Evaluation - Question 1

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

My film is very similar to other media products from the same genre, and it is easily recognised as a real horror film through use of effects, techniques, shot types and the narrative. Firstly the titles are in bold large writing and white on a black background, this is very similar to The Grudge 2 (as shown below in figure 1), however I did not use capital letters like The Grudge 2 does. Both my film and real media products use phrases, quotes or definitions to help create a scene and atmosphere, this is also shown in figure 1. I used different effects such as a flashing first title, this is also done at the start of The Grudge 2, this is shown below in figure 2, and also at 00:00 - 00:12 on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSHSuFJ_gro&feature=player_embedded) this adds atmosphere and allows the audience to recognise that the film is a horror. Additive dissolves and colour changes create an eerie atmosphere to this film opening, again this is done on The Grudge 2 video, at 00:37 - 00:42. This atmosphere that is cleverly created is connoted throughout all films in the horror genre and creates the correct feelings of tension and angst. It also makes the audience 'sit on the edge of the seat' and adds enigma codes.  Horror films generally have creepy openings with atmospheric music and a feeling of confusion, intrigue and a slight bizarre feeling. My film uses flashing titles accompanied by simple yet tension building sound effects, this is similar to The Grudge 2. I rewound the tape as I was capturing to the PC (using OnLocation) leaving me with a grainy shot, I really liked this effect so I used it, I also added a colour change to make the shot even spookier. This sort of grainy effect is typical of horror/haunting genre, for example it is used a lot in The Ring, and it also helps to make my film recognisable as a real film opening.  Also the use of a montage connotes the horror genre.

Figure 1

Figure 2

In our film opening we haven't challenged any conventions, for the original idea we did plan to have a male victim and a female villain/ghost, challenging the usual stereotype in horror films, the victim is usually a girl, attacked by another female or a male. However this storyline was impractical, so we changed the narrative and used a female victim, and we chose not to give the gender of the villain/ghost away. If we were to make a whole film we would have had perhaps a male ghost/villain and a female victim. There are many different definitions of genre, two of the best being, “Genres are not static but shifting and slippery, evolving over time” and “Pleasure is derived from 'repetition and difference' this means that there are elements within genres that must stay the same in order to make the film recognisable, however other elements must constantly change with new elements to keep the genre changing and interesting and keep new generations interested. In our film opening we didn't challenge or develop the genre, we decided it was best to stick to the genre, and use traditional effects in order to keep the feeling or the film opening real and recognisable.