1. Media Evaluation 23/03/2015
In what ways does your media product use, challenge or develop forms and
conventions of real media products?
There are manywaysin whichmythrilleropening useschallengesanddevelopsreal life media
products. Havingdone thishas helpedme understandhow certainaspectsworkinthe media
industryandhelpedme applyittomy thrilleropening.WithinmyproductionprocessIhave used
variousmediaplatforms,inspirationfromotherfilmsandTV showsandconducteda lot of research
to make the bestthrilleropeningpossible.
I have usedotherreal life mediaproductstomake mythrilleropening.Throughoutthe production
processI have usedprofessional andnon-professional musictodetermine whatwouldbe the best
wayto make and create my musicpiece.Lookingatothermusicgave me a widerknowledge of what
otherthrillermusicsoundslikeandhowIcan improve mine.Ifoundthree piecesof musicthatI
likedthatwere createdbyprofessionalsfromthe mediaindustryandIthoughtthat if I mergedthem
togetherIshouldfindthe perfectmusic. Mytargetaudience is16+ so I needed tokeepmyaudience
interested, Idecidedtomake sure itwasupbeatthat thenchangeddramaticallytosymbolisethe
downfall of the protagonist. Howeverthiswasn’tthe case andI decidedjusttoojuststay withthe
musicthat I made. I cateredformy olderaudience membersbecauseI wantedtokeepthem
interestedandthoughtthat fastpace musicwouldkeeptheminterested.Ihadto useda vary of
otherthrilleropeningstobuildmythrilleropeninganduse inspirationtokeepmyaudience
engaged.These are examplesof otherreal life mediaproductsandbecame helpful inthe production
processof my thrilleropening.Ialsousedsocial mediaasa wayto platformmy thrilleropeningto
gaina large audience butthisagainallowedme the chance touse otherreal life mediaproductslike
social mediaandbecause it’sfree Ihad the bestchance at havinga large audience.
I developformsof actuallymediaproductsbecause Itookthe ideaof otherfilmsandTV showsand
basedmythrilleropeningaroundthe workof others.Doingthisallowedme toa range of media
platformsthatgave my openingthe chance tobe the bestopeningitcouldbe.The storyline isbased
uponBBC thrillerdramas,thisisan example of amediaproductthathas helpedmyunderstanding
of howto make thrillerfilmsanduse the mediaindustrytomyadvantage. FromusingFacebook,
Youtube andSoundcloudIhave usedthe feedbackIgainedfromthatI developthose pointsIgot
and adaptedthemtofitmy thrilleropening,furtherdemonstratingthatIwas usingmediaproducts
to make the bestthrilleropening.IwasconstantlydevelopingwhatIalreadyhadand usingitto my
advantage like adaptingeverythingIhadbaseduponresearchthat I haddone and interpretingitfor
example whenIhandedoutquestionnairestofindmyperfecttargetaudience andquestionnaires
basedon myrough cut, thismade iteasyfor me to thenmake the perfectthrilleropening.Lastly
usingappson the Apple MACcomputerslike final cutallowedformyeditingof mythrillertobe ina
veryhighquality.
I didn’tchallenge anyreal mediaproductsbecauseIneededtheminordertomake mythriller
because Ididn’tknowhowto make an openingwithoutthem.The onlythingIdidchallenge wasthe
fact that I didn’tgofor the conventional thrillerstoryline andbaseditonthe more dramatic
storylinesof ayounggirl goingmissing,Ithoughtthiswouldchallenge myself intomakingadramatic
storyline andadaptingittothe thrillergenre.
2. Media Evaluation 23/03/2015
1. Thisimage isfrom Broadchurchthiswill linktoour thrillerbecausewe willuse two
characters throughoutthe openingandwe will know we will have twodetectivesinthe
nightshots.In thisopeningthe charactersare stereotypicallydressedlike detectivesinour
openingtheyare hiddensoall yousee isthe blue glove.
2. Thisis the typographyusedforour inspirationMayday,Ilikedhow the redcouldconnote
dangerand howit iswrote almostchildlike,thiscouldlinktotheirmaincharacterof a
teenage girl.IdecidedthatIwoulduse redinmy thrilleropeningof the title because itwas
relatingtothe dangerin myopening.Ilike how itseemslike itisdrippingbloodsuggesting
that she has beenkilled.
3. From the BBC drama The Missing,thisisa draw that is usedthroughoutthe openingand
duringthe seriesbecause itrelatestothislittle childgoingmissing,inourthrillerwe decided
to use variouschildlike gamestolinkthe maincharactersto the mental state of a young
childas she doesn’tlooklike achild.Ilike how thisiscontinuousthroughoutthe series
because itisconstantlyremindingthe audience thatthisisachild whohas gone missing.
4. Thisis the youngboywho iskilledinBroadchurch,the ideaof thisisto make the audience
realise thatthisisn’tyouconventionalthrilleropeningbecause youdon’tusuallysee
childreninthrilleropenings.The childiswearing redwhichshowsthathe will be associated
withdangerand deathinthe series,givingthe audience aninsighttowhatwill happen.
5. Thisis the mainopeningtoMayday,the fairy-tale sense allowsthe audience tolinkchildren
to thrillers.The coloursusedinthe openingare unconventionalof whata thrillerlookslike
as youdon’t usuallyhave greensandyellow,usuallyblue andred, the coloursusedmake it
harderfor the audience toguessthe genre of the film.
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3. Media Evaluation 23/03/2015
6. Thisimage againis linkingbacktothe childand how he has gone missingbutbecause thisis
drawnsomewhere elseitallowsthe audience totrackhisdisappearance because he has
gone missingina differentcountry,the trackingof the boymake it easierforthe audience to
understandwhatfullyhappensinthe series.
7. The natural settingof outside linksthe audience toanotherpossible deathof the child,asit
issurroundedbywater,the locationforBroadchurch makesthe audience feel like thisisa
real life thinggoingonbecause itisconstantlylookingathow realityperceive deathand
disappearance.
8. Thishigh-visjacketmakesthe audience realise thatthisisamissingpersonandthat she is
missingandcan lookingforthe reflectinglight.Ilikedthisideaalotso usedthe jacketinmy
openinghoweveritisn’tveryclearinthe cameraas it isquite hard to lightupindark
lighting.
9. The hand grabbingontothe gate suggeststhatsomeone istryingtobreakfree andthislinks
to howthe childis missingandsomebodyislookingforhimandthiscouldpossiblybe him
and that he trappedbehindsomeoneorsomething,Ilike thisshotanddidattempt
somethinglikethis butitwasn’tverygoodso decidedtotake itout.
1. Thisis an establishingshotof mythrilleropeningIusedthisbecause Iwantedmyaudience
to knowthat I have setmy thrilleroutside andthatitleadsthe audience toquestionwhat
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4. Media Evaluation 23/03/2015
the intentionsof the filmare.ItookthisideafromBroadchurch as intheiropeningituses
thiskindof shot to allowthe audience toknow where itisset.
2. My productionlogoisina pink/redcolourwe have done thisinorderforthe typographyto
match the colourof the female characterscostume.Thisisconventional of athrillerbecause
theyusuallyuse bluesandblacksowe balanceditout byhavinga black background.
3. Thisis to showwhoare maincharacter isand isto show she is onlya younggirl,thisis
shownthroughherphysical featuresandhow she isdressedinared/pinkdresswhich
connotestothe dangerthat she couldbe inpotentially.
4. Thisis a shotof the girl playing,thisistoomake the filmopeningrealisticbecause we don’t
wantit to become toostereotypical of agirl playing,thisspecificshotisaccompaniedbythe
girl playinghopscotch,we addedthese scenesbecause we wantedittobecome very
apparentthat she isa younggirl.
5. Thisis the firsttime we see the headbandthatwill be alinkbetweenthe girl andthe
disappearance,we usedthe ideaof the bbc dramaThe Missingto allow the audience to
have thislinkbetweenthe girls’disappearance,the specificclose-upof the headbandisfor
the audience torememberthe importance of thisshot.
6. Thisshot isfor the audience toknow thatshe isbeingluredintosomethingthroughthe
balloonbeingplacedaroundthistree. Thisideachallengesusual thrillerfilmsasitisusually
obviouswhoistryingto take whobut thisleavesthe audiencewonderingwhohasleftthis.
7. The firstshot of her runningisto show that she istryingto escape someone throughthe use
of herrunning.The continuousdirectionallowsthe audience totrackher disappearance this
has beenadaptedfromthe ideaof the missingandhow everythingaboutthe boytravelsin
the directionof the right,thisissimilartowhat we have done.
8. The nightshots are to show that theyare wantingtofindthisgirl or thisgirl is lost,aswe
don’tknowwhoit isbehindthe torches.ThisissimilartoMayday as yousee the lights
reflectingof the carand thisis to symbolisesomeone islookingforher.Thisisconventional
of thrillersbecausetheyexpectsomeone tobe lookingforaperson.
9. Thisis to showof our typography,Ichose a simplistic type of writingbecauseitwouldn’t
take away fromthe action behindthe screen,Ilikedthe colourredbecause itconnotesboth
deathand dangerbothof whichare hintedat inmy thrilleropening.
