1. Q1 - In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
2. Convention 1: Suspense
• Point: Suspense
• Example: ? What techniques did we use to make it suspenseful?
• Explain: How successful were we in making it suspenseful
• The first convention that we tried to follow was suspense in our opening sequence. We used suspense, to
keep the audience engaged with the opening sequence and to make the audience think that it was a
thriller film they were seeing.
• When trying to add suspense to our opening sequence, we used techniques to show this. An example of
this is the use of audio. This meant that the audience was engaged and they could work out that
something significant is going to happen. Another way we created suspense, was the use of adding
transitions. An example of a transition we used was the dip to black. This meant that during a scene, it
went black, then the footage came back. This added suspense and made the audience realise that
someone is in danger.
• When trying to add suspense to our film, I thought that we were quite successful. This was because we
done our research looking at similar media texts, and most of the thriller films had suspense in them. The
other opening sequences, used audio to create this effect and when the audience watched our opening
sequence, they thought that these aspects helped connote the thriller genre. This was because it had a
huge aspect in it, which was suspense, so the audience could straight away identify what the opening
sequence was based on.
3. Convention 2: Characters
• Point: characters
• Example: What techniques did we use to make the characters
• Explain: How successful were we in making it
• The second convention that we tried to follow, was the use of characters in our opening sequence. We
used characters to make the audience feel like it was a thriller opening sequence that they was watching.
• When making the opening sequence, we used different techniques to show this. An example of this, is by
the use of stereo types. In the opening sequence, we followed the stereo type of youth being trouble and
wearing hoodies. We decided to follow the stereo type rather than challenging it, because we thought it
would be better for the audience if they have something to relate too. For example, from other films that
they might have seen before. Another way, was by following Propp’s theory, which is there is relatable
characters in every film. In our film we followed it by having a clear main characters like the ‘Hero’ and the
‘Villain’. This is common in most films and stories.
• After looking back at the characters, I think they were quite successful. This is because we have followed
the theory that Propp made and it is relatable for the audience, what their role in the film is. I also thought
it was successful because the main characters show clear power and they are distinguishable from the
minor characters. An aspect that was unsuccessful, was that we didn’t include all the types of different
characters in Propp’s theory, for example: the princess.
4. Convention 3: Themes
• Point: themes
• Example: What techniques did we use to make the theme
• Explain: How successful were we in making it
• The third convention that we tried to follow was the use of themes. We used the theme to make it the
audience recognise that it is a thriller film that they are watching. This is because certain themes go with
different genres.
• When making the opening sequence, we used different techniques to show this. An example of this is by
making a clear theme that was current through out the opening sequence. The theme that we tried to
show was violence and guns, which I think was clear as we used guns. So the use of Propp’s automatically
made the audience know the theme and what theme their would be in the actual film if we were to make
it. Another way we tried to make the theme clear, was by using sound effects. We used sound effects like
gun shots to show this. This emphasises the fact that there is a lot of violence and it will give a bigger
impact to the audience.
• After looking back, I think we done a good job of showing the theme, as it was clear. I think that the use of
the props was where it stood out the most and it made it look more realistic. After doing research on what
makes a good opening sequence, making look realistic was a huge element to it.
5. Convention 4: iconography
• Point: iconography (settings/costume/props)
• Example: What techniques did we use to make the characters
• Explain: How successful were we in making it
• The fourth convention we tried to follow was iconography. We used this to make our opening sequence
related to the thriller genre and make it more relatable.
• When making our opening sequence, we used different techniques to show this. An example of this is by
using the technique of colour grading. This effect made it look more dark in certain scenes and made the
setting look more realistic. The colour grading made certain areas in each shot look more dark or more
brighter. Another technique we used to show iconography was by using different camera shots. For
example: we used close up shots of the props and certain costumes. This gave a clue to the characters that
something bad was going to happen and that there was going to be a lot of action.
• After looking back at how we tried to follow this convention, I think that we done a good job, but we could
have done better. This is because I thought we showed the setting to be good, but the use of costumes
was good, but could have been more realistic. This would of made our opening sequence better and more
appealing.
6. Challenging conventions
• When you challenge media conventions, it can lead to the audience maybe being mislead and they might
look at other media products differently in the future
• In our opening sequence, we didn’t challenge many media conventions. This is because we decided to
follow quite a few on them. For example, we decided to follow the use of using characters to show the
audience what the genre of our production was.
• I think that we could have challenged a few more conventions into our opening sequence to make it more
exciting and suspenseful. This is because the audience will not know what to expect and they will be more
into the opening sequence.
7. Audience response
• When we showed our opening sequence to the audience, there response was varied, but they all picked
up on one aspect. That was the fact that our opening sequence didn’t look that natural and fluent. This
was because some scenes have bits where it looks like someone was suppose to say something, but the
other person ended up speaking. Also they picked up on the fact that in our first draft, it wasn’t very clear
what the genre of our opening sequence was. This was bad as it is a really important part, when you
consider if it was successful or not.
• From the audience feedback, they also told us that there was quite a lot of positives, like the setting and
the props that were used. For example, the use of the gun really made it suit the genre and meet the
theme, which included violence.
• They thought in our first draft that the audio that we used was not matching to the thriller genre and that
we should change it. So in our next draft, we changed it so that it was suspenseful and really left the
audience of the edge of their seats.
8. Conclusion
• After looking back at my groups opening sequence, I believe that we made a good attempt. This was
because it had quite a lot of conventions that a thriller opening sequence needed to follow. For example,
the use of setting and props made our production more interesting and relatable to reality. This is what we
wanted to show.
• If I were to change any aspects to our production, I would have made sure that we concentrated more on
the mis-en-scene. This is because this is what makes the scenes and makes them look really good and
realistic. Also this is what the audience might notice and if they notice aspects that are wrong with the
mis-en-scene, then they will disappointed and they wont think it was as good as it could have been.
• I would have also changed the opening sequence, by adding less action and not to give too much of the
narrative away. This will make it more suspenseful and will allow the audience to have something to look
forward too, if they go to see it.
