The document discusses the creation of an opening sequence for a psychological thriller aimed at the 16-24 demographic, drawing inspiration primarily from the film 'Black Swan'. It outlines how the project challenges traditional media conventions through narrative elements, mise-en-scene choices, and editing techniques, such as using a drama studio setting to enhance isolation and altering music to deviate from typical dance genres. The filmmakers also applied theoretical frameworks like Barthes' code theory and Propp's character theory to enrich their narrative structure.

1. QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?

2. Brief
• Our brief was to create the opening sequence
to a thriller movie, to last around two
minutes.
• We decided to create a psychological thriller
to appeal to the 16-24 demographic. The
conventions of this particular genre are a
distorting plot which gives the audience an
insight into the mind of the protagonist.

3. USE OF NARRATIVE
Our main inspiration
for our product was
the 2010 movie Black
Swan. Because of this,
we decided to take
inspiration the idea of
the film’s opening
sequence, featuring a
hand drawing an
image of a swan, and
use a similar idea
within our opening
sequence. The initial
narrative that we have
used was developed
from real media
conventions within
Black Swan. The idea
of sabotage and
jealously was spawned
from the plotline of
the existing film.

4. USE OF NARRATIVE
Our decision to rip the
drawing at the end of the
piece was chosen in order
to represent the inner
turmoil within the dancer,
as though she is, like the
drawing, being torn apart.
This idea follows uses the
Semantic Code from
Barthes’ Code Theory,
meaning that an
additional meaning has
been added to the
drawing due to its
connotation, allowing the
audience to ask questions
that they will want to
answer.

5. USE OF NARRATIVE
We decided to follow
Propp’s Character
Theory by using the
Hero and Villain
character types, which
Propp claims are
featured in all
narratives. Regarding
the use of sabotage
within the opening,
we challenged
Todorov’s Narrative
Theory by beginning
the film with
disequilibrium,
allowing us to gain the
audience’s interest
immediately.

6. MISE-EN-SCENE
We decided to use a
Drama Studio as the
setting for our piece.
Whilst this allowed us
to film at any time
without worrying
about continuity
errors, the dark
curtains within the
area helped to create
a feeling of isolation.
As a way of
challenging the
conventions of Black
Swan’s opening, we
decided to feature our
dancer performing
alone rather than with
another, creating a
larger sense of
isolation.

7. MISE-EN-SCENE
We decided to use the
typical conventions
and mise-en-scene of
professional dance.
Our setting was
specially designed for
such an activity and
the use of props that
are typical of such an
environment, such as
spotlights and a
soundboard, reflects
this. The inspiration
for this setting came
from the similar
setting for the
opening of Black
Swan.

8. MISE-EN-SCENE
In many thriller films, the
identity of the antagonist
is known throughout. We
decided to use our piece
to challenge the normal
representation of
antagonists within
thriller movies by only
giving hints of there
being a villain. The
antagonist is suggested
via:
• The close up of the
soundboard being
turned down.
• The close up of the
door being slammed.
• A cut scene in which
the lights in the
Drama Studio
suddenly went out.

9. EDITING
Considering our main
inspiration, most of
our ideas were
inspired by the first
scene in Black Swan.
Our choice to place
our opening titles
before the film’s title
was inspired by the
film and to increase
the tension of the
sequence by using
short cuts was
inspired by the
success of the Black
Swan opening.

10. EDITING
Our choice of titles
differs from that of
Black Swan. After
researching several
fonts via the website
Dafont, we decided to
use the sans serif font
“Last Feast” as we felt
it matched the
drawing aspect of the
sequence. In contrast,
Black Swan uses a
serif font that reflects
the formal aspect of
ballet.

11. SOUND
Our choice of non-digetic music differs from the piece used in the
opening scene of Black Swan as we used a piece of music that was
fast paced throughout rather than a piece that varied in tempo. We
felt our choice of music helped to increase the intensity of the dance
as well as create a tense atmosphere from the very beginning.
Whilst the piece in Black Swan could be considered stereotypical for
the art of ballet dancing, our piece goes against the normal
conventions of traditional dance music by being fast paced and quite
harsh sounding.

12. CAMERA
We attempted to use
a variety of shots
within our film though
we mainly used long
shots and medium
shots. One particularly
noticeable shot is the
extreme close up on
the dancer’s eyes. This
acts as a way of
displaying the
emotion of the
character, as well as
showing her
vulnerability.