The document summarizes how the opening of a student thriller film uses conventions of the thriller genre to set up characters, story, and tone. It introduces the protagonist as she is kidnapped on the street, then cuts to an antagonist cooking in his home. Shots like POV, close-ups, and jump cuts create tension. The antagonist's identity is kept mysterious, while clues suggest the protagonist is isolated and in danger. Special effects like blur are used to add confusion. The opening works to hook viewers and set expectations for a suspenseful thriller story.

1. Question 1: In what ways
does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media
products?

2. Title of the Film
The title of the thriller, ‘The Feast’ is
one of the frames chosen. Our title is
placed last in our Thriller opening as
it cuts to a black screen. The violent
scream of the hostage runs over the
title.
The title links all of our scenes together which makes it simple for the audience to
piece together what may happen next. As our title is placed over a black screen it
symbolises the idea of isolation. When introducing our Antagonist the audience are
never revealed his face, this connotes he has something to hide. At first our
Antagonist is presented as “simple,” however underneath the simplicity is the chaos.
The contrast of the white and black screen resembles the different sides of the
protagonist.

3. The Setting/Location
The Dining scene is the scene
chosen for setting/location. The
scene opens with an establishing
shot of the Antagonists home. The
home itself is set in a location which
appears to be a safe environment.
The location supports the simplicity of the Antagonist that is presented in both the
credit sequence and dining scene. The conventions of a Thriller have typical locations
such as; urban cities and rural areas. Once inside the location the atmosphere is
suffocating as close-ups of the Antagonists hands are used. As the main plot is
centered in the Antagonists house it works well as it tricks the audience into a false
sense of security.

4. Costumes and Props
For the protagonist of our Thriller opening we
have chosen an outfit that resembles her youth.
As the audience will associate youth with
vulnerability it makes her an optimum target.
The protagonists outfit connotes that she is on
her way to collage or to meet friends. As well as
her outfit suggesting her vulnerability the
isolation of the location does also. Most
conventional Thrillers have props such as; the
stereotypical gun or knife and police cars.
For our Antagonist we chose an outfit that
resembles power. As he is wearing a tie it can
connote that he has a higher powered job.
However, as the Antagonist sleeves are rolled
up it can suggest that he means business.

5. In the dining scene of our opening we
wanted to create a moment of suspense
to break the anticipation of the
audience. To do this we used a steak
knife to create a false peak of suspense.
The knife also fits in as a typical
convention of a thriller film. In the scene
we had our antagonist place down the
fork then drag the steak knife past the
protagonist.
For our cooking scene we had to use
other props, such as; steak, cutlery,
cooker, herbs, etc… As a group we made
sure that we had these extra props for the
mise-en-scene. These extra props also
contributed to the personality of the
Antagonist as he is meticulous.

6. In the cooking scene we wanted the
audience to feel uncomfortable and
frustrated. To provoke these feelings
we used fake blood which in context
would be from the meat. The fake
blood used in the scene starts to make
the audience question what is really
happening.
For our kidnapping scene we used a
black pillow case to kidnap the
protagonist. We decided to use this as
we could place our camera inside and
get a P.O.V shot. Once we started to
edit this particular scene we used
match on action to get our kidnapping
shots to flow. We also jumped to a
black screen once the pillow case was
completely pulled over.

7. Camerawork and Editing
In a Thriller pace is used to create tension,
for example: fast cutting creates suspense. In
our kidnapping scene the medium shot of
the protagonist walking cuts to the shallow
focus shot of the leaf. The cut is fast which
creates a false peak of suspense. In our
dining scene we used a long slow shot of the
Antagonist walking towards the protagonist.
The long slow shot creates an unsettling feel
of anticipation for the audience. Both shots
of the protagonist and antagonist are used
although the antagonists face is never
revealed. The climax builds as the
protagonist is shown more often.

8. In our thriller opening we choose shots that would make the audience feel
uncomfortable, for example; close-ups, P.O.V, medium close-ups, etc… In the
climax of the kidnapping scene we used each of the shots to provoke the
emotions we wanted from the audience. In the first shot we used a medium
close-up to show the protagonist being kidnapped round the corner. The second
shot is the P.O.V shot of the protagonist, which puts the audience in her
situation.
The last shot is once the black pillow case had been pulled completely over we
jumped to a black screen. This allowed the first scene to flow into the credit
sequence. The P.O.V shot also makes the audience begin to anticipate what is
going to happen to the protagonist.

9. In the first scene we used a shallow focus
shot which gave the feeling of a voyer
shot. This allowed the audience to focus
on the surroundings rather than the
protagonist. In the opening this shallow
focus shot focuses on the leafs while the
protagonist walks into the background.
In the scene we used fast paced editing
to create tension, because of this the
audience were constantly on edge.
For our credit sequence scene we used
non-diegetic music to contribute to the
personality of the antagonist. The non-
diegetic music we used was ‘Vivaldi –
Four Seasons.’ The classical music
contributes to the mysterious personality
of the antagonist. The classical music
starts of as non-diegetic then changes to
diegetic when the antagonist turns it off.

10. Credit font and Style
For our credit sequence we kept the style of our font simple as our credits were
placed over our shots. As we were placing our credits over the jump cuts of the
antagonist cooking we placed them within the frame where they won’t
interfere with the main shot. the style of font was ‘Times New Roman.’ For
example: in the shot of the cooker we placed the title above.
The whole of our credit sequence runs over the cooking scene which allows us
to keep our credits together. our credits fade in and out of our shots, the titles
go with the jump cuts that we have used. The style of font we chose goes with
the personality of the antagonist, as he is meticulous.

11. Story and how the opening
sets it up
Ext. Wide shot of protagonist walking down the
street. Zoom to a Medium shot as protagonist
phone begins to vibrate. Match on action as the
protagonist runs behind the corner of the street
wall. Medium close-up of the protagonists face,
the audience will be able to feel the character's
fear. Dramatic irony as the protagonist looks out
into the street.
As the protagonist is alone and vulnerable it
suggests that she is going to be kidnapped. This
sets up the main plot of the thriller as the
protagonist is going to be isolated.
Screen cuts to black, the antagonist begins to
unpack and prepare some meat in the kitchen
while Non-diegetic classical music plays. Once the
food is prepared, the antagonist goes over to a
radio and turns of the classical music (non-diegetic
sound to diegetic sound.)

12. Genre and how the opening
suggests it
The role of a thriller is meant to both create
suspense and shock. In the kidnapping scene
the pace is fast which creates tension within
the audience. The fast pace shots are typical
of the thriller genre as they build suspense.
The next scene is the credit sequence scene
that again uses the rule of fast paced shots.
To create this pace we used jump cuts during
the cooking scene. The use of close-ups and
jump cuts together creates a suffocating
atmosphere.
In Thrillers enigma codes are used in a
storyline to make the audience raise
questions. This allows the characters to
communicate with the audience through the
narrative.

13. How characters are
introduced
The characters in a thriller usually work as
binary opposites, these are; the protagonist
and antagonist. Our protagonist is the girl
introduced to the audience in the first shot.
Most things about the protagonist are revealed
to the audience right at the start, for example;
the audience knows that she relies on
technology. As the protagonist has her phone
on her.
However, the antagonist is normally unknown
for most of the film. In our thriller opening the
antagonist’s identity is never revealed to the
audience. This creates mystery as the audience
goes through the film wondering who the
antagonist is.

14. Special effects
In our Thriller opening we only used one special effect throughout; the special
effect we used was ‘blur’. To apply the effect all we had to do is layer the special
effect over the P.O.V shot. We used this effect after our protagonist woke up in
the antagonist house. The P.O.V shot was blurred to give the audience a sense of
confusion and anticipation. During the P.O.V shot the audience are with the
protagonist as she regains conscience and examines her surroundings.
When the protagonist first awakes her vision is completely blurred and she is
unable to concentrate on the plate in front of her. Once she starts to examine
her surroundings, her vision starts to becomes clearer.