Heeral Patel – Evaluation: Question1 In what ways does your media products use , develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?

1-The title of the film

We planned to place the title towards the end as it fitted with the shattered effect as the white vase falls on the ground where the title ‘precarious’ breaks into pieces. From our product researcher we found that the titling of the film is a key factor of symbolizing the key theme in the film therefore we choice ‘precarious’ as it means to fall or collapse . We decided to include the title on our last shot instead of a slide as it emphasis on the vase dropping and the red blood as is associated with danger  The colour black over white suggest some sort of conflict or danger which are often shown in Thrillers.

 

Our title with black font over white titles 

2-Costumes and props

In the opening sequence we have used many props linked to the storyline which helps to represent a thriller theme which we have carried out in the opening. The main colour is white which shows innocence and purity of the whole environment which contrast with the dark bed sheet colour covering the face and the bed being black, lifts the virtue of the girl.  Also the clothes worn by the girl are quite dull in colour which has no sign of patterns or designs helping us keep the white theme ongoing. Props that we used are pill box, appointment sheet, alarm clock and a vase all symbolized with the illness our character is facing. These props are good representation of the film genre as thriller conventions often use dark objects to epitomize.

The white colour of the flowers and her clothing 

An example of dark bedding which emphasis dark hidden secrets 

                        

3-Setting/location

We filmed at a house with limited location as we didn’t want to give too much detail or much of her surroundings. Using a setting such as the house makes it more realistic and showing a deep perception of the character as she is a patient. Having to film at day time for night scene we had to be really careful of the amount of light we had in our shots. To challenge this we used a bedside lamp to put a glow on her face which reduced graininess from our shots. The whiteness of the table reflects the yellow light from the lamp really well as it wasn't as bright or dull. This added an gloomy effect in the surroundings which contrasts well with the dreamy shots.

a close up shot of the blood shoulding the contrasts
of red against white floor.

4-Camera work and editing

 We wanted to show that the props we have used are symbols of the girl’s life, therefore; we pan the side table where we had the pill box and the doctor’s note. Also To show our character’s insight, for this we zoomed into her face along the side table .We have used variation of shots to emphasis the anxiety of our character.  The use of red against the white tiles puts a brighter glow on the red blood.  The use of editing: where we as the audience can see water whereas she can see blood. This is a very effective way to show that the girl is mental disturbed. 

                                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz46qS38OgM

this is real media product which is completely different opening sequence to ours as its doesn’t reveal much of the character

 5-Title font and style 

The font ‘zapfino’, was an appropriate font for our theme because it fits in with the title precarious of clumsiness. We wanted an handwriting effect on the names of director , editor and music by , this idea was originally found on the doctor’s note we signed by hand this was an inspiration to continue this idea onto our opening. 

 This sort of font is often used in genre such as thriller or horror as it associated to mysterious themes and also makes the writing stand out.

This font is often used in Shakespeare films, this gives an old but gives an effective and professional style. 

6-Story and how the opening sets it up

The shot of the newspaper on the carpet, we used this to build up some sort of tension and how it implies to her real life. The image on the newspaper is the same as our character’s face which is abit unusual setting up a bizarre situation for our plot.

By showing our main character at the beginning of our shot, it was essential for the story which can be understandable by the audience, also to introduce a story and how it will be presented.

We used cutaway shot of the dream over a shot of a sink this highlights the abnormality of the girl.

                                    
 

  This product here shows a taxi driving on a busy night roads, which is from the drivers's point of view which suggest to the audience that the taxi plays a signification role in the film   

7-special effects

For special effects we used ‘cutaway’ this was used to create an effect of a flashback where the character 

Is laughing behind a shot of a sink containing knife this creates a atmosphere of agitated and physically disturbed character

A shot of knife under a light glow shot of the girl implies danger to the girl .