Question 1: In what ways does your product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Molly Simmons

Terror Plane

We decided to make the title of our film, ‘Terror Plane’ as due to being a thriller, it reinforces the genre. From the title, the audience can tell that the film is going to be about a plane. This follows normal conventions of films. Having this film title, we are hoping that it appeals to our male target audience and makes them want to watch the film.

Setting/Location

The location of our film took place in three different locations, a house, in school and the Bournemouth Aviation Museum. In order to make it look like we had used different rooms for ‘Brian’ and ‘Susan’, we made sure to change the setting and make it look middle eastern, although it was filmed in England. In order to get footage from the Bournemouth Aviation Museum, we had to contact the them in order to authorise our request. We were able to get our footage from the Bournemouth Aviation Museum and make the scene exactly how we wanted it. We had also previously contacted Bournemouth Airport so that we could get permission to film there, of which we was denied. In order to make the airport scenes not look like the school, we was very selective with were we filmed, making sure that it wasn’t visible enough to recognise the school.

Costumes and Props

For ‘Brian’s’ costume, we decided to go against stereotyped conventions. By doing this, we decided that he would wear casual clothing such as a shirt, jeans and leather jacket. Being as the audience would see ‘Brian’ handle the bomb, they would assume that he is going to do something horrendous with it. We didn’t want to make it obvious at the start of the film that he was a terrorist as we wanted to keep a mysterious element at the beginning.

‘Susan’s’ costume had also not followed any real media conventions. Her costume also consisted of casual clothing; a t-shirt and jeans. However, as the film was based in Iraq at the beginning, we had discussed about ‘Susan’ wearing a headscarf to follow the traditions and values. When it came to filming, we wasn’t able to get hold of a headscarf so we decided to simply not use one. If we was to film it again, we would most likely add it to ‘Susan’s’ costume.

Camerawork and editing

As a group, we came up with the idea of having majority of our film in split screen. This is to show the two characters going through their journey on the way to their flight home however, each side of the split screen fits the character. Although this does follow camerawork conventions, most companies do not make the whole of their films in split screen. By us doing so, we have gone against usual camera work conventions by putting our own twist on the film. This has shown the audience that we have used a different convention in order to portray the different stories of ‘Brian’ and ‘Susan’.

Title font and style

For the style of the film title, we have chosen a font called ‘Roadway’. We decided to go for this font style as we didn’t want to go for a boring font or anything too fancy. This is so that it doesn’t distract the audience away from the film and isn’t too feminine. Being as it is a thriller, we thought that we’d go for a more masculine font, making sure that it will appeal to the audience. Being as our target audience is men, it will appeal to them and hopefully will convey our theme of thriller.

Story and how to opening sets it up

Our film begins with the reflection of the two character in a mirror getting ready; of which is shown in split screen. At first, its unusual and mysterious as the audience don’t know who the characters are, whether they link together and what they are getting ready for. This is a common convention used by film makers to create a variety of different effects. It sets up the story of a film, a convention of which we decided to use at the start of our film.

Genre and how the opening suggest it

After we had thought about the genre for our film, we decided to combine two thrillers, romance and thriller. This goes completely against media conventions as it is something that hasn’t been done before, therefore, there is a gap in the market.

The romance side of the film is shown through ‘Brian’s’ story of how he misses his previous love, ‘Susan’. It is also shown though ‘Susan’, and how she is in a new relationship. However, the thriller side is shown through ‘Brian’ and how his treats turn to the bombing.

How characters are introduced

At the beginning of the film, both characters are shown at the same time, using our split-screen convention. We decided to start off the film with the two characters in the bathroom, getting ready. During this scene, ‘Brian’ is shown having a shave and ‘Susan’ is shown using mouthwash.

As the film gets further on, the audience will realise changes in the characters getting ready. An example of this includes the objects that they both pack, ‘Susan’ is packing her clothing and toiletries. Although ‘Brian’ does pack clothing, he packs a bomb in his suitcase. This connotes to the audience that he is the bad character and is going to do something terrible at the end of the film.

Special effects

Our film doesn’t offer any 3D special effects expect the split-screen convention. We decided to keep it as realistic as possible and use a minimal amount of effects. However, we really liked the idea of using split-screen to show the journey of the two characters, travelling to the same destination.

By using split-screen, we could display the journey of the characters to the audience. Showing how they are going to there destination, but for different reasons, whether is be good or bad. In the end, the audience will see how their journey ends and what will happen to both the characters, ‘Brian’ and ‘Susan.