As a group, we decided that keeping conventions similar to other horror/thriller films would be the most effective on our audience. This is because people will expect certain things to happen that will make them scared etc. despite expecting it, horror/thriller films use other techniques to make the expected unexpected and keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. Therefore we thought keeping these conventions would help our film be as effective as possible and work well.

In our thriller film opening, we researched other thriller film openings to see what conventions we could pick up on and use in our media product. Steve Neale said that “conventions are repetition with change”. This means we have the ability to take a convention and put our own twist on it. We took inspiration from films like The Purge, The Ring. For our film opening, we kept the mise en scene very conventional, as we decided it would have the most effect on our audience. Straying too far from convention might make our film opening less believable, and therefore not as thrilling.

            In order to ensure this didn’t happen, we had similar costumes for all our characters. They dressed in dark clothing, often wearing hoodies, masks or something to cover their face. By using dark clothing, we kept to the convention that people committing crimes are more likely to dress in dark clothing, in order to avoid being seen/caught. This created suspense for our viewers, as they were unable to identify the characters and are therefore unaware of their intentions. By having masks in our film opening, we are further concealing characters’ identities, and making the viewer feel more uncomfortable and frightened.

            Throughout our film opening, we used low-key lighting, similar to other horror-thriller films. This way it shows the crimes are taking place at night time, making them seem organised and more violent. The criminals commit crime at night to avoid being seen/caught. By keeping to this convention we made our film seem more realistic as this is what would happen in a real life situation. Furthermore, the dark is seen as more scary than the light. If the crimes were shown in high-key lighting, the audience would be less frightened, as it is more likely that people are around who could help and that the crimes would be caught.

            We used male antagonists, as it is conventional to use stereotypes such as men are more violent, strong and scary, in comparison to women who are seen as calm, vulnerable and weak. By using males, we show the audience that the antagonists are dangerous and violent, making the viewers feel more worried and uncomfortable. By using women occasionally in our media product, we abide with conventions that women are weak and often the damsel, for example, towards the end you see a woman being surround by masked men. By using a woman it shows she is extremely vulnerable and being surrounded implies she can’t escape and is in serious danger. By having her identity visible, but not the antagonists’ identities visible, it emphasises how vulnerable she is. Furthermore, blocking is used as she is sitting down whilst they are stood behind her. This makes her seem more vulnerable as she is out in the open to the viewer whereas the antagonists are behind her. Furthermore, by having them stand up whilst she is sat down presents the antagonists as more powerful and in charge.

            Whilst researching other film openings, we realised that many of them use handheld camera techniques to make the film seem more realistic. We decided to keep to this convention, as it seemed most effective at making the viewer anxious. Furthermore, in many film openings, they used close ups of objects and people (like Shutter Island) to make the viewer anxious and unsure of what they’re seeing. We decided to use mainly long shots, to ensure all the action can be seen and in focus at all times. This entices the viewer in, making them nervous for what might happen. At the end, we decided to do an extreme close-up of the masks being worn. This makes the viewer feel like the antagonists are looking straight at them, instead of at a camera, overall making them feel nervous and scared. This is conventional feelings for the audience of a horror-thriller film.

            For some scenes, we zoomed the camera in or out to reveal more of the scene or focus on a particular point. By doing this, the audience feels worried as someone is clearly filming and wanting the public to see the violence taking place. This could show that the antagonists are extremely dangerous and violent. By not using zoom on scenes with CCTV overlay, it makes it more realistic as you conventionally see CCTV footage from the same angle and distance away.

            Upon reviewing other thriller-film openings, we noticed that many of them used red titles, to present an evil, sinister feeling. We decided not to do this, as we wanted a more eerie, worrying feeling, and so decided to use a more spooky, subtle font and colour. We used an off white colour, to show that it may not be all it seems. The antagonists are presented as evil, but if we did a whole film, you would have discovered that the group was in fact an ‘anti-hero’ group. Therefore, white would connote innocence and purity, but by using an off-white colour we show that there is something ‘off’ about the characters. They are doing good by doing bad.

            We used a simple font that was easy to read, which we found in some film openings, but not others. We thought it would be good to do this, as it doesn’t detract too much away from the scene. Furthermore, we used capital letters to ensure it was as clear to read as possible to keep the scene behind the titles the main focus of viewers’ attention. We also made the person’s name larger than the title of the person as it seemed the cast were more important to viewers than what job they did – like people tend to watch a film because a certain person worked or starred in it.

Generally, in the film openings we analysed, fades and straight cuts were used to transition between scenes. We used these conventional techniques throughout our opening, as fades show a passing of time, representing how much crime is taking place. Furthermore, straight cuts suggest it’s happening in more than one place, again presenting how much crime is happening. We also used white noise screens, to show crime is being picked up on all different CCTV cameras. This also creates fear for the viewer, as generally in horror films when these screens are used, something bad is about to happen. This builds tension for the viewer.

Conventionally, in the horror-thrillers we looked at, the soundtrack was either synchronous, with scary, tense music being played, or asynchronous, with more classical, harmonious music being heard. Both of these are used to build tension, as the synchronous soundtrack highlights the terror and danger taking place, whereas the asynchronous music suggests that whoever is supporting the violence being shown thinks it’s a good thing and there’s nothing wrong with it. The viewer wouldn’t however see how such violence is acceptable, and so worry about the themes that will be conveyed in the rest of the film.

We decided to stick with the convention of a more scary, tension building soundtrack. We thought this would seem more like the film builds up to something, which keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat.

We also used ambient sounds like sirens, which were heard in many of the film openings we looked at. The use of these sirens shows how much crime is happening and how bad it is, as reinforcements like police are needed.