The document summarizes the creative choices made in developing the opening of a student thriller film project. Some conventions of the thriller genre were challenged, such as not including a typical crime in the opening. The opening was shot in reverse to build intrigue. Various locations around Cambridge were used for a chase scene. Minimal details were provided about the characters to generate questions. Simple titles and fonts were chosen to match the realistic aesthetic. Original music was composed and voiceover was added to provide context. Natural lighting and handheld camerawork aimed to enhance the thriller feel.

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

2. There are a lot of different conventions in films which
define a certain genre. For example in a thriller, there are
many common conventions which identify a thriller. In a
thriller opening, there is usually something that happens
which keeps the audience intrigued, such as a crime.
This is mainly caused by the antagonist. We did lots of
planning and research, our thriller opening had to build
up tension and keep the audience interested at the same
time. We also made sure the audience had an insight of
what was happening.

3. Narrative
Our thriller opening contains some typical conventions. We decided not to
have a crime committed because that’s generally what happens in every
thriller opening and we wanted to make ours different, which is also why we
put the opening in reverse. A crime is prepared for and built up in our
opening, there is a victim (the teenager) and a stalker. Our opening makes
you think straight away “why is it in reverse?”, “will he get caught?”, “will
someone get killed?”.
Narratives are made up of a structure that leads you to believe something is
going to happen, but then it doesn’t, this makes the audience want to watch
more and they also try and guess what’s going to happen next. By putting our
opening in reverse it leaves the audience thinking, which is then why we put
the video back normally at the end so you can then see there is clearly a
chase taking place.

4. Location
Because we had a chase scene in our opening, we used about 5 different locations dotted around Cambridge.
The first part of our chase
scene shows the character
running through a market
square. We got our inspiration
from the film Inception which
also has a chase scene
through a market. We decided
to film the chase at night
instead of day time because
there would be less people
around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=s_6fKA334gk – Inception
chase scene

5. Location
The other 4 locations we chose were quiet places in Cambridge as we didn’t want
people getting in the way of filming. We chose an alleyway next to a church, outside
the Grand Arcade, stairs outside the Corn Exchange and Corn Exchange Road.
The location we used is not a typical thriller location, we filmed right in the centre on a
major city, we wanted to make it different and not use typical conventions.

6. Character
You see 3 characters in our opening. The teenager who is the victim, the stalker who is
the bad guy and the friend. You don’t really learn anything about the characters in the
opening, apart from at the end when you get told that the stalker has a job to kill the
teenager.
The only
The only thing you
thing you know
know about the
about stalker is
the that he’s
teenager chasing
is that the You don’t learn
he’s teenager. anything at all
being But then about the friend,
stalked you learn which makes you
by a he has a think, does she
hooded job to kill come into the film
man. him. later?

7. Font and titles
We decided what our thriller was going to be about way before we even considered
what out credits were going to be like. You have to match the credits to the story
otherwise it doesn’t look right. We browsed through a few openings, and came across
another project like ours from another college! We also looked at Shutter Island.
The reason we liked this opening, is
because the credits were used differently,
they were used on the walls of buildings
and it looked like they were actually in the
shot. We liked this because it was different
and it was a more creative was to present
credits.
We liked Shutter Island because the credits
were simple. We thought making the
credits less ‘in your face’ looked better.
They also used different sized fonts, and
one line is normal and one line is bold.

8. Fonts and titles
We named the film ‘Perception’. Usually during a thriller opening, the film title is
shown at the beginning or at the end, we chose to put ours in at the end. We selected
a simple font because it looks more realistic. Using a fancy font or something that
really stands out, makes it look less professional, which is why we chose a simple font,
straight and to the point.

9. Sound and music
We were lucky enough to have someone in our group who had the right software and
had a very good skill in making music. He spent a long time creating the track to make
sure it matched our storyline. We all took a liking to the final product. We though
making our own track is a lot nicer than taking a piece of the internet, that way all the
work in the opening, all belongs to the group.
We used no sound effects in our thriller opening but we did add in one of the group
members voice at the end, explaining why the chase was happening. We lowered the
soundtrack so that we could add in the voice and it was easier to hear. We thought
adding the voice is gives the audience even more of an insight into what’s going on.

10. Lighting
We used no artificial lighting during the filming of our thriller opening. We used
natural light. We decided to film just before the sun went down so we got that light
but with a hint of darkness. We then added the filters onto the shots that were still
too light. We thought making the shots darker, it would create a more eerie look and
it would make the opening look more thriller like.
We used many filters on
this shot because it was
too light as it was filmed
during pure daylight.
We didn’t actually use any
filters in this shot, one of the This was also filmed in
days we stayed a little longer daylight, more filters
until it was nightfall and we were added so you
then filmed a couple of shots were less able to see
to see how it came out. the stalkers identity.

11. Camera angles
All of our shots were hand-held. We only
used the tripod if we wanted to zoom into
some scenic footage (which we used to
put the credits on). We thought hand
filming everything would look more thriller
like, for example, one part in filming, we
got Jake to run with the camera so it This was our
looked as if we were seeing what he was panning shot
seeing. Most of our shots were ‘Long of a street in
Shots’ with the occasional ‘Medium Shot’. Cambridge,
The reason we stuck with the long shots is which we
used for
because you can see more, you can see This was one of our close credits. As
the character clearly, and everything that’s up shots. We used this the pan is
going on around them. With a medium because the phone was taking place,
and a close-up shot, you’re restricted from dropped, so when it hit the we also
what you can see. We used a couple of floor, you could see it zoom in at
panning shots and a lot of zoom shots. the same
clearly.
time.