In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

My media product uses all of the major conventions used within the horror genre. One of the conventions which I used was the theme of blood as this was a common theme used within the majority of horror films including the ones which I researched into. The use of eerie music was also present in my title sequence which was quite slow and at some points created tension in my sequence. My title sequence was focused on murder which is quite clear to see through the shots which included a total of three bodies.

Why I chose to do an opening sequence for a horror film I decided to create a horror opening sequence as I have always been fascinated in how they are able to convey the eeriness of the film. I felt that this genre would also be easier for me to stay focused on and to give out the effects which I want to convey.

Research into genre

Horror films have always been popular with many different audiences with there not being just one specific type as there are several different sub-genres within horror including the physiological horror which I decided to do for my opening sequence. Through my research I found that the majority of psychological horrors have males who are the psychotic killers and I wanted to go against the common trend and make my main protagonist a female.

Representation

Commonly people who are classed as psychopath are shown as UncaringTo have shallow emotionsirresponsibleTo have insincere speechOverconfidentHave a narrowing of attentionselfishViolent

PsychopathA person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal

or violent social behaviour.

Conventions of the genre

Some of the main codes and conventions that you will see in any psychological horror film are as follows:

WeaponsWhen watching a Psychological horror, the weapons you tend to see are not actual physical weapons, but tend to be more supernatural and psychological. For example, the killer’s twisted minds act a weapon of fear against the victims in the film.

Settings

Some of the main settings you will see time and time again when watching a Psychological horror film are big houses, forest/ woodland areas, ware houses, schools, and hospitals and so on. These types of settings create realism for the target audience as they can relate to the film on some level, having seen or are currently live in these settings. This increases the fear and suspense for the audiences are they begin to picture themselves in these positions.

Following the codes of psychological horrors I had Based my settings in an fairly average house and a Children’s park.

Sights

When watching a psychological horror film, often there are flashbacks that take the audience back to see why the killer is disturbed and to explain what happened to them in their lives that has lead them to become mentally challenged.We also may see silhouettes which can terrify the audiences.

Sounds

Common sounds/ music that we hear when watching a Psychological Horror film are; Contrapuntal Sound- this is sound that doesn’t match the action that is on screen.This contradicts the action taking place on screen and adds to the paranormal fears of the film. Psychological horror films use eerie music, like other sub genres to build tension and to create suspense.

I added eerie music to my title sequence as this helped to create suspense for my audience.

Characters

A disturbed, or tormented individual is the main protagonist, and usually comes back to get revenge on their victims. The victims can differ but like any horror film, a mass amount of the victims are female. The uses of children as the killers are also very popular. E.g. the Orphan and the OmenWhen psychological horror films use children as the killer, again, the victims tend to be female. This could have something to do with the fact that mothers are maternal and the female audiences watching will be able to relate to the characters in some way.For this I had the some of the victims as females however the majority of them were female.

Generally, this type of horror tends to be more subtle, meaning there is less physical harm and bloody gore visible to the viewers. Psychological horrors create discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears.They expose the evil that hides behind normality, but with splashes of the paranormal which the audience is unable to relate to completely. Some say that this sub-genre shouldn’t be linked to horror, because it relates more to the thriller genre, but in psychological horrors one of the main purposes of the film is to frighten the audience mentally, whereas this is not always the case in thrillers.