2. How does my media product represent particular social groups?

I don't think that my group really challenged any stereotypes during the course of are thriller opening sequence. I guess that we thought that our target audience would find it easier to adapt and understand our opening sequence if we allowed our characters to be the 'stereotypical' teenage opinion and judgment that society is so quicky to make. Our thriller opening sequence only consists of two main characters, both of the opposite gender.

Our first character is Brooke Morgan, who is played by Rebecca Lake. We based this particular character on Katie Price as she fitted what we believed to be the 'stereotype' of a popular, sixteen year old wild child. Like Katie Price, Rebecca has long blonde hair and big boobs, she also wears a lot of make up which suggest that she is a 'bimbo' and is therefore thick and not very streetwise. These characterisations could have contributed to her death, as she may have not been very street wise when perhaps she is walking home alone at not a very sensible hour. Moreover, in our shots of Brooke she is seen in a short dress and high heels. This connotes where Brooke has been for the night, as she has clearly dressed up for a party or an event that includes drinking and drugs etc. Popular girls are also judged as thinking that they're better than others, which suggests that maybe she made a few enemies and hence the reason tha t she has been followed and murdered. She also dresses slutty as she thrives off male attention, which is another reason as too why she could have been attacked and killed, as she attratced the wrong sort of attention. As we are suggesting to the audience that she is very drunk and vulnerable the audience could feel apologetic towards her, as our target audience are teenagers and are therefore probably are not very sensible and often leave themselves in dangerous positions.

Who we based Brooke Morgan on:


Our character Brooke Morgan played by Rebecca Lake:


Lastly, our only other character was called Merlin and was played by Jamal Mckingley. I guess you could say that Merlin isn't really a stereotypical geek, as he doesn't wear glasses and dress like a nerd, but has the personality of what you might call a geek; he continously looks nervous and anxious as he walks threw the park, which helps build tension for the audience. He is what you would call the opposite to Brooke Morgan, which connotes that this may attract a wider audience as completely different characters may intrigue more people, as different 'groups' of teenagers may be able to relate to each character individually. We have chosen merlin as our other main character as we feel as if he portrays someone who is very self aware and careful, he isn't a party animal who goes out all the time but is sensible and works hard to earn money for his family. He is very independent and lacks social skills so therefore he is our ideal character to cast alongside Brooke, as both there personalities and facial features are a contrast. Arguably you could say that our character was based on Will Smith's character in I am Legend, as he appears very vulnerable and lonely, he also cares and is forever seen with a dog also.

This is Will Smith and his dog in the movie 'I Am Legend'
























Here is our character Merlin with his dog Ruby:





Our other and last character that we decided to use was a dog called Ruby. We used Ruby as Jamal's companion as we though that it would allow our character Merlin to become more vulnerable, almost like a stereotype as a 'geek' as you won't find many teenage boys strolling around with a type of pug dog. If we wanted to portray Jamal as having a 'hard' exterior then we would have used perhaps a rotweiler or another aggressive dog to establish his tough persona. However, as we used a lovable and friendly dog this suggests that Ruby is more of a companion for Merlin, and allows him to become more vulnerable and fit his stereotype as being 'geeky' as he shows his compassion and love for an animal.

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

Me and my groups thriller opening sequence I think was influenced by aspects of different thriller films. These included the television series 'Wallandar' and films such as 'Kill Your Friends' 'Panic Room' 'Memento' and lastly 'Brick.' However, I would say that 'Brick' was our biggest influence overall as our idea's really evolved around their concept of a thriller film. Like 'Brick' we used what you would call a 'popular' girl to represent the death of a character. 'Brick' used close ups and and high/low angles shots to portray the low status that this character was given. Our idea's stemmed from this as we filmed many close ups of the death of our character from different angles, too add suspense and dimention to our opening sequence. Also like 'Brick' we never really gave away the whole of the dead girls face, adding suspicion within the audience as to how she may have died and where. Rebecca's long hair was very beneficial for our scene as we used it to cover the majority of her face, just like they did with 'Brick.' Other similarities were that both opening sequences used quite deserted settings, too add the suspence of no one being able to escape or cry for help. Although one of our differences was that our main characters representations wasn't a geeky, nerdy boy but was what you could suggest as a 'cool kid.'

Brick opening sequence contact sheet:


Pulse (my opening sequence) contact sheet:

Visually you can see that aspects of a few shots are similar to 'Brick.' Both of the titles in the opening sequences appear in simple colours, with white font on a plain black background. Both have low key lighting to emphasise the negativity that surrounds the shots.
Even though our opening sequence has been influenced by 'Brick' the timeline of our opening sequence was most definately influenced by a film called 'Memento.'
'Memento' was the only film that me and my media class got to watch the full length of, which really helped give us an insight as to what a thriller film and opening sequence produced to match it's conventions. 'Memento' began at the ending of the film, and rewound to develop the story- as it began with a death of a character. Even though 'Brick' also does this, as me and my group watched 'Memento' first that's where our idea's really developed and what inspired us.


Video to show the timeline of 'Memento' opening sequence:

Your mark

Hi Brittany,

I have just been back through the Research & Planning sections of your blog to give a final mark. You have worked really hard on these sections, and you should feel really pleased with the quality of your blog overall. It shows creativity, thought and attention to detail. Keep up the great effort when completing the 'Evaluation' posts.

Current mark: 18/20
Level: 4
Grade: A

My only suggestion to improve is to use the template I emailed to you back before half term to transfer all the information you have down for the post on Shot Lists to that format, then used Scribd to upload this document to your blog.

Well done so far!

SJA

Peer feedback on my groups thriller opening sequence

When me and my group were still editing our thriller opening sequence, we asked one of our peer's from another group to assess our work and give us positive critism, on what we could improve on and what we had done well so far.
Ryan Clark said:
I think that Brittany, Jamal and Becca have worked really hard planning and preparing for their opening sequence. The quality of their shots are of a very high standard, and they have a variety of shots, with focus pull being their most successful. I think that their idea for their opening sequence was very creative, and they used their props and the setting of their location really well.
However, even though they are still editing I think that they need to ensure that their shots are not so choppy, and that they blend in and run smoothly. Also I think that they need to cut some shorts, as even though their well framed shots they need to pick up a bit of speed to add tension and create an atnmosphere. The music still needs to be included, however they have been creative with their titles, connoting with the theme of their opening sequence.

Feedback on research & planning

Hi Brittany,

I have been looking right back through your blog, and I am really pleased with the amount of thought, creativity and effort you have invested in to this recently. I am glad you have responded so well to feedback and developed the Research section further. This is very close to complete now.

Your ideas and effort for the Planning posts is really positive too. Keep up this sustained effort, and we should look forward to a brilliant coursework blog from you!

As I mentioned to you when we went through your blog the other day, I would suggest you come back to the Research section just to improve one or two posts:

4 - What titles (view the Sixth Sense and make a list of all of the titles you see appear on the screen)

17 - Audience research - have you posted your questionnaire?

Planning:

This is starting to look good Brittany. i really like the way you have used multimedia to SHOW your ideas for props, etc. This one is a really good post.

3- Shot lists - use the school template - it's on Frog

5 - Where are your storyboards? i couldn't find them when I looked? I know you have done them

7 - Post for script - even if there is none, just make a post to explain this

8 - Shooting schedule - use the school template

The rest is really good. keep up the level of consistent effort. Your blog is certainly one of the best so far.

SJA Feb 8th

What does a title sequence look like? Zombieland analysis

A thriller title sequence is what you can see above that is directly in the centre of the page. This particular title sequence is of Zombieland, and creates suspense and makes an audience intrigued as a title sequence is something that an audience has never seen before, and is created to draw an audience into wanting to continue to watch the film. A title sequence for a thriller genre is made to shock, or perhaps frighten it's target audience. All of the shots used in this particular contact sheet are long shots. Long shots are used to enable the audience to really grasp the full concept of the scenary, which could help add suspicion or create eeriness. The genre of the film is in contrast to the high key lighting of the film, as bright settings are not usually used in thriller genre's. However, as this is also a comedy you could suggest that there is dark humour being used, hence the reason as to why there are negative images central of a positive setting.
Overall I think that this is a very successful contact sheet as even though it is based around the thriller genre, it also adds a lot of humour and horror into it. These key themes are used in the title sequence, allowing it's audience to be always aware of what is going on. Also, this title sequence isn't misleading like some are, and is quite straight forward as it doesn't try to throw you off track. Also, the props are used very cleverly so, as they all represent different aspects of life. For example, it shows a parent at school, a fireman and a man that has been to a strip club. Each man plays a very different role in society, and it is basically saying that this disaster in the country effects everyone, no matter your age or the role you play.
This represents the key theme in thriller genre's, how one thing can effect millions of people, and therefore I think that the purpose of this thriller opening sequence has been portrayed in a positive way, with negative connotations used through the mise-en-scene. There is not much technical aspects following editing as all the shots just flow into each other without any noticeable transitions. I believe this makes a viewer feel calm and relaxed because the transitions are very mellow.

The first shot is a low angle shot, the use of the camera angle is to emphasise the connotations of danger, as in the foreground there is a man jumping out of a building. The body language used in this shot is sort of clumsy, adding humour within the frame. However, the facial expressions identified in this shot are scared and frightened, which contrasts to the expressions of their body language. The foreground image isn't postioned directly in the centre of the frame, but is slightly tilted to the left hand side, which could suggest that the frame isn't perfectly shot, which has connotations that things in this film are far from perfect. The shot is in slow motion, and the soundtrack used is very in your face and energetic to grab the audiences attention. The production companys title is also used in a orangey colour that has connotations of fire.
The second shot is also shown in slow motion, with the same non-diegetic sound used as the soundtrack. The low key lighting adds to the washed out colours used within the shot, connoting the negative imagery used. Also, the foreground of the picture shows a women being chased by a zombie, however the mise-en-scene used here is cleverly done as the women in the foreground is wearing all pink, connoting that she is a girly girl. However, here her facial expressions show her frantic and panicked, which suggests that for once she is not all clean cut and perfect, but running for her life and looking a mess.
The fourth shot is the only shot that is a close up on the contact sheet, and once again used low key lighting to represent the danger in the shot. The police is still shown wearing his uniform, instead of running off and away. This suggests that perhaps he is more powerful than the zombies, but the colours of his clothes suggest otherwise. Even though the policeman has armour and weapons, the use of lighting and colour suggests that he is still in danger.
However, the fifth shot uses low key lighting, and a naturalistic setting with no props such as blood are evident. Even though zombies are used in this, they're used in the background which suggests their lack of importance in this scene. The man in foreground is shown breaking through some glass with a weapon, suggesting that he is breaking free and escaping. The seventh shot has it's similarities with the fifth shot as they both consist of high key lighting. However, the long shot used enables us as viewers to identify the amount of zombies that are chasing these men, connoting that they're in danger. This shot still seems to use humour to engage an audience as the man and his are being chased by other father and sons- who are zombies.

The eighth shot also uses comedy to engage the reader in it's thriller genre as a fireman is seen running away from someone that is on fire. Obviously us as viewers are able to identify that this is a zombie, but it's still funny as firemen are meant to be putting fires out, not running away from them. However, this could also suggest that when unexpected things happen, our job roles change and completely, and instead of humankind being in power, the role is reversed.
The last shot uses biblical imagery to emphasise the humour. The mid-shot used looks as if it has been short from a point of view, as it looks as if the dead zombie is falling onto someones car, and they're filming it through their window screen. The background is the church, which adds humour as it's ironic that something possessed is outside the church. Also, as the church is in the background it coud suggest that it doesn't have much importance, and that not even God can save these people from what is going on; like he is no longer in power.

The third shot is very similar to the sixth.
The third shot is very comedic, as the use of the long shot allows the audience to see that in the foreground a man is running away from a stripper who is a zombie, which should be the other way round as in them sort of situations it's the men creeping on the ladies, wanting their attention whereas now they can't wait to get away from them. In the sixth shot there is a good use of props used as there is a fire burning with black smoke surrounding it, mixing the low key lighting with the high key lighting. The props used (blood) are done effectively as the character running in this shot appears to be in danger, and the bloood just emphasises this as it has connotations of danger.