First Lesson: What i have learnt.

In the first lesson we were introduced to the subject of Media. The subject is completely new to some of us, including me but some have done Media Studies at GCSE level.
We watched the advert/opening titles for Dexter. We were asked how we knew it was a thriller/horror. We pointed out that there is a lot of emphasis on blood and the colour red.


We then had a discussions and sir encouraged  us to look at every detail and think out side the box. About the symbolism and hidden meanings.


In this lesson I have learnt that in a thriller you can take something normal, like the morning ritual in dexter and dramatise it in a way that will lead the audience to think that bad things are going to happen. For example; in Dexter there are close ups of meet being chopped which can symbolise knives which are danger and murder. The audiences may feel the emotion of danger.


I learnt that in motion picture red symbolises danger and blood is a reference to violence.
I also learnt that classical music is often used in a thriller films.


Sir also asked us to bare in mind that there are fine lines between thriller and horror. For instance Thrillers commonly used classical music where as Horrors usually use rock music, also that Thrillers are filmed in
isolated locations yet not in the woods as that is more or a horror convention.


I learnt that a Close-up (CU) is when the camera is zoomed and focusing on one element, to reveal detail to the audience. It is a Close-up when you are just shooting the head and shoulders of a person.They are commonly used in Horrors.
An Extreme Close-up (ECU) is when a camera is zoomed even further to capture on element, in great detail often used for dramatic efffect, they can make the audience feel uncomfortable in some situations, they are commonly used in Horrors. An example of an Extreme-Close Up is when the camera focuses on Dexter's eye.


Here are some examples:




Close-up:

Extreme Close-up:

Here is the Dexter clip that we looked at in class: