IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA OR PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE THE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

By Holly Marvell

THE TITLE OF THE FILM ‘SKYLARK GROVE’ In our film ‘Skylark Grove’, my group and I left

it till the end of the opening to present to the audience our film title. This was done because as a group we researched other thriller openings, which then we could see how real products do this; these were mostly at the end of the openings. For example like ‘Copycat’, the film introduces the characters first then the title. So we tried to do this in our own original way. The title of our film was introduced with a rise up to a street sign, and then it goes into an animated title with lights in the background.The lights worked well against the title. This creates the idea of a torch light in the background, like someone is looking for something in the dark. This links to the film well, by the fact that the girl is looking round the house in the dark. The idea was that the title would impact the audience to keep watching. The title is introduced after an enigma. This is a known convention for thrillers as the title mostly comes in after an enigma to break it up from the rest of the film. We picked as a group to call the film Skylark grove, which is the name of the street, where the house is located. This links with other films like; the house at the end of the street. This is because where it is located. The leaves mystery as the audience does not know what the main character saw.

THE SETTING/LOCATION

The setting and location are important to thriller films. Like ‘Arlington road’ the film involves being in an area where danger is least expected. However this fits into the conventions of a thriller film, as most thrillers are usually set in an urban area, or somewhere unexpected. We used a lot of our ideas from ‘Arlington road’ because we started the idea of it being about a mystery. We wanted to locate the setting for the film in what looks like a normal area. This pulls the audience in because they want to know what's going on. This creates the idea something going on that no one knew about; the young girl has discovered this. Also like the film death sentence, the people involved in the film are just normal people and unexpected characters making the characters an typical thriller character.

I have used the shot of Chloe walking down the alley because I felt this shot shows how ordinary the area is. However strange cause the road is really quite and she is the only one that is down there. Also when you see the house it looks so ordinary it creates the enigma of why is she going in there what is so important about this house.

COSTUMES AND PROPS. The props and costumes that we needed

to make our thriller film were easy to get hold of. This was because we didn’t need much. All we needed Chloe to look like a stereotypical teenage girl. So Chloe wore a hoodie and trainers we also made sure to have dark clothes because she needs to look like she was breaking in; if she wore bright clothes in the film it would have looked odd. Other props we used were the pieces of paper that were turned over so you couldn’t see anything leaving another enigma for the audience. These were the only props and costumes we needed.

CAMERAWORK AND EDITING.

The camera work we used in the thriller opening was appropriate for the opening because we used shots like low angle shots to give the character power and make her look in control and determined. Making Chloe know what she is doing is stereotypical to the main character of a thriller film. As in most thriller films the characters are always been pushed to doing something dangerous. We used close up of her face to present to the audience how she is feeling and create suspense because she looks worried.

When we start out the film the pace starts out slow, we done this to give the audience the time to work out what is going on and to introduce her audience. The slow paste the film was used to build up the suspense. The close up shot, when she walks to the room, shows her shocked by something. This is when the music picks up and the pace gets faster and shots become shorter and make the audience get caught up in the chaos and the suspense from when she runs away.

CREDIT FONT AND STYLE As a group we researched different thriller films and there

titles. Again like ‘Arlington Road’. The titles where always big and bold and came in fast. Also because we wanted ours to be like the film ‘Arlington Road’, in ways our film was already like the film, this because they are set in the same kind of location. We made our font stand out by making them yellow and big with italic writing. The effect of this is that the writing looks creepy and scary adding to the affect to suspense towards the audience. The style and the font for the titles matches the rest. However we did not add the title of the film to a shot like the others we thought it would be better if its own introduction and was bigger white bold writing.

STORY AND HOW THE OPENING SETS IT UP

The opening sets up the film by introducing Chloe walking down a dark alley by herself. This sets up her character, to be naïve girl that is not thinking straight. The fact that she is dressed in dark clothes and is walking every slowly, this presents to the audience that she is about to do something very dangerous and silly. The voice overs in the background show that her mates have pushed her and teased her towards this. Showing to the audience why she looks so determined to do this, as she's not even turning back. The music gets louder and louder as she gets further and further into the house; suggesting something bad is about to happen or something is about to be revealed. When we see Chloe running away from the house, from what ever she has found she drops it this shows that maybe in the rest of the film she will return, to get proof from whatever she has found or whatever she had found comes back to haunt her.

Our story is about a stereotypical teenage girl. The characters in our film follow all the typical thriller conventions. She’s a victim of peer pressure, from her mates. Like a silly teenager that has got herself into something she cannot control by going along with a silly dare. The dare goes goes too far by breaking into what looks like an ordinary house; finds something that she didn’t expect and left so scared she runs away as fast as she could.

GENRE AND HOW THE OPENING SUGGESTS IT

Our opening to the film is a typical thriller. This is because it contains the stereotypical conventions of a thriller film, for example the main character being a young, pretty, irresponsible teenage girl. This is shown through our film by the fact that our character is caught up in a situation they cannot control, by going long with being peer pressured into doing a dangerous dare. Our film also shows it's a typical thriller film by the fact that it's placed down a dark alley; the girl goes into a dark house that is placed down an alley. Also the film contains a lot of enigmas, which leaves the audience unsure who the villain is, and what to expect. The props we use also suggest this because the way she is dressed like a normal teenager in her hoodie and jeans. The fact that she is out late on her own suggests she is up to something. Also the photos she drops on the floor that you cannot see cause they are turned over show that the film is about obsession and crime.

HOW CHARACTERS ARE INTRODUCED Chloe :

Our film starts off with introducing the main character as being silly and naive. By introducing her to do something that puts her life at risk and because she has not thought it through. she does not realise the position she is putting herself in.

The friends:

The audience are introduced to Chloe's friends by there voices first of all. They are introduced as daring there friend to do something that can get her into a lot of trouble, showing them to be typical teenagers, that do not think about what the actions can lead to. Then the audience see the friends for the first time sitting together in one of there room, showing concern for Chloe's safety realising they may have pushed her to far?

SPECIAL EFFECTS We hardly used any special effects in our film expect from

the echo on the voice overs. We did this because it made it sound the that was what was going through Chloe's head as she was walking up to the door. Creating an creepy atmosphere because she is hearing these voices in her head. We also used a slide in effect on the titles to make them stand out when they was introduced.