The document analyzes the media product's opening title sequence for a political thriller film called "Vengeance". It discusses how the sequence uses and develops conventions from other political thrillers while also challenging some conventions. It incorporates generic conventions like titles on a black background to provide familiarity, but also changes elements like the position and timing of titles. The sequence represents the protagonist as unconventionally middle-aged and wealthy to subvert stereotypes of terrorists. It largely portrays expected gender and class representations but adds some complexity. The sequence would likely be distributed by a major studio given its similarities to successful political thrillers. The intended audience is described as mainly male, aged 20-40, of middle-upper class.

1. Media Evaluation

2. In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
In our political thriller 'Vengeance' we have used, developed
and challenged the conventions of real media products. We
have incorporated generic conventions in our media product to
provide familiarity and repetition but also by looking at and
analysing real media products we have chosen to change
conventions slightly to create excitement and variation.
Our titles were in white font with a black background which is
conventional for political thrillers. We looked at many thrillers
and political thrillers to see how the opening title sequence was
set out and the elements of thriller they incorporated, how the
titles were positioned and so on. From this we made our own
decisions on what generic conventions we would use and
develop and what conventions we would slightly change. For
example, in 'Enemy of The State' the titles were also white with
a black background, although the position of the titles were
centralised and ours were in the bottom right hand corner of the
screen, therefore the titles in our political thriller were similar to
those in 'Enemy of The State'. Moreover, we combined some
aspects of this with other aspects of another political thriller
'Spy Game' which used titles over the film instead of having
them against a black background. As a group, we decided to
have a mixture of titles on a black background and over our
film- for example the protagonists name comes up when he is
shown on screen.

3. Another way in which we used and developed conventions of political thrillers is the story
line of the Prime Minister and the whole of the government being in danger, which
conforms to conventions of the government being at risk and also terrorism is presented
within our opening title sequence- this being another aspect of a political thriller. However,
we challenged conventions by using our protagonist, this is because the protagonist is an
English middle-aged smart business man which is very unconventional and atypical of him
to want to blow up the houses of parliament. This is because it's stereo-typically people
from different cultures and religions who are quite rugged looking that are a threat to the
government.
Moreover, we have conformed to the usual convention of the opening title sequence
including many close-ups to increase the intensity as we believe it's good for the audience
to have some familiarity and repetition of other thrillers; this is because if it was completely
different, the audience wouldn't be interested as it's completely new to them and
consequently they probably wouldn't give it a chance. Although, some things we have
included such as the flashbacks are different to how they are usually presented. We have
signified our flashbacks by making them black and white and using the dip to white
transition before and after every flashback, whereas usually they are shown by distorted
transitions. By doing this we have developed the convention of flashbacks. We chose to do
this, because we felt that it heightened the tension and made it completely clear to the
audience that it was in the past rather than the present time. As well as this the lighting at
the beginning is light, reflecting his personality when he's at home as a happy family man.
However as the opening progresses, the lighting gradually gets darker. This is reflective of
his dark, dangerous thoughts and his inner personality which creates a sense of
foreshadowing. We chose to do this to keep the audience on edge and create a sense of
mystery and curiosity, the audience is meant to know that he's doing something bad, but
not what he's going to do. This is similar to the dark lighting in 'Spy Game' as we closely
analysed the opening of this film and used some similar conventions.
I think the use of conventions included within our
political thriller indicate our sub-genre as the
intense music makes it evident that it is a thriller
and the Prime Minister and the government being
in danger and at risk makes it clear that it is a
political thriller. Additionally it is generically set
against the backdrop of a political struggle which is
unknown but portrayed through the protagonists
anger at hearing of the Prime Minister's presence
at the Houses of Parliament on the radio. The
Mise-En-Scene immediately represents the
political aspects as it's set in the iconic locations of
London and the Houses of Parliament, making it
evident to the audience that it is a political thriller.
Furthermore, the conventions included have
evidently been influenced by 'Spy Game' as both
have similar lighting and titles. Both are mysterious
and include political aspects. The variety of
different camera angles are evident within our
media product and 'Spy Game'. We made our
media product similar as we believed the media
text is very effective as a thriller. Although also
being a political thriller, the film 'Spy Game' also
has elements of crime and action, which is similar
to our title sequence. I personally think that the
way we have included, developed and challenged
conventions makes our political thriller edgy and
builds up the tension. The variety of locations
encourage the audience to question the
protagonist's ulterior motive due to him telling his
wife he is going to a meeting in Oxford and instead
travelling up to the Houses of Parliament. The
conventional lighting creates familiarity with the
audience, whereas the variety of the titles being on
both a black background and over the screen, and
the flashbacks being in black and white create
excitement for the audience and this keeps the
audience interested. This allows some repetition
but also change which is what is proven to be
successful in political thrillers- as our research has
taught us.

4. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
As a group, we put a lot of thought into constructing
the representation of the character in our media
product in terms of gender, age, class and race. We
chose the protagonist as we wanted to subvert to the
stereotype of terrorists. The protagonist is a British,
middle-aged man, represented as very smart and
neat, the suit he wears connotes wealth- as well as
his house. This is very unconventional as terrorists
are stereo-typically untidy and rugged, and are
usually from a different culture or religion. We
decided to portray the protagonist in this way to
challenge the conventions and shock the audience,
this maintains excitement within our political thriller.
This represents mainly men, as the protagonist is
shown to be dominant throughout, which is
stereotypical. We chose to present him as dominant
and stick to the traditional representation as we
didn't want to change the representation of
characters too much as it may result in our opening
being unsuccessful. We wanted to keep the
familiarity by the male protagonist remaining
dominant, but we changed the stereotype of
terrorists. We chose to portray the protagonist as
very masculine which is another well known
stereotype of men. This is represented to the
audience right at the beginning when he slams his
fist on the table. His anger demonstrates his
masculinity as well as giving him power and strength.
The protagonist is evidently upper class, which is portrayed through his house and his
clothing. Moreover the props used such as the Mac computer also connote wealth.
This represents the middle to upper class social groups and allows these social groups
to understand and relate to the protagonist even though what he's doing is shown to be
wrong. However, the protagonist doesn't drive to London, but gets the train. This
suggests that he may not be as wealthy as is made out and therefore encourages the
audience to distrust him and question his portrayal. The Mise-En-Scene such as the
dark blue suit jacket connotes power and intelligence and represents upper class
business men who are strong and powerful.
The gates signify wealth
the protagonist

5. There is only one woman within this opening and she is a stereotypical representation of
a woman, being the inferior wife of the protagonist. Her weakness is portrayed by her
being marginalised and also oblivious to her husband's motives. Although the camera
presents them at an equal level, the prevalence infers her weakness. We used this
representation as it allows the audience to familiarise themselves with our thriller as this
is usually how family lives are thought of; a dominant husband and a wife that is slightly
weaker and stays at home doing the cleaning and cooking. The protagonist's wife is
wearing bright colours which is symbolic of her happy personality, this contrasts with the
protagonist. As a whole we haven't tried to attract a huge target audience as I personally
think our opening is unique and would do better attracting a niche market that's largely
male.
The iconic landmarks in this text, the Houses of Parliament for example, represent social
groups interested in political economy and the British government. Evidently, these social
groups are of high status which attracts not only middle to upper class but possibly
working class as well as. This is because audiences like to view the lives of people that
are so different to theirs. This links to the target audience as we aimed to target mostly
male businessmen because of the protagonist and the locations used. Moreover,
because of the inclusion of bomb making and the thriller elements we did consider that it
may attract a wider range of people than we originally thought. As well as this, although
the protagonist's wife is portrayed as weaker, women are not excluded from the opening
altogether which means that women may be interested in this film.
How does your media product represent
particular social groups?

6. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
Man is bigger than the other man-
inferred protagonist
Writing on the front, gives the audience an
idea of what it's about and makes them want
to watch
Only two men on screen- Males more
dominant, stereotpical representation
Men positioned top and bottom and looks as if
they are looking at eachother- Implied
protagonist and antagonist introduced.
Limited colour
screen. Dark
and dreary and
sets an ominous
mood.
Miise-En-Scene- Both
men's facial
expressions looking
stern and
angry/worried

7. Red connotes danger and death
Glasses signify mystery and a
hidden identity
Positioning of the men
makes it seem as if they
are looking at eachother-
connotes rivalry
Reveals a bit of a scene to
indicate excitement and
action

8. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
After taking a long time to consider what kind of media institution may distribute our film, I originally thought that our film
would not be a film distributed by a major Hollywood company, but would more be an art house film. This is because our
media product intends to attract a niche target audience and is a serious film to convey the issues of many people and
the struggle of the government at times.
However, after comparing our media product to other political thrillers, we realised our film is similar to 'Enemy of The
State' which was distributed by Buena Vista home entertainment (also known as Walt Disney home entertainment) this is
a very well known media company that would result in the film being likely to be successful. The conventions and the
genre are similar, as well as the story line, this suggests that maybe our film would actually have the chance to be
distributed by a largely popular media company.
Furthermore, another film which is more is similar is 'Spy Game' this was distributed by universal pictures which is another
very large and successful media company. Both companies would result in the film having a high chance of attracting a
larger target audience. However, as we only intended to attract a niche target audience, we came to the conclusion that
our film would be made as an arthouse, independent film on a small budget, but has possible potential for universal and
big companies similar to that to distribute it. I don't feel our film would be as successful as a TV film or internet release only
as viewers may not give it the chance, due to the genre.
Moreover, I believe that this links to the Mise-En-Scene in our film as it is dark and ominous. Arthouse films are meant to
be alternative and small budget, but effective as the target audience is very selective. The costumes of the characters
promote this as the protagonist and the protagonist's wife's costumes contrast, making it evident to the audience that they
are very different and that the wife is naive and doesn't realise how dangerous her husband is. The iconic locations also
add to this as it presents the political aspects of the film and therefore relating to our target audience.

9. Who would be the audience for your media
product?
We have put the age certificate as a 15, this is because it doesn't include harsh violence or persistent swearing. However
we know that the audience for our media product will be around 20-40 years old. We think this because of the
representation of characters within the opening. The audience may be able to relate to some of the protagonist's anger at
the government and also the helplessness of the wife. We also believe that the audience will be mainly male, this is
because the narrative will be encouraging the audience to connect with the male protagonist. The Mise-En-Scene of the
clothing will also result in the audience being businessmen or upper class males. Women will also be part of the audience
as they may be interested in politics and may also be upper class, as well as this, they may be able to relate and
sympathise with the protagonist's wife. Middle and working class are also a possible audience as they like to view lives of
people that are different to theirs.
This film being similar to other political thrillers such as 'Spy Game' means that the audience will also be similar. The
audience for 'Spy Game' is largely male and also 20+. The reason the audience is largely male is because men usually
have a preference for films with a considerable amount of action and also the intensitys and violence appeals more to men.
Furthermore, the narrative is focused on the protagonist, who is male, therefore men are more able to relate and connect
with him.
The protagonist's dialect is sophisticated and he speaks very well, this reflects the upper class audience. Business and
upper class men would be able to understand the speech and this is why we have chosen the protagonist to speak in this
way. The Mise-En-Scene is also reflective of our audience as the prottagonist is wearing a suit and holding a briefcase. The
location of London is where a lot of businessmen work and the house with gates outside connotes his wealth. The
protagonist gets angry at the political struggle at the current time and evidently blames the Prime Minister, which allows the
audience to relate to his anger. Therefore, I believe that the audience for our film would be 20-40, mainly men of upper class
or businessmen.

10. How did you attract/address your audience?
We created our opening title sequence with mainly males 20-40 in mind because this is the
usual target audience for a political thriller. We used the protagonist to attract our target
audience as he is wearing a suit which signifies he's a business man and of upper class. He's
carrying a briefcase, although a flashback is shown of him taking his work out of the briefcase,
which encourages the audience to question what he's actually taking to London. This adds to the
curiosity and creates a sense of foreboding. We chose to do this, not only to allow the audience
to realise he isn't going where he says he is, but also to attract men that like tension and
mystery. Moreover, as the opening progresses, the editing gets faster-paced. For example,
when he's on the train. This adds to the intensity and by doing this we have tried to address our
target audience of men as men usually prefer fast-paced and exciting films.
Moreover, almost immediately, the protagonist slams his fist on the desk, which indicates his
short temper and anger over something. This reflects our target audience as men are stereo
typically thought to be more violent. We chose to do this to engage our audience straight away
as usually men like the action to start immediately. We also tried to engage the audience by the
use of close-ups as this encourages them to connect with the protagonist and question his
thoughts and what he's about to do. The shot of the protagonist outside the houses of parliament
creates an eerie atmosphere. The Houses of Parliament are lit up, yet the protagonist is in the
dark. This creates the effect that he's waiting for something and is keeping a hidden identity.
This attracts the target audience as it keeps them guessing and the mystery makes it intense.
However, there aren't many point of view shots which keeps distance between the protagonist
and the audience, reinforcing the mystery and the suspicion. As well this, the opening begins
with the protagonist's back to the audience, which establishes the distance This allows the
audience to judge the character as they want, although as the camera follows the protagonist, it
encourages the reader to believe he is in the right.
Flashback of the
briefcase

11. Audience Response
As a group, we made a survey to get feedback from our opening title sequence. We asked questions such as gender and age,
and also whether the audience felt the camera angles worked well and the soundtrack, but one of the most important questions
was 'From the opening title sequence, would you want to watch the rest of the film? And if not why?'' this is important because it
helps us see what age and gender liked our opening title sequence and whether or not we had achieved attracting our target
audience. We only had one bad response, but it was from a male aged 16, therefore I would say it may have been because we
didn't try and address teenagers.
Feedback-
"Great approach, especially mood change on the train"
"The story is well executed, not too complex and flows
well"
"Very keen to find out what happens next"
"The storyline isn't too complex it's good and keeps you
guessing"
The majority of people gave our opening
title sequence an 8, which I am pleased
with
Almost everyone believed our camera angles
worked well and that it was a believable title
sequence of a thriller.

12. What have you learnt about technologies
from the process of constructing the
product?
Throughout this whole process of filming, editing and creating an opening title sequence of a political thriller, I
have learnt a lot about editing and how to use the camera. The equipment we were given for filming and for
editing was good as the cameras are reasonably easy to use and are good quality. Moreover, the tripods are
very stable and also easy to set up. A weakness of the equipment is that we didn't have a dolly to track the
characters, therefore we couldn't follow the actor with the camera. Another weakness is that the camera batteries
ran out very fast and when filming, it would be hard to re charge in time. One time when we were filming we were
faced with the issue that we hadn't checked the equipment and found the tripod missing the object that attached
the camera to the tripod, this resulted in the shots not being steady. However, we learnt to always check we have
everything before we film. The editing software 'Premiere Pro' was very good as you can do almost anything on
it, although it can get quite complex when editing some parts, for example, trying to make the titles move in a
specific way and trying to blur out a word when the camera zooms into it. The transitions on Premiere Pro are
easy to find, even though there are only 4 or 5 to choose from, but overall the equipment was adequate for
filming our title sequence.
The filming process was very long and difficult, but as a group we worked really well together. We faced many
problems such as forgetting props to filming and realising at some times we had ruined the continuity. For
example, we were filming a shot of the protagonist opening the draw to get out his gun, and then a shot of him
loading the gun. However, we realised that the gun was loaded when we opened the draw and in the next shot it
wasn't loaded. We resolved this issue by re-shooting and being more careful about the order in which we shoot
things. Another issue we faced is breaking the realism. We filmed a zoom in on a train ticket, only to realise
after, that the ticket had 'child' on. At that point, it was too late to re-shoot so we just cut that shot out
unfortunately, but the process taught me to be more careful about what I shoot and how I shoot it.
Before this process, I only knew how to shorten the clips and add in transitions but my skills have evolved and I
now know how to edit the sound and make it fade out and to edit the lighting and make shots briighter and
darker.On Adobe Premiere Pro, I liked using the transition 'Dip to White' as it was very effective to indicate a
flashback. I found finding music very difficult as everything we liked was copyrighted. However, in the end we
found a good soundtrack that suited our opening title sequence.

13. Looking back at your preliminary task, what
do you feel that you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down
in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should
demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio material must be
original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
I personally feel I have come along way since our preliminary task as I have built and developed upon my skills in using the
camera and also editing. I have learnt the importance of the planning stage and the research, this is critical because it's the
foundation of creating a film. The research into genre was critical as it allowed me to understand the conventions of a political
thriller and the key elements to include. The planning- storyboard and animatic, are also an important process when creating a film
as they help you create an exciting and engaging narrative and also keep everything organised so you know what shots you need
to capture and what order to edit in. This also gives you an idea of how your media product will look and from there you can decide
what bits you may need to change. The animatic really helped us understand fully what we were going to do and resulted in the
process of filming being smoother than it was in the preliminary task.
In our media product, we have used a variety of different camera angles and positions and the editing runs much smoother due to
the use of transitions. It is evident that we have improved significantly from our preliminary task as we have been much more
confident with how to use the equipment. For example, when doing the preliminary task, I didn't know how to attach the camera to
the tripod and I wasn't clear on what type of files to import onto the computer, but now I have learnt many things about the
equipment and how to handle it. Moreover, shots such as over the shoulder shots and point of view shots have improved and
noticeably our opening title sequence is a lot better than our preliminary task. This is because there was a lot more planning and
research involved in the process of making our title sequence, and this helped a lot as we knew what key codes and conventions
to include and what shots are effective for the audience.
I feel that we have been successful in fulfilling the task as we have created an opening title sequence of a political thriller and have
included the key codes and conventions, whilst creating a thrilling and exciting narrative.