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

Does your film conform to the Thriller Genre? The Opening to our Film is very typical for the Thriller Genre. We have the two characters. The Victim and the Antagonist. We show the both the Victim and The Antagonists point of views in their environments. Victim Female Young (teenager/schoolgirl) Alone We see the Victim alone (or so she thinks) in the woods, we chose the woods because that is also a very common location for Thriller Films because woods/forests can be really isolating areas. They are vast areas of land which hide a lot in them. Our other place we film in is a photography Darkroom which in itself isn’t a very typical place for Thriller Films, but the reason why we used it ticks a lot of boxes for Thriller Films. First of all it’s Dark, and it is instinct for Humans to be afraid/wary of the dark because there is so much that can be seen, and humans really rely on their sight, so to have that taken away from them can be really difficult. We flick from clip to clip of the Victim slowly realizing she’s being followed and starting to panic more and more. We see the Antagonist holding things of hers like her red ribbon to show that he is the stalker. Antagonist Male Middle Aged Barely Seen

Film Title This is the title for Trial and Error. It is shown at the end of the OTS. We chose white on a black background because the font is like a broken typewriter. Usually writing is black writing on a white background. This adds to the broken typewriter effect. Everything is slightly wrong. We chose the name ‘Trial and Error’ because our film is about an illegal and slightly dodgy experiment.

Settings/Locations We used two contrasting locations. One is a bright, open area with lots of natural light flooding in. It is a very green natural looking place. The other is a small, dark, closed room with very limited (red) lighting. The two places have something in similar that connects the OTS quite nicely; they are both very lonely places. Our locations may be very typical for the Thriller Genre because they are isolated and dark areas but they also challenge Thrillers in some ways; the woods/outside areas are usually dark, scary places and inside is usually bright and safe, we’ve swapped them to shake it up.

Costumes/Props We have the Victim in her school uniform to show she is young and returning from School. The Ribbon in her hair is to show the audience that the hidden man in the darkroom is the one who grabs her. So before we see her get grabbed, we see them both with the red Ribbon.

Camerawork/Editing We faded a lot of our clips into each other so that the Opening Title Sequence would flow into itself nicely. We also used the fading the effect a lot at the beginning of the OTS more than at the end because the end of the OTS is supposed to give the audience a more disorientated feeling and by flicking from one moment to another makes an uncomfortable feeling.

Title Font and Style We found these two fonts for our OTS on ‘Dafont.com’ We used these two specific fonts because they helped present the message of the film. Both of the fonts have a Typewriter style to them, but the difference is that one is neat and the other is messy with the effects of ink being spilt around each letter. It shows a type of build up and contrast. We also did this because it towards what happens at the end of the film when the Antagonist looses their mind.

Storyline – how does the OTS suggest it? Our film is about a school teacher with the dream of fame and money. He wants this by being original. Being remembered for making/discovering something. He and a co- worker create an experiment using outcast students who they know won’t be missed by anyone. The twist in out film is that the Antagonist turns into the Protagonist when he realises the experiment is wrong, but he isn’t successful in stopping the events when his co- worker becomes obsessive and controlling, she slowly turns into the Antagonist. We see the original Antagonist following the desired Victim for his experiment when she is walking home. We eventually see her captured by him.

Genre Our film is a psychological Thriller. We use a lot of classic thriller techniques in our OTS like using music to build tension. Having a young female Victim. A middle aged, male protagonist. Having our locations in isolated areas. The storyline about something audience knows is going to end badly.

Introducing the Characters The two characters I the Opening Title Sequence are never properly shown. The Male Antagonist in particular. We see close ups of the two characters and keep track with their every movement. This gives the feeling of being watched constantly throughout the opening of our film. We see the back of the characters a lot which helps give the feeling of being watched/followed.