media studies - a level - question 1

1. MEDIA STUDIES
EVALUATION Q1
By caitlin elward

2. USE OF CAMERA
Explanation Evidence from our thriller Evidence from existing thrillers
From the beginning of the filming process
we were aware that we would have to
include a variety of shots to produce our
thriller opening.
We used a lot of close up shots to
reflect on fear and in hope to create
tension to the piece. The use of close
ups was used mainly within the shots in
the garage where as we used more of a
range when filming in the house. This was
done to create a more natural feel to the
shots in the house.
Rather than the shots from the garage of
jasmines body which created tension.
The panning shots which we used within
the opening helped to create further
tension and a juxtaposition of life and
death / life and good times. This is done
primarily through the use of the pan over
the photo montage which then fades to
black and then shows the pan of jasmines
body on the floor. We also used a shot
where we zoom in on jasmine's eye and
then zoom out of josh's eye. This works
well in the sense that it creates an
eerie feel to the opening.

3. USE OF MISE-EN-SCENE
Explanation Evidence from our thriller Evidence from existing thrillers
Throughout the making of our piece we filmed in
two locations,these were a house and a garage.
We chose these locations as we thought the idea
of the contrast of light would help build on the
theory of light vs dark/life vs death.
This conforms to the nature of some thrillers
where they use the juxtaposition of two filming
locations. The use of the different locations
allowed us to create the eerie dark shots which
are usual shots within a thriller contrasting
against the shots within the house, giving the
audience different feelings and views towards
the characters.
While filming, we decided to go against the
typical conventions of a thriller film by the
use of props and lighting. It is visible within
the shots that you can see household objects
such has flowers and pictures, this all created
a more natural feel. We also used bright and
natural lighting within the film which steps
away from the typical lighting of a thriller but
again it created a more natural scene to it.

4. USE OF EDITING
Explanation Evidence from our thriller Evidence from existing
thrillers
We looked at many examples of editing techniques
while editing our film and thought about how
effective they would be if we used them. The
editing process of our film did take a while as we
were rather critical when fine editing.
There were a few errors while editing however
these were quickly solved after using the software
a bit more efficiently.
In our piece, we included a 360 degree shot which
we had to speed up by '100X' in hope to create
tension and unstableness. This then conforming to
the conventions of existing thrillers. We did
attempt to create a slow motion effect with the
360 degree shot however we thought it wasn’t as
effective as when it was sped up.
Looking back at our inspiration, 'the missing',
they use shots that have been increased in speed
or time lapses which are usually revolving around
the character and the characters issues.

5. USE OF SOUND
Explanation Evidence from our thriller Evidence from existing thrillers
We decided to spend some time
researching sounds that could be
used within a thriller opening.
For the opening montage we
wanted to choose a sound which
challenged the typical
conventions of a thriller and
something that linked to the
photo montage and the whole feel
of the film. We wanted to
include a track which gave the
audience an idea of what the
theme of the film is.
After the title sequence,we then
wanted to include a sound which
was more suitable and
stereotypical of a thriller
film. We wanted a sound that
would be parallel to the shots
being shown on the screen.
To give the audience an insight
to the theme of the opening we
used a soundtrack called
'jealousy' by Frankie Miller. We
decided to use this over the
shots of the photo montage. The
use of this non diegetic
soundtrack doesn’t conform to the
conventions of a thriller.
However the lyrics do create
slight tension and help build
narrative.
We then went on to find another
non diegetic tack off youtube
which had been made by other A-
level students whom did it as an
option for a thriller film. We
felt that this was the best
suited track to our thriller as
it created a tense atmosphere to
the piece.
THE MISSING
The missing uses sound
within the opening title
sequence which is sinister
and eerie – conforming to
the typical conventions of a
thriller.

6. USE OF NARRATIVE
Explanation Evidence from our
thriller
Evidence from existing
thrillers
As previously mentioned in some previous blog posts,our
thriller film has been based around the theme of
jealousy. Due to this we based the narrative around
some inspiration that we had found whilst researching.
The first thing we took inspiration from was films such
as 'double jeopardy' and 'safe haven' to create the
whole sense of a staged death. We thought this would
help to create tension and to lead the audience to
question what has happened within the opening.
Another thing we got inspiration from for our narrative
was taken from the BBC TV drama 'the missing'. We took
inspiration from the montage of shots in their opening.
We noticed that within The Missing,the title sequence
consisted of a series of images which gave the audience
an insight to the program. Therefore we decided to
follow the same theme by creating a photo montage to be
used in our title sequence.
We decided to follow Todorov's theory of creating
equilibrium with the photo montage and disequilibrium
with the shots of jasmine's dead body.

7. USE OF SPECIAL EFFECTS
Explanation Evidence from our thriller Evidence from existing
thrillers
The placement for our titles were taken from
the inspiration of 'the missing'. The missing
has been the main influence when choosing
where to put the title and with many other
aspects of the opening.
As the placement of the titles was inspired by
the missing we decided to put 'directed by..
Produced by..edited by..' Before the main
title as it lets the audience wonder what the
film may be about.
We decided to add a shadow behind the text on
the titles as we felt it would create that
thriller theme and it would help to make the
titles stand out more.