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

We were aware as a group that in order to create a successful film we had to make sure we sustained a level of continuity that worked. A main aspect of filming that helped us achieve continuity was managing our mise en scene correctly. We filmed all of our scenes at similar times of the day if the scene was a carry on from the scene before. We did this to make sure the lighting in the scene kept the same throughout to make it flow and to ensure continuity. We also made sure if we were filming different parts of the same scene on different days that we stuck to the same clothing and makeup used on the actor/actress again to make sure we stuck to an acceptable level of continuity. We found some difficulty in making sure these issues of continuity were kept perfect, as we found that some scenes were unintentionally shot with different clothing etc and so we had to reshoot in order to make sure they were right.

While we were using a larger static camera on a tripod whilst filming, it made it a lot easier to maintain an acceptable level of continuity in comparison to using a handheld camera in exercises such as our preliminary exercise. This change of equipment made sure we were able to ensure certain filming rules were kept. This included making sure we stuck to the 180 degree rule which made continuity flow better and also establishing shots at the beginning of new scenes, as it was easy to place the camera in a suitable place in order to get the shot we wanted, both seen in the stills below.

The aim of our film was to make sure in included certain conventions of thriller films to enable us to make our film effective as a whole. We stick to these typical conventions rather than challenging them. To do this we researched other thriller films and looked at what conventions they included, and by looking at successful films we realised which conventions work better than others e.g the typical convention of using binary opposites like evil vs good and men vs women when the man overpowers the woman, a common convention in thriller and horror films. The conventions we’ve included will fulfil expectations of the viewer as they won’t be conventions they’re not expecting.   There are no elements within our film that play of the pastiche of the genre we were aiming at as we stuck to the typical conventions and didn’t stray from them.

The main kinds of audience pleasure we’re trying to provide is the simple means of entertainment. By doing this we’ve created suspense and action in our short film, making the film gripping and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. I’m confident we’ve achieved this as our film is interesting and entertaining to watch. Another aspect of audience pleasure we’re trying to provide is a message we’re sending across about social networking and how it can be dangerous if you’re not careful. Again, I feel as though this message was conveyed properly as certain aspects of the film such as Hollie getting bundled into the back of a car can be quite frightening, and portrays the dangers of talking to strangers online and meeting them in real life.