy vibe. Also when the camera zooms into the poster from the wall the shot goes to a flashback, then returns back to present time and current events.

Genre and how the Opening Suggests it

The genre of our opening scene is a thriller. A key feature of thriller is the unknown and unease and so we wanted to create a never ending atmosphere so the audience felt like there was a risk the whole time. We wanted them to empathise the "follower" throughout our opening and engage the audience to make them feel as though they know what will happen next. Our opening to a thriller starts with an everyday protagonist which is usually seen in a thriller, we also had music playing over the top. This creates an tense atmosphere and it makes the audience feel as though something bad is going to happen to him.

How Characters are Introduced

In the opening of our thriller the audience is introduced to 2 main characters. We introduced the "good" guy first with a point of view shot into a middle shot to show that it is his life being affected. We then switch locations to the dark alley where the "bad" character is introduced. Due to the location and the clothes he is wearing, it is easy for the audience to interpret that he is the villain. When the location is switched back to the car park, both characters are seen, allowing the audience to create a further interpretation of them.