Evaluation Task 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 I chose to compare our thriller with one of our main inspirations, the TV series 'Dexter' (2006-2013).

This is the first shot of the opening title sequence of Dexter. We chose a similar style by making the background black and the font white. We chose our font because we thought it was reasonable neutral and reflected the theme and conventions of a thriller.We wanted to use white writing with a black background as the white really stands out against the black. I think that this creates an effective opening.

The differences are that the title for Dexter is all in capital letters and positioned in the middle of the screen. We went for a more subtle approach by positioning our title in the corner and designing a smaller font. This was so that the title wouldn't distract from the scenes about to take place.




I think that this shot has many similarities. Both the actors are in similar positions of tension and fear. This is represented by their upright body position and their facial expressions.We chose this close up shot so it really emphasised Gabriel's (bottom left) fear. 

They are both in the same position whereby someone is sitting behind them in a car and they feel threatened. I think there emotions are revealed well in both shots.

By shooting them in close up it increased the tension and made the audience question why they were feeling so on edge.

These shots reveal the murderer/hitman. They both show very dominant positions by the way they are sitting in a relaxed format. This suggests it is not their first time being in this threatening position.

We told our actor to hold a neutral/relaxed facial expression throughout to show that he is a professional in his act of crime.

When these characters are revealed in the back seat, it is a very nerving moment for the audience. Their concentration will extend the audiences tension.

The difference between the two shots is that our shot is in daylight. Although the darkness may suit the stereotypes of thrillers, we chose to shoot in daylight to represent the lack of fear in our murderer.

These shots reveal the killer being in control over the victim. It differs in that in Dexter (right), the murderer is physically controlling the victim where as (below) in our thriller, it shows mike, the murderer being in control by holding a gun to the victims head.

We chose this form of control because we thought it revealed more professionalism in mikes hit-man role.This is because he isn't getting to involved or physically touching the victim he is just controlling him by the point of his gun.

There is also a difference in setting. We shot the murder scene in the Forrest as we though it was more interesting then the cliche warehouse or empty building. It also adds more tension as there is a risk the murder could be seen by pedestrians.

The scene where the victim actually gets killed is where the two different film/series differs. The Dexter death involves torture and different weapons used.

Whereas in our thriller, we got the murderer to shoot the victim with a gun as it showed that he merely wanted to get the job done and didn't want to get any blood on himself.

On the other hand, in Dexter, it involves more blood,sweating and crying.

At the point of the death in our thriller, we don't reveal his face. I feel that this reflects the conventions of thriller; suspense, tension, the unknown.

The titles differ in that we have red in our title. Our aim was for the audience to associate the color red with blood and danger. This was to set the genre of thriller right from the start. Instead of having our title at the beginning of our opening sequence we revealed it at the end with a jump cut, as soon as the second gun shot goes. This adds a moments of tension and thrill to the audience.

Dexter uses an unusual font, whereas we used a more neutral font, all in capital letters. We chose a simple font as we wanted the audience to focus more on the words and the red color.