In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Josh Manley

Importance of Genre

• Genre is vital in the film industry for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it allows production companies to create a film which follows and conforms to specific conventions which have successfully been established in the genre. By knowing what genre of film they aspire to produce, they will be able to follow the conventions and select suitable costumes, make-up, sound, setting etc. Also the company will have connections with a production team which specialise in their chosen genre. Therefore, creating a much more successful film as the target audiences will be attracted to the film as they know roughly on what the film will consist of.

• For the audience genre is specifically important as it allows them to identify whether the film is suitable for their preferences and expectations. It also provides them with confidence in the film and therefore more willing to pay to go watch the film.

HOW DOES MY PRODUCT CONFORM TO CONVENTIONS OF MY GENRE?

Setting • The chosen setting for our film opening is an

abandoned derelict building which is located in a desolate area, surrounded by forest. This creates an atmosphere of isolation and creates a sense of vulnerability which is stereotypical of the horror genre. Successful films such as films such as Cabin In The Wood and Chernobyl Diaries are both set in abandoned locations to create the same desired effect as myself.

Make-up • The make-up used in our film opening plays significant role for

the product in order to make the genre of our film opening recognisable. I applied make-up, representing cuts and bruises to gain a sense of gore to the product. We also applied fake blood to enhance this effect. As well as this I applied further make-up to make it seem that the protagonist is dirty and has been abandoned for a while. The introduction of injuries results in our protagonist to look more vulnerable and therefore cause stronger connections with the audience as they will enjoy the sense of gore.

Sound• Throughout the entirety of the film opening a non-diegetic

score was used. This consisted of ambient layered synth and string sounds with some minimal percussive elements. The track was in a minor key that reflected the tense and unnerving atmosphere introduced in the film. Making the viewing more uncomfortable and therefore conform to the tense soundtracks used by all successful horror films.

• Along with this we recorded other diegetic sound effects such as blood dripping, heavy breathing and footsteps.

Props • In our film opening we have used various props that conform

the conventions of horror. Firstly we introduced dolls to our opening, placing them around the scene and capturing several close ups. This use of dolls shows similarities with other successful blockbusters such as Annabelle, The Conjuring and The Women in Black. Other props that we used were fake blood, rope and an old wooden chair which are stereotypical of the genre. These, along with the make-up illustrate the torture feel to our opening which is familiar to the well established horror film, Evil Dead.

Costume• Costume also plays a significant part in both conforming and

challenging the conventions of horror. The antagonist's costume is typical of the genre, alike the film The Women in Black, she wears a plain gown which contributes to the eerie atmosphere of the film. However, colours which are usually replicated in the genre are black and red. Whereas in our film the gown is white, and the colour white usually provides the impression of innocence and purity, therefore making the viewing more uncomfortable for the viewers.

CharacterThe main protagonist for our film is the stereotypical age of the genre. Our actor is 20 years of age, identical to the 15-25 aged target audience. This therefore allows for a stronger relationship and connection to be formed with the audience as they will be able to recognise his action/feelings and relate to them. However, stereotypically, in horror films a teenage female protagonist is used to supply a sense of vulnerability. We decided to challenge this convention as we used a teenage female as the antagonist who is implied to be possessed. Illustrated through the CCTV sequences where her presence causes the CCTV to cut out, convey her to be mysterious and even could be considered to be spiritual. This method could ultimately result in the viewing for the audience to be uncomfortable.

Titles and Production Company

• When creating a name for our production company we thought that it would be effective to use a name that would automatically be associated with the horror industry. This is through the use of the word "blood".

• When including the titles for our film, we created a sequence that suited the paced of the film inspired by the film Se7en. Where the tiles appeared sporadically and jittery, quickly cutting in and out of various positions at differing angles and sizes. Also we capitalised the text in order to create a sense of aggression.

Narrative theory

• Due to many discussions of ways we could start our film, we came to the conclusion that it was best to neglect the use of presenting everyday life as we felt that it would not engage the audience significantly. Due to this we therefore confronted Toderov's equilibrium theory of narrative as we started at the action with an enigma code, illustrating a scene similar to the torture scene in Evil Dead.

• However, we conformed to Prop's narrative theory of characters. We did this by including the opposing characters of the protagonist (hero) and antagonist (villain).