Describe how your analysis of the conventions of real media texs informed your own creative practise. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills have been developed over time.

For my AS production I had to create a 2 minute opening sequence for a Thriller movie. To be able to do this I had to do a lot of research on existing real media texts. Examples of existing real media texts include 'Se7en' directed by David Fincher in 1995, SAW and SAW II (2004, Directed by James Wan and 2005, Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman) as well as some elements from Psycho, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960.

My primary role in the group was to lead the editing part of the production. This meant during my research on existing products I focused on analysing the effects, transitions, camera shots, angles, movement and more to help me better understand the conventions of the Thriller genre and what makes an effective opening sequence. One of the most obvious conventions of a Thriller genre are the sountracks used. For example, the soundtrack of Se7en fits well with it's opening sequence because the person is performing unnatural tasks that a normal person would not do such as highlighting names, sewing up pieces of paper, sharpening blades etc. This inspired me to make a similar opening sequence as the storyline of our production was similar to that of Se7en. This required me to improve my editing skills significantly as some of the effects used were complex. To be able to do this I had to look up many tutorials of Sony Vegas (the editing software we used) and look at how certain effects are created.

Another convention which I realised was that the identity of the murderer is almost never revealed in the opening of the thriller. This changed our plans as in our initial shooting script the murderer and main antagonist was the inspectors partner and we planned to introduce him immediately. However, we decided it would be better to change this and instead only reveal his voice, which leaves some enigma in the audience as they wonder what the murderer's appearance is like. To achieve this, I did an effect where the lights turn off when the murderer walks into the hallway and all we are able to see is his shirt collar (as it is white).

The conclude, my analysis of the codes and conventions of real media texts have been very useful in informing my own creative practise. It has helped me to change some of the initial features in the video which in hindsight would not have been very effective, such as revealing the identity of the murderer and it also helped me to greatly improve the title sequence with new features. Analysing real media texts have improved my editing skills and also my analysis skills as I had to watch many different opening scenes multiple times to extract as much information as possible.