Should conventions always be adhered to or do they restrict creativity?

When producing our thriller opening for our Foundation portfolio, we did adhere to most of the generic thriller conventions.
For example

• A build up to the action
• Creation of fear/apprehension
• Flashbacks
• Murder encouraging a suspecting audience
• Twists in the plot
• Red Herrings
• Delays in revealing characters true identities
• Creation of suspense through use of soundtrack

I think the reason for us using these conventions was because we had picked up these kind of techniques through watching other thriller openings when carrying out our background research. I feel we would have used the same methods even if we had not known the set conventions of a thriller opening, we simply used what felt natural.

The only real convention that we did subvert was including a hero(ine), the only reason for this was because this would not have fitted in with our storyline. It would also be difficult to establish a hero in the opening sequences.

When producing our music video however, we had to look a bit closer at the given conventions of a successful video. We did a lot of work on Andrew Goodwin's principles, as we would need to use most, if not all of them in our final piece. If we chose to ignore too many of the key features then our music video would not have been successful at all. The only convention that we subverted was the intertextual references.

When carrying out either of these tasks it is very important to study the conventions laid out for you as they are the key to success. However I do think that it is a good idea to adapt the conventions as this makes your work more original if you use your own interpretations of the guidelines.

Conventions of a Music Video

Music Video Conventions

• Star image motif - record companies demand a lot of close ups of the main artist or vocalist
• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics
• The notion of looking.
• There are likely to be intertextual references , either to other music videos or to films and TV texts. These provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans
• Cuts match the beat/tempo of the music
• Fast cut montage - no single shot is held for more than a couple of seconds

Conventions of a Thriller

Thriller Conventions

• The use of lighting - thrillers are normally filmed in quite dark areas and at night time.
• The use of flashbacks in the footage
• It may not be clear who is to be trusted in the opening. Characters may have hidden agendas.
• Thriller antagonists are always human (not supernatural)
• Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better-equipped villains
• Thrillers rarely contain blood and gore - the suspense is instead built up through the implication of an event taking place. It is often 'what is not seen' that creates fear in the audience
• Thriller is a genre of literature, film and television that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements.
• Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, and kidnappings.
• Elements such as conspiracy theories, false accusations, paranoia, and sometimes action are common in paranoid thrillers.
• The tension usaully arises when the character(s) is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible.
• Life is threatened , usaully because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation.

“Digital technology turns media consumers into producers”. In your experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?



In the two projects that we have carried out, digital technology has been absoloutely vital, without the use of the technology our final products would look nothing like they do now.
When we made our thriller opening, we were still experimenting with the equipment and software, as for many of us this was our first experience of filming and editing footage. Howver in our music video we were far more confident and were therefore able to be more creative with our techniques. We explored different camera shots, and more advanced editing methods.

For both of the productions blogger was used to record the planning and background research being carried out throughout the projects. My blog for my advanced portfolio is far more creative and visually appealing than my previous blog. On my original blog there were not many images and everything was done in less detail. Whereas this time, I used technology such as youtube, to upload my music video on to the blog, and also SlideShare was used in transferring powerpoint productions on to the blog. Last year I would not have even known how to do such things. When I compared the two planning blogs, it was clear to see my rate of progression.

The editing software imovie was used to edit and put together both of our productions. Even though we used the editing software, our music video looks far more professional and well made than our thriller opening. Our editing skills had improved vastly.

In both of our projects we changed our mind quite a lot. In the first project we changed our basic idea atleast twice, due to issues with lighting and technological problems that we could not get around. And when producing our music video, we changed our song choice quite a way in to the course so we did not give ourselves a lot of time. If our organisation skills had been a bit better than I feel our video would be far more complex and advanced than it is.

Planning Questions

Organisation of Time and Equipment

We were not always able to get the necessary equipment on the days we needed to carry out the filming. As cameras were not always accessible, it was vital that we used our time with the equipment sensibly and got as much done as we could.
When filming the Foundation task, we only used two separate shooting locations therefore we were able to complete the filming fairly quickly. However as with our music video, we changed our idea/storyline atleast twice, due to issues with lighting and other various technological difficulties.
When filming our Advanced task, we did not film the scenes in chronological order. We filmed at our different locations when it most appropriate to do so. Also our actors were not always available to film certain scenes.

Selecting Actors Settings and Props

In our Foundation task, we chose to use actors that were in our media class, as they would be readily available when needed. Alfie and myself played two of the parts in the production as we knew exactly how we wanted it to work. Katie played the part of the female, however her part was quite small so we only needed her for one session of filming.
In the Advanced task, as like last time, Alfie and myself starred in the production. This time, Amy played the party of the female character needed. This time, we used more props and a wider range of shooting locations. As some of our group can now drive, we were able to explore more locations that were not accessible for us last year when we did our Foundation task.

Scripting and Storyboarding

For the Foundation task we did not stick to our original storyboard. The reason for this was because when it came to filming, we found we wanted to do things differently to what we recorded on our storyboard. After we had decided a final storyline, then we were able to produce a more accurate plan.
Foe the Advanced task, I did not storyboard to the last minute. We decided to use trial & error when filming, and wanted to experiment with our filming techniques. When making my final storyboard, I used screen dumps from the video itself, and put the images onto a powerpoint.
This shows progression in the way that I used more advanced ways of storyboarding.

Existing Media Practice/Products

When researching thriller openings for our Foundation task, we watched a range of different styles of openings. This research was useful as it gave us some ideas and inspiration for our own opening sequence. eg, lighting, font styles.
When researching music videos for our Advanced task, we watched lots of different types of music video (concept based, narrative based and performance based.) We had to choose a type of video that we wanted to produce. We decided to make our production narrative based as we felt it would be most effective.

Creativity

For our music video production, we used a number of different methods to try and make it 'creative'.
We decided to do a narrative based video, so it was important that the story was interesting because otherwise the viewer would switch off and not pay any attention to what was happening. The story changed throughout the video, relationships were broken, others formed, and then re-made at the end. When we made our thriller last year, we chose to have another twist in the plot. Everyone assumed it was the male character who had attacked the female, but the news report that we made said otherwise. We did this to try and confuse the audience a bit, and to make them question what they had seen.

In both of our productions, (the thriller opening and the music video) we have used black & white footage. In the thriller the use of black & white was to show flashbacks/memories of the event, with the present time shown in colour. For our music video, we wanted to expand on this idea and develop it further. We decided to use black & white footage to show sadness or anger/frustration and colour to show more postive moods. For example, when the female walks out of the house, the footage is in black & white. And when they get back together at the end, the footage changes to colour.

The clever use camera angles, editing and transitions also highlights creativity. When we were filming our music video we tried to use a range of angles and shots, we repeated one or two shots that we used in the filming of our thriller. The shot where the camera is placed on the ground and people run/walk over the top it creates a good effect. This is one of our favourites.
Another good example of creativity in the thriller was when we edited it so that it looked as if the news report was actually on the radio, when really we were just playing the recorded sound clip over the top of the footage. In the music video, we followed Goodwin's principle of matching lyrics to visuals. When the lyrics are talking about 'time', we set that clip of footage to slow motion, and also showed amy looking at the time on her phone.