This is my Media Studies answer to Task 1

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

2. What are the media forms and conventionsWhat are the media forms and conventions
• Media forms is an overall shape of the media
product i.e comic books and Internet
• Media conventions is a set of clues that we
(audience) recognizes and associate things with i.e
the length of a music video is going to be the
length of the song boobies

3. My group created a opening sequence to a thriller,
by following some typical conventions subconsciously.
For example we made the length of our approx. 2
minutes long consisting of violent and mysterious
elements to our thriller
We used conventions for our thriller as they can be
seen to be safe. As conventions are repeated due to
their success. Meaning if you follow some of the
typical conventions of the genre/form you have a
higher chance of success in the final product.

4. Conventions of our Title SequenceConventions of our Title Sequence
Using the title is very
common/popular in most all
movies as it makes the
audience subconsciously
remember the title of the movie
A typical convention of most crime
thrillers is to have the movie text after
showing the opening of their movie. The
use of two different coloured text is very
commonly used in action/crime/thriller
movies. Plus the use of the colour of our
text is very similar to the title sequence of
Dexter as the colour white can be seen
as pure but then the colour red signifies
death, love, passion and blood.

5. CameraCamera
• Extreme Close ups allow the
audience to see the actors facial
expression. Therefore the young
adults/teens is able to view the tense
and mysterious atmosphere.
• In comparison to our Media Thriller,
Dexter uses the same camera angle
to convey the same emotions that’s
meant to be felt by the audience,
which is sympathy
• Dexter uses this camera shot a few
second after he is introduced as this
convention is used to illustrate the
personality of the character
Use of Extreme Close ups & Close ups
OUR VIDEO
Dexter
(2006/2013)

6. SoundSound
Use of Diegetic Sounds
• Throughout the opening sequence of Dexter they
used a lot of diegetic and non diegetic sounds. As
for our media thriller our group only used diegetic
sounds as we were trying to create a more isolated
atmosphere.
• Dexter uses a lot of voice overs for the main actor to
allow the audience to know and understand the
characters personality. However in our Media Thriller
we didn’t use a voice over for either characters as
we wanted to introduce a sense of mystery in our
thriller making their personality a little bit more
ambiguous.

7. • The use of location in Dexter can be seen as a typical
convention where to dump a body. As the forest gives
connotations of loneliness and isolation making it a suitable
area to dump a body.
• Our media thriller chose the location to be in the forest as it
makes it seem more professional as building a set outside
would cost time and money. Therefore our group chose for it
to be outside in the forest (as we near a park containing
many trees).
Mise en sceneMise en scene
Use of Extreme Close ups & Close upsUse of location and set
OUR VIDEODexter
(2006/2013)

8. • The use of props allow the audience to
understand more about the character. As
the use of convergence allows the audience
to associate the characters personalities.
• In comparison to our media thriller Dexter
uses medical equipment to illustrate to the
audience that he is most likely to be in the
medical field through the use of medical
equipment. Therefore in our thriller we use
simple props to insinuate the fact that he is a
hit man.
Mise-en-sceneMise-en-scene
Use of Props
OUR VIDEO
OUR VIDEO
Dexter
(2006/2013)
Dexter
(2006/2013)

9. The use of the lighting in our
media thriller challenges
typical conventions of a
crime thriller as typical
conventions use dark lighting
during a murder scene of plot.
However the use of the bright
lighting allows the thriller
illustrate the facial expression
of the actors clearly however
it makes the opening
sequence less scary and
tense without the use of dark
lighting therefore there was a
trade of between the two. In
our final decision our group
chose for it to be in the day as
we were given a specific
date/time to film.
Mise-en-sceneMise-en-scene
Use of Lighting
OUR VIDEO
OUR VIDEO
Dexter
(2006/2013)
Dexter
(2006/2013)

10. • The use of the costumes can be used to give connotations of the characters
personality. As in comparison to both opening sequences both the victims was
wearing smart clothing as this makes them seem educated and clever, which is
used as a typical convention used to make them seem more innocent in the
situation. As later on it reveals in Dexter the victim kills children and in ours the
plot is of how Gabriel is a criminal.
• The use of costumes uses typical synergies to display which field someone is in.
As in Dexter the use of costumes make him seem like a doctor of some sort
while the hit man in our opening sequence is wearing a full attire make him
seem like a professional hitman instead of looking like a random person killing
someone.
• The use of costumes gives hidden messages to the audience the characters
personality and his professions through the use of synergies and typical
conventions.
Mise-en-sceneMise-en-scene
Use of Costume
OUR VIDEO OUR VIDEODexter
(2006/2013)
Dexter
(2006/2013)

11. The order at which the character in Dexter is introduced is similar to
the way our character is introduced. As in the beginning of the
scene Dexter and our victim (Gabe) is in an car by himself. This is
clearly used in Dexter as since he is a psychopath, the show makes
the audience follow his perspective of his journey making him seem
like the innocent one even though he kills people. In our thriller we
introduce the victim of the scene first as we want him to be
remembered by the audience due to the fact he is the first
character introduced to the audience, this will make his death more
memorable as the plot of the movie is about him.
NarrativeNarrative
The timeline of the opening sequence
The ending of both the opening sequence is similar as we both ended
the opening sequence with the death of our victim. This can be seen
as a common convection in opening sequences for crime thriller
TV/Movies as the Movie/TV show slowly reveals the victim reason for
death later on the Movie/TV show i.e. used commonly in NCIS.
Therefore in our media thriller the main question that runs through our
audiences mind is why the hitman killed the victim and who is, which
was the aim of our opening sequence as typical conventions of TV
show is that they don’t reveal a lot, which I feel that our thriller
achieved.OUR VIDEO
OUR VIDEO
Dexter
(2006/2013)
Dexter
(2006/2013)

12. • The use of the actors in our media thriller was chosen based on how well the
actor fitted the role. The reason our group chose our actor to be Mike (bond
guy) is because he had this large physical presence on the scene making
the whole environment very tense and isolated.
• In Dexter the actor fits the role of being a psychopathic killer as he seems to
be an outsider or even a nerd. However he still is capable of changing face
between different people as Dexter hides his real personality to people he
cares about therefore he suits the role
• Therefore our media thriller uses the convention of the actor suiting the role
of the character as it making the movie have more meaning.
NarrativeNarrative
Use of characters/actors
OUR VIDEODexter
(2006/2013)