What Titles?

What Titles?

A title sequence is a method that is used for mainly films/television programmes that represents the title of the film/television programme and the key production and cast members. In the opening credits of a film/television programme there is usually a list of the most important members of the production. These names are usually of a person who is the main actor in the production as well as the supporting actors. They will also usually show the name of the studio, production company, the name of the director and who is starring. For example DreamWorks and Sony Pictures Entertainment are famous studios that are known for the production of successful films.

The closing credits of a film/television programme are quite different because the give a more elaborate list of the extensive cast involved the production. These names can vary from:

• Casting Director
• Make-up Artist
• Set Decorator
• Production Assistant
• Sound Effects
• Visual Effects

In the TV series ‘Dexter’ the titles used in the opening credits are quite creative making more visual to look at. As opposed to having the titles quite ordinarily screen roll the titles are put in creative places such as: on the spine of a book or wrapped around a particular object. The titles seem to take the shape of whatever object they are placed on.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From constructing my thriller opening sequence I was able to use and develop my knowledge and skills by using a range of different equipment and technologies.

All throughout the creation of my thriller opening sequence I used blogger to record evidence of completed work such as: photographs of myself and my group in action recording, the setting, the cast, photographs of our location and etc.

iMovie was the prominent program used for the editing of my thriller sequence. The use of iMovie allowed myself and my group to cut shots that were too long and fuse them together with other shots so the flowed well together.

The tripod was used when we wanted to create steady shots. The use of tripod was also helpful when wanting to create a smooth pan or high angle shot by tilting the camera on the tripod.

4. Who would be the audience of your film?

Myself and my group decided that the certificate for our film should be an 18 because it features the use of sharp objects and deadly weapons. We also felt it was necessary to have an 18 certificate because if the film was to be continued it would contain elements that would only be suitable for someone aged 18 and over.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that the media institution that would be suitable to distribute my media product would be ‘New Line Cinema’. I think that they would be suitable because they have distributed many successful thriller films over the years such as: ‘Malice’ and ‘The Number 23’. They also distributed the thriller film ‘Se7en’ which was the film that heavily influenced me and my group for the opening sequence of our thriller film.

However, because ‘New Line Cinema’ is an extremely large and commercial film distribution company, it would be more realistic to have a more independent distribution company that produces successful films on a low budget. With this information I think that a more suitable and realistic media institution that would distribute my media product would be ‘Hammer Film Productions’ because they are a U.K based film production company that is best known for their production of Gothic and thriller films.

2. How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

In our thriller opening sequence we chose the victim to be a young teenage white female (played by Donna). This type of character (the victim) is somewhat common amongst thriller/ horror films because this sort of character is portrayed as being weak and vulnerable which makes the killer easy to prey on. The photograph next to Donna is a picture of Jamie Lee Curtis playing the character Laurie in the famous horror film 'Halloween'. This is evidence of the common stereotype that is portrayed within horror/thriller films as the victim being a young teenage white female.

Although the killer in the opening sequence was played by Shehabur, he is not revealed on screen and the audience only see his hands which are sometimes in black gloves). I think that this was effective because the audience have no idea as to who the killer is and what gender they are. I think that this specifically challenged the representation of a particular social group as, it is common for the killer in a thriller film to be a strong and scary male. The photograph next to Shehabur is the character Michael Myers from the horror film 'Halloween'. This is evidence that the common stereotype of the killer in a horror/ thriller film is usually a strong male.

1. In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Myself and my group were heavily influenced by the opening sequence of the thriller film ‘Se7en’. This is because it is a successful thriller opening sequence that uses the correct conventions to draw the audience in such as: using slow pace and not fully revealing what is shown on the screen to the audience straight away. We recreated the opening sequence of 'Se7en' and made it our own by including close-ups of the edge of a knife and the killer's hands planning on how he/she is going to kill their next victim. My media product definitely has the conventions of a thriller opening sequence because it is slow paced and slowly draws the audience in, leading them to want to know more about the character on screen and what he/she's motive is. During the opening sequence the camera solely focuses on the killer's hands and how he/she is going about killing their next victim. The hand movements are quite slow and delicate which represents the knowledge that the killer has, and that they know exactly what they are doing and exactly what they want. The delicate and slow hand movements also convey the fascination and obsession that the killer has with the weapons. This is shown when the killer's hand slowly caresses the sharp blade of the knife to show their lack of fear with the weapon which itself is uneasy and creepy to watch for the audience.