1. Introduction I have made an opening sequence to a psychological thriller/horror film, I worked with my friend Fabio Fiocca. We both enjoy this genre of film so thought it would be best to do an opening sequence for this genre. Throughout the project I put together a storyboard, filmed and edited, I also made the final decisions for sound. Destitute Evaluation Helen Keegan

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? As I said before we chose the psychological thriller/horror genre, so decided to use the typical elements of this genre. Firstly I set it at night in an isolated location, there are shots of victims in the opening sequence looking very scared and the blood and bruising on them is a typical convention of the horror genre, the opening sequence is what should hook the audience in. I was fairly conventional in my approach but feel I did try to develop the form somewhat by posing more questions than usual as there were no ‘big’ signals to suggest what might have happened to the victims or why they were chosen. I felt this was important as sometimes the element of surprise can be lost if too much is revealed in an opening sequence. I used the typical element of ‘scary’ music (non-diegetic) and selected a composition that not only sounded disturbing but actually disturbed the listener too. I chose, as I said before, an isolated location and the close up of the driver in the opening sequence showed him to be expressionless; intent upon driving. I chose to have no dialogue and hoped that the overall effect of this would be to challenge the audience to put their own interpretation upon what might have happened and I also felt this added to the tension.

3. We particularly liked the opening sequences to ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (2003) and ‘The silence of the lambs’ (1991). The opening sequence to ‘Texas chainsaw Massacre’ introduces the monster by showing information on what looks like records, photos and bits of his face we liked this as it set up enigmas so like this we did the same by showing shots of our monster’s (Nick) face and hands.

4. In silence of the lambs the pace is a bit quicker and at first you think she is being chased but in fact you discover she is doing what seems like a obstacle course. I liked the idea of using something simple and a nice pace, as people generally have a low patience span. The way it is a journey also makes the audience want to know where this car with this girl we think is in the back of it is going. The shots then of the three girls who look like they are being held hostage makes the audience guess that maybe he is driving there.

5. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My media project represents the social groups criminals and victims and monsters. The representation of the criminal was evident in my driver as he drove along expressionless whilst a young woman lay trussed up and afraid in the back of his car. He wore glasses and these normally represent intelligence but here almost act as a mask/disguise for him to hide behind. His glasses may aid his eyesight as a driver but he is blind to the suffering of the victim behind him…there is a contradiction going on here. The driver looks unremarkable and this is frightening. He is not a stereotypical criminal with thuggish looks and I feel my representation fits in better with a psychological thriller. The representation of the victims was more stereotypical. They were all young females and all wore dresses to heighten the sense of their femininity and vulnerability. They all look distressed and afraid and were passive. Their representation would engage the audience’s sympathy and concern.

6. In James Wan’s ‘Saw’ films the ‘Monster’ is watching his victims and hostages, this brings out the zeitgeist of fear of surveillance. It is also creepy how they are being filmed and unaware and that the monster is filming them whilst they are where he has locked them up. I also liked the idea of putting the audience in the ‘monster’s’ shoes, the cam-corder effect is like a point of view shot thus putting the audience in their mind. I put this cam-corder effect in when the name of our film comes up at the end of our opening sequence. We chose ‘Destitute’ as the films name as it means lonely/lacking means to live. I liked this as our ‘monster’ is a lonely farmer with nothing in his life, therefore does what he does.