Question 1 Evaluation In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e.: of film openings) To watch my opening title sequence, go to this link:

Introduction As a group, we were challenged to create a new opening title sequence for a new thriller film. We came up with a film called ‘Follower’ and began creating the OTS. Our film is very conventional of the thriller genre as it includes typical elements that are often seen in thriller films. Our main inspiration for our film came from ‘Se7en’ and ‘Collateral’. From this, we took different ideas for scenes and the overall feel of the film. The main idea of the film is that a man is stalking his ex-girlfriend in hopes to get back together with her and it’s about his life and dealing with drugs/alcohol.

The title of the film – Typical or atypical of the genre? The title of our film is ‘Follower’. I believe that this is very typical of the genre as it implies that the film is about stalking which is a typical element in the thriller genre. The title of our film appears at the end of the OTS. We did this as it builds up to the title. The antagonist/threat is not shown throughout the entire OTS but just before the title appears we see his face which I think adds to the build up of it a lot more. When you see the actual title it is shown by Sam (antagonist) walking across screen and the title appears behind him. This is again, linking to the theme of stalking which is a typical element and this kind of presentation of the title is common in most films but particularly thriller films. When the spectator would know the title they would understand the entire OTS a lot more because ‘Follower’ really implies the idea of someone being followed and they would have seen in the OTS that someone was being stalked on social media and in real life. The title also implies somewhat of a hidden identity which is shown throughout the opening because we do not see his or her face so it would imply a sub-genre of psychological thriller. Also, when the title is shown we have used a keyboard sound. This is to strengthen the fact that it is an online theme and a more modern feel.

Setting – Typical or atypical of the genre? The most common setting in our opening title sequence is the alleyways. When this location is being used, it is being used to show that Sam is watching Laurie’s every move and following her to all of these places and using social media to do so. This is very typical of the thriller genre because usually films of this genre are quite urban/dark places but are places that are easily identifiable and people are able to see themselves in. The urban setting links to the idea of evil / damaged society. This is a very typical thriller theme as the antagonist is often evil or a threat to society. This also links to our main inspiration from ‘Collateral’ as these sort of locations are similar to that as a lot of the time it takes place in small alleyways or quieter parts of town.

Costume & props – Typical or atypical of the genre? Our female character in our OTS is wearing quite normal clothing which is typical of a character in a Thriller film as they are quite often presented as ordinary people with normal lives. Our female character wears a lot of reds and pinks. This is because we thought that it portrayed her innocence as a character so it would hint to the spectator that she is an innocent character and should not be seen as the threat. To make this more obvious to the spectator we used high contrast between her clothing to Sam’s clothing. Sam is wearing a black hoodie and black trousers. We’ve done this because, like I said before, it’s in high contrast to Laurie’s character but also because it shows a somewhat of a hidden identity as his face isn’t shown or it’s blocked by the shadow of his hood. This is typical of the genre as hidden identity is a common element of Thriller films. As for props, we’ve used quite typical props for Thriller films. We firstly used a cigarette and (what looks like to the spectator), alcohol. We’ve done this because cigarettes and alcohol is commonly associated to the villain in Thriller films so we wanted to portray to the spectator even more that that character is a threat.

Camerawork and editing – typical or atypical of the genre? In our opening title sequence we used a lot of wide and long shots. We’ve done this to show the surroundings around our characters to show that they are truly isolated from other people but that they are in fact in a normal atmosphere. This is very typical of the Thriller genre to use wide and long shots to show surroundings, however, I have noted that often in Thriller films they do not use wide and long shots for establishing shots like they are normally used but they are usually used for just showing background. In our OTS we also used a lot of close-ups of various things which is very typical of the genre because it would add mystery to the opening and also it would make the spectator feel very uncomfortable as they are right up close to the person and would just make it difficult to view.

Title font & style – typical or atypical of the genre? The font for our opening credits is called Travelling Typewriter. I believe that this font is not very typical of the genre because it’s quite a normal font. We have picked this font because we wanted it to look like it was being typed on screen. This is because it fits in with the entire ‘online’ theme of our film. When showing our credits, we have either used a fade in effect or made it appear while the actors walk. We have done this because it makes the action flow more and it fit in better with each shot.

Effects – Typical or atypical of the genre? In this shot we have used a cut fade effect. We have used this in the shot where Sam offers a necklace to Laurie in an attempt to make up with her but when he presents it she fades away. We did this to make it seem like Laurie was in his head in this scene or he’s remembering something that happened previously where she declined him. We’ve done this because it reinforces his mental state and the fact that he’s slowly slipping away. I think this is typical of the genre as usually in Psychological Thriller films the antagonist is usually losing his/her mind.