Evaluation Question 1

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Key Frame 1
Location
For our location we used a local UK police station to give the effect that the father has a criminal past and to give our viewers an insight into the mans background. Police stations, prisons and the legal system are often a focus for thrillers, for example The Shawshank Redemption which is set in a prison.

This is an image from Shawshank Redemption which includes a prison settings.

Key Frame 2
Props
For our film we used a number of props, for example we used a students school bag for our girl because this is what a typical student would have when leaving school at the end of the day. This makes our girl look more like a typical school girl and as if she has just come from a long day at school and is leaving for home. We also used a letter in our film, this is to show that the girl and the step dad are arguing about a letter from the school about her bad behaviour and the step dad is not happy with this.

Key Frame 3 and 4
Camera shots
During our film we used a range of different camera shots. In Key Frame 3 we have zoomed in on the school sign, this is to show the viewers where the scene is set and the name of the school shows that this establishment is a state comprehensive school. This then leads into Key Frame 4, which is the same camera shot a few seconds later. We chose to zoom out of the sign to create an establishing shot of the whole school.

Key Frame 5
Titles and Ident
The title "SINS OF THE FATHER" is in a bold white font on a black background which makes it stand out, we have chosen a black background because the end of the film fades out to black and this creates a good effect and then the title is typed onto the screen .We have chosen a typewriter effect to drag out the suspense which we created during the film and to leave the viewer wanting to watch the rest of the film. We have also created an ident and put this at the start of the film, this is also white writing on a black background with an effect to make it look more professional and interesting for the viewer. Our company name is DOMINO PRODUCTIONS and the effect of the ident links to this name as it could relate to dominos. We feel that our ident is unique and would be very easy to recognise when compared to other idents.

This is a well know ident for the company 20th Century Fox Television.

This ident is simple yet effective as it is extremley well known for its image and background music.

This is the titles from the thriller "The Shawshank Redemption."

These titles are similar to our film titles as they have the same colour scheme.

Key Frame 6
Effects
We used many effects in our film, for example in our flashback scene we added a sepia effect to create an old fashioned feel so our viewers know that the scene is from the past so is probably a flashback. We also used a fade in effect into the flashback so that people realise that it is in the past and its a flashback. We put a textual overlay on to the beginning of the flashback to show that this piece of footage is from 10 years ago, to inform the viewers that the girl in the flashback is the girl at the beginning of the film but a younger version.

This is a shot from an old film called "Wild Harvest' set in 1947. In the 1940's sepia was a popular effect for films but is not very common in recent thrillers today. As sepia is related with the past we have used it for our flashback so people can relate to this and they will feel more like our film has gone into the past and is a flashback

Key Frame 7 and 8
Introducing Characters
In Key Frame 7 we have a long shot of the father coming out of a police station, this makes the viewer imagine his background from the insent, making them think he has a criminal past or has been in prison. This single shot means we don't need to devote more time of our film explaining the characters background. In Key Frame 8 we have shown a group of working class teenagers leaving school, this is to instantly show the viewer that the girl character is a schoolgirl and to make the rest of the plot (the argument with step-father) make more sense.

Key Frame 9
Mise-En-Scene
In this frame we chose for the stalkers face to not be shown. This is a convention used in thrillers frequently and it is used to create mystery and tension, as the audience is unaware of who the stalker is. Also, by hiding their face it makes the character more scary and 'thrilling'.

This is a shot from "The Strangers" in which the stalkers are wearing masks. By hiding their faces this keeps the characters anonymous, meaning it keeps a barrier between the audience and the characters.

We have also used a creepy background soundtrack as this is used in a lot of thrillers to add tension.