Rikhel Trivedi

Evaluation Activity One

In what ways does your media product use develop or challenger forms and conventions
of real media products?
At first the title for our production was The Butcher since our first idea was located in a butcher
shop and then changed the title of the sequence due to change of location. We had chosen to do
this as the title wouldnt have matched the location, we had also done this to make sure our horror
opening sequence was the best as we possibly could make it.

Setting/Location

Throughout our opening sequence we had started off with a location

which was the butcher shop but then as a group we had thought that it
was inconvenient for everybody as the butcher shop was located out of
town. So as a group we had to search and decide another location and we
had then came to an agreement to have our opening sequence in the DT
workshop located at Oaks park high school. After deciding our location we
had then watched thriller/horror films such as Friday the 13th and final
destination 5 and had come up with who our targeted audience is. As the
location as located at a school we had felt that our targeted audience would be teenagers and young
adults from ages 15 to 25 with a socio economic group of C1, C2, D and E. This is mainly because
people would able to relate since people in these socio economic group would spend a lot of time at
home meaning that they would have something interesting to watch while their at home. Our
location had provided us tools and costumes as the DT department allowed us to use their overalls,
which allowed us to make out antagonist more realistic. Overall even though at first we had
problems with getting to our first location, but our second location had made it easier for all the
members as it was very convenient which also had many props we could use.

Title of the film

The title of my opening sequence is called The Carpenter. The
storyline is about a teenage girl who is still in school even though
its past school hours. The teenage girl comes out the toilet and
walks down the corridor and gets snatched, she then wakes up and
faces a painful death. Since we had changed our location it had
meant that the title would have to change but we had wanted the

Rikhel Trivedi
title to be similar to our first idea so we had changed it slightly and came up with The Carpenter.
Even though we had to change our title for our production we were all happy with the title as it had
linked to the antagonist in the two minute sequence. The antagonist in the film is a carpenter in a
mask and majority of the scene is located in a carpenters workshop therefore as a group we had felt
that it linked well with our storyline. The title also follows thriller/horror conventions as majority of
thriller/horror film the titles give the viewers a small idea of what the film may be about. We had
chosen the title as the audience can identify that the film has something to do about a carpenter.

Title Font and Style

The title of my opening sequence is shown at towards the end
of the opening sequence. This is because the viewers would
want to know what has happened to the protagonist so we had
decided as a group to show the title making the viewers think it
has finished but after the title is shown we see the antagonist
releasing the protagonist dead. We had wanted to use different
fonts for each letter to make it seem more interesting but we
had a sudden change of mind and had used two different fonts. We had used the font Baskerville for
The in the colour white our title and we had used Big Caslon for Carpenter the colour red. We
had chosen red as red connotes many things to the audience such as death and blood. It is also a
common convention in horror/thriller films. We had wanted the title to stand our especially the
word Carpenter as we had wanted the audience to know what the antagonist name was. The black
background was used as it had portrayed evil and fear to the antagonist name.

Costumes and Props

When planning our final production we had planned out what costumes is our
protagonist, Lucy going to be wearing in the two minute sequence. As a group
we had wanted the costumes to represent the young generation to the audience
to feel more comfortable with the protagonist. The costumes used for our
protagonist, Lucy starts of wearing her school uniform helping to represent that
she is a clever, smart student as she walks down the corridor, once she gets
snatched she then has all her clothes tore apart with just her white plain shirt
and leggings on. We chose to do this as we wanted the audience to immediately
know that she had got kidnapped and tortured as there is already blood on her
head and all her shirt ripped apart.
As for our antagonist, to decide what costumes to use for our antagonist we had took
similar ideas from Friday the 13th as the antagonist in that film is wearing a mask, we
had took this idea and given our antagonist a mask which seems to be made out
maggots which we had purchased. The mask was used to make the audience feel sick.
The mask also hide the identity of who is the man behind the mask, this follows the
conventions of a thriller horror film as it creates an enigma making the audience
wonder who is behind the mask leaving the antagonist a mystery and a suspense to
the audience. Our antagonist would also be wearing construction overalls with heavy
boots and thick gloves which would help the antagonist to look like a Carpenter.

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In our production we had used many props to help the location seem
realistic. The props used in our production such as the wooden mallet
which was used to torture Lucy. The wooden mallet relates to our storyline
as the tools lying there are tools which real carpenters use on a day to day
basis. Other tools which were used in our production are tools which typical
carpenters would use. The tools on the worktop are perfectly placed next
to each other connoting to the audience that he has been through the
process more than once. We got this idea from Friday the 13th as in the film the antagonist uses a
wide range of tools to attack the characters in the film. Therefore we had decided to use a similar
idea by showing the different types of tools lying on the table helping to imply to the audience that
he the antagonist does this regularly.
Other tools which are used in our production such as the ropes that are tied round Lucys hands and
legs. Ropes are a typical prop which are used in conventional films since it helps to show the
protagonist to seem weak and vulnerable as in our production Lucy is unable to move her hands or
legs allowing the antagonist to torture her. We had our antagonist to wear thick gloves as it helped
to make our character more realistic, also having the antagonist wear gloves it connotes to the
audience that he does not like getting his hand dirty or blood all over them.

Camerawork and Editing

Throughout the opening sequence we had wanted to make sure

that we had included as many shots and angles as possible as for
the main reason we had wanted to the audience interested and
we had wanted enough footage for the editor to choose from to
produce the sequence. We had used a wide range of close ups,
medium shots and extreme close up and many more. We had
used many close ups and extreme close ups which are typical
conventions used in almost every thriller/horror film. We had
used extreme close ups to show the tool which the carpenter is going to use as a weapon. We had
also used many close ups to show the audience clear detail of the protagonist and to identity fear
through her facial expressions. Although at the beginning of the opening sequence we had
challenged the forms and conventions of thriller/horror films by using a medium long shots to show
Lucy walk down the corridor making the audience think she is safe but as she comes closer to the
camera the tension increasing.
In our production as the director and I supported the editor, the editor had used a colour correction
tool which allowed the colour of our footage to seem darker and duller. The editor had sped up the
clip where Lucy gets snatched away to help build a suspense and make the audience fear for the
protagonist. The use of speeding up the clip is used by other media products to help create a
suspense and make the audience wonder where the protagonist is. In conclusion in our two minute
sequence we had used many different types of shots and different editing techniques to help keep
our audience interested when watching our film.

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Genre and how the opening suggests it

Our opening sequence starts of portraying nothing bad as the audience
see a teenage girl coming out of the toilets, but as she gets close to the
camera the tension rises and Lucy gets snatched away. By having
unexpected events in our beginning of our opening sequence it makes
the viewers more interested making them want to watch more of the
sequence as they are being surprised immediately. When the antagonist
wears his carpentry gloves it makes the audience wonder Who is he?
and Why is he putting gloves on? creating an enigma since the
audience already begin to question themselves on who this character is and why has he got a mask
on. Shot reverse shot is used in middle of the sequence which is typically used in thriller films, shot
reverse shot is used to show the relationship between the characters as Lucy is in fear and weak
whereas The Carpenter is dominant in the scene. Another convention used is the slow paced editing
when tilting the camera showing Lucy unconscious. This makes the audience feel uneasy as they are
shocked how Lucy has been beaten and is bleeding when a while ago they had saw her leaving the
toilet and walking down the corridor. Slow paced editing techniques are commonly used in
thriller/horror films to show anything shocking and to the audience.

How are the characters introduced?

The protagonist is first introduced to the audience at the beginning of the opening sequence when
Lucy is coming out of the ladies toilet and then walking down the corridor. A medium shot is sued to
show Lucy come out the toilets and walk down the corridor which makes the audience feel
comfortable with the character till they see Lucy get taken. The protagonist is represented as
innocent and educated as she is still in school past school hours. The antagonist is first introduced
when he is wearing his carpentry gloves and walks into the workshop. A close up is used when
wearing his gloves and a wide medium shot is used to see the antagonist walk into the workshop
allowing to show the audience the antagonists costumes. The antagonist is wearing full overalls and
maggot mask, this makes the audience cringe as the mask is made up of maggots. The antagonist is
represented as creepy, dangerous and scary as he has snatched Lucy and he is wearing a creepy
mask making himself look scary to the audience following a typical convention by making the
audience scared of the antagonist.

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The story and how the opening sets it up

The first shot shown in the opening sequence is a medium shot
of Lucy coming out of the ladies toilets. This allows to set the
scene and allow the audience to identify the location. The
following shot after this is a point of view which establishes
more of the location and determines the time of day to the
audience as they would be able to know it is a school due to
many rooms in the corridor and the emptiness convey that it is
the evening as there is nobody in the school. Having the
corridor shown in the point of view this makes the audience
think that Lucy is a hard working girl as she is still in school
working hard implying that she is innocent and good.