The document provides an analysis of the opening title sequence created by Maddie Mason for a media production class. It examines various elements of the sequence including the title, setting, costumes/props, camerawork/editing, font style, story/genre, characters, and special effects. The analysis discusses how each element was chosen and how it develops conventions of the thriller genre and references other media works to build tension and mystery, setting up the characters and story. The overall goal was to create a realistic yet intriguing opening sequence that effectively orients the viewer for the film's thriller genre and storyline.

1. AS MEDIA Evaluation
Task 1: In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Maddie Mason

3. The title of the film
This is a screenshot of the title of our film within
our title sequence. Originally, we had the title
appear right at the end as the footage faded out,
however after feedback from our teacher and
some friends, they all said that it would look
more effective nearer the beginning as it looked like a movie trailer rather
than an opening sequence. Not only this but after looking at other opening
sequences, such as Dexter and Arlington Road, it inspired us to move it
towards the beginning. We chose to put the title towards the beginning of
the sequence because we felt that it was more suitable and effective. Also
we felt it went will with the change of music. We thought this because the
music at the beginning represents the more thriller side to our film
therefore the title comes up but as the music changes to a more mysterious
type it disappears. The music at the beginning of our title sequence eerie
and unusual and it gives off a tense atmosphere, which links to it being a
thriller.

4. Setting/location
This is a screenshot of the setting/location of our opening sequence. As the story line of our title sequence
was a girl (Josie) getting ready for college, we had to film it in a house which we portrayed as being Josie’s.
We chose to have the setting of our sequence in a house as it made it look more realistic and we used Josie
within it to portray that she was one of the main characters. Not only this but also in Dexter’s opening
sequence it was of him doing his morning routine in his home, as and Dexter was our main inspiration we
decided to use that idea too. Originally we had an idea to film each of the characters in our film getting
ready for college, however this required us to film in 5 different houses. In the end we decided to scrap
that idea and just stick to one as it could be quite confusing and a bit too much for viewers to understand.
We kept it simple and chose to only do one location. In the opening sequence we did not film a long shot
of the house as we did not want to give away that it was being filmed in our college as this would ruin
it, therefore the only shots which I could use are the two below. The first shot shows the side of the house
and Josie shutting the door. This part of the sequence is when Josie is leaving to go to college and the
camera follows her walking up the side of the house. By doing this it shows that it isn’t the main location
of the whole movie because it fades away from the house and then in theory would follow onto the next
scene of the movie. The second shot shows a more broader image of the setting as your can see more of
the house, the house is the only location we filmed in through-out the whole of the opening sequence.

5. Costumes and props
This is a screenshot of the costumes and props throughout our opening
sequence. As a group, we all bought in items which we could use to
decorate our setting to make it look as realistic and as close to a home as
possible. In the two screenshots, these aren't the only costumes and
props that we used in our sequence, it is just a small element. In the first
screen shot it shows a photo frame, a book, an alarm clock, a flower
ornament and a remote control. The reason I chose this shot is because it
is simple things that you find in a young girls bedroom and it adds to the
effect of normalcy. This shot does not challenge the conventions of the
thriller genre or real media products but rather works alongside with the
same ideas. Not only this but the shot is aiming to create a mise en scene
where the atmosphere reflects the character and her personality. It can
be seen by the layout of her stuff, because it is neatly arranges this can
reflect on Josie portraying that she is a tidy and organised person. Not
only this but the book on her side table gives us the impression that she is
an intelligent girl. We got the inspiration from other movies, such as
'Se7en' as in the opening sequence, the main character is in an
environment where the audience can take in the surroundings and get an
idea of what the person is like. All the props and clothing our group used within the opening sequence all go hand in hand
to create the best mise en scene that represents the life of Josie, a typical teenage girl, before her life gets turned upside
down. We chose to do a montage for the beginning part of our opening sequence by showing all the things in the
characters room, from photo frames to other girly objects, such as a jewelry stand, this shows the audience that they are
in a young girls bedroom. These certain elements appear before the character does to show that the sequence starts in
somebody’s house/bedroom. Costume-wise, in this shot the audience can see Josie’s outfit which is jeans and a jumper
which is what a typical teenage girl of today would wear. We filmed Josie getting out of bed and made sure she was
wearing pajamas to make it as realistic and effective as possible, we also stuck to normal everyday clothes once she got
dressed for the same reason.

6. Camerawork and editing
This is a screenshot of camera work and editing. I chose to use the first shot as an example of my
groups camera work and editing because it shows the camera panning up the side of the house
which gives the impression that the camera has eyes of its own and that it is as if it is the view
from a persons perspective watching the house (Point of view shot). We did this in order to make
the audience questions whether she is being watched or if something is going to happen to her.
This works alongside the conventions of thriller because it is very vague and does not give the full
picture to the audience in order to create mystery and build up tension. We chose to film this shot
this way as it suited with our thriller genre. The second shot shows a window of the house being
filmed, but it too being filmed as if it is somebody else watching through the window. One every
one of our shots we added an effect called ‘Vignette’ to it which added a dark gradient along the
outline of each shot, we felt that this was an appropriate effect for our shots as it showed a sort of
mysterious and thriller-y filter towards the shots. I also chose this screen shot to represent editing
because when we originally shot this shot it was almost a 2 minute long shot however we liked
this section, therefore we cut it on IMovie and only used that section.

7. Title font and style
This is a screenshot of our font style throughout our opening
sequence. We all decided to chose a simple, yet bold font
because we didn’t want it to be too distracting from the
sequence. Not only this but we where inspired to keep the
font white and simple as it is like that in Arlington Road and it
gives of an effective result, also it contrasted with the
background and is the easiest colour to read from our
footage. We decided to make all the letters in caps-lock
because it added a bold effect to it, and lower caps weren't
as effective as the bold ones, also Arlington Roads font was
in Caps. Within the titles, we made the names of people first
names in a bigger size, and the surname a smaller size
because we felt that it was more professional and was
recommended to do so from audience feedback. We went
onto a website called dafont.com and looked through a
number of different fonts for our titles, this included fonts such as a calligraphy one and a distorted
one. In the end we picked a font called copperplate, in bold. We decided not to pick a font off of
dafont.com as there was too many to choose from, so we stuck to a font on the IMovie program. We
chose this font because it wasn’t too plain but it wasn’t to big and bold, it was simple and effective. We
used a simple 'Fade In' and 'Fade Out' effect on the titles as it made it look dramatic. We did not want
to go over the top with the font and chose one which for example had blood oozing down on it
because it didn’t suit the simple story line of our opening sequence

8. Story and how the opening sets it up
This is a screenshot of the story and how the opening sets it up. This particular shot I chose shows a
view of Josie opening her blinds but somebody is watching her behind a tree at her through the
window. This creates tense atmosphere for the audience as they know somebody is watching her,
however they do not know who or what for. Also question whether she is the main target of
someone who is out to get her. Whoever is watching her is hidden behind the tree, which suits with
our thriller genre making the atmosphere of the opening sequence mysterious. We chose to do this
because it created an effect of her being a high target, and the main character of the movie. Not
only this but I chose this shot to show how our opening sets up the story line because this is the
moment when the tension really starts building as it is unexpected to happen. Josie is simply getting
ready to go to college but is so unaware of what is happening, and this gives the impression that it
could be like this through-out the whole film. The music in this section is unusual but at the same
time daunting and this all adds to the tension adding an unnerving feeling to the shot. These shots
of our opening sequence does the same things that thriller films aim to do; aim to make the
audience know what could happen before it even happens by using the location/setting, music and
camera work.

9. Genre and how the opening suggests it
This is a screenshot of our genre, which is thriller, and how the opening suggests it. In most
thriller movies, such as Taken, things such suspense, tension and excitement is the main
elements. I chose these three shots as I feel they show those three elements mostly and how
our opening sequence is thriller. In the first shot it is of Josie opening her bedroom blinds
however the shot is point of view shot which shows that somebody else is watching her; the
wobbly movement of the camera and the positioning of it behind a tree shows this. By doing
this it creates a tense and effective feel to towards the audience and makes them realise part
of the story line already. Also we chose to add another point of view shot, as seen in the
second screen shot, of somebody peeking through a window of Josie’s house. Just like
before the wobbly movement of the camera and the way it leans in to look through then
looks away suggests that it is somebody watching her and that it is a point of view shot. Also
in the third screen shot, this particular shot shows Josie leaving her house, and then the
camera fading into black whilst moving up the house; the fact that the girl walks off into the
distance and it fading into black creates an eerie and mysterious feel of the opening
sequence, and links to the movie title ‘Missing’ and makes the viewer eager to find out what
happens to her and what's going to happen next.

10. How characters are introduced
This screenshot shows how our main character, Josie, is
introduced in the opening sequence. Throughout the whole
of the opening sequence we only showed one character,
however in the film there is 6. The sequence consists of
the showing of only Josie, as she is the main one and she is
the one who is mainly involved in the plot of the story,
which viewers will also assume as she's the only one
shown in the sequence – it shows an obvious give away to the main character. However it too
also makes you question whether it is just tricking them to think that. The first appearance of
Josie is when she wakes up and gets out of bed, as seen in the screen shot. As a group, we
decided to introduce Josie in a relaxed atmosphere where she is happy and it does not seem
as though anything is going to happen to her during the course of the film. The reason we do
this is because we wanted to put across to the audience the idea that her end fate can
happen to anyone, that is also the reason why we made Josie seem like just a normal
everyday teenage girl because that automatically makes her relatable and the audience will
be drawn in to watch the rest as they feel empathy towards her. The music in this section is a
simple yet mysterious melody but it does not sound too scary. The sequence is set in the main
characters house, therefore is shows that she is enclosed in her own space showing that she
is the only one there, however the outside scenes show that someone is outside and
watching her, and not in her own space. So when she leaves her house at the end of the
sequence is represents her leaving her own personal space and becoming more vulnerable.

11. Special effects
This screenshot shows special effects within our
opening sequence– which in this case is the black
and white effect when the newspaper appears.
Whilst Jodie is getting ready she makes a cup of tea
and goes and reads a newspaper. As a group, to try
and make it seem less boring to watch and to add a
bit of tension to it, we zoomed into the word death on the newspaper to create a
tense atmosphere and add a hint to the story line making the audience question
whether somebody, or even Josie, is going to die in the film. We chose to make it
black and white as it adds a more daunting feel as it wouldn’t look as effective in its
normal colour. ;In our whole opening sequence, our special effects are limited
because the concept of our video is to make it seem realistic and that it is about the
morning routine of a teenage girl rather than an over the top dramatic piece of
media. Within our opening sequence we added sound effects, such as a kettle being
turned on and a tap running, this way it made it look more realistic.