In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 1

In our film we have both an antagonist and a protagonist, this follows the generic convention as in most horror films they tend to have a ‘bad person’ and an innocent victim, normally the victim of the antagonist.

Throughout the film these two characters are used. In scene 2 Jane, the protagonist is shown arguing with her boyfriend and also in scene 4 where she is on the swing in the park. To highlight that Jane is the innocent victim she is wearing white. She is also wearing minimal makeup making her look natural and childlike, this makes the audience think that she is unaware of what is to come.

The antagonist whose identity is hidden from the audience is shown in scene 4. This person is used in conjunction with Jane. The antagonist follows generic conventions of a horror as their identity is hidden from the audience adding an extra twist to the story line. The antagonist is wearing black, this connotes to the audience death and pain hinting at the storyline and making the audience think that he has something to hide.

In what ways does our film follow generic conventions of the genre:

The antagonist whose identity is hidden from the audience is shown in scene 4. This person is used in conjunction with Jane. The antagonist follows generic conventions of a horror as their identity is hidden from the audience adding an extra twist to the story line. The antagonist is wearing black, this connotes to the audience death and pain hinting at the storyline and making the audience think that he has something to hide.

We used Saw to help develop our ideas of a antagonist. Just like the main character in Saw- Jigsaw we chose to keep the identity of our antagonist hidden from the audience. Although we didn’t use a mask to hide their identity we made sure our actor wore a hooded top.

This picture shows Jane, the protagonist in scene 2. She is shown in a mid shot and 180 degree rule and eye line match to prevent the audience getting confused where the actors are. These angles and shots used give our film a more professional look. These also follow the generic conventions of other films and these angles are used in most other horror films.

This picture is Jane in scene 4. She is shown sitting on the swing from behind and in front in a mid and wide shot. These angles and shots are used to show her in the scene and to show the surroundings she is in.

These pictures show screen shots from our film the Institute and the well know film Scream. We have developed our ideas of a female protagonist looking at different

media products. As you can see they are both wearing white to denote their innocence. Using other media products we were able to create a more professional

film.

Our film also follows generic conventions of a psychological horror as the audience is exposed to mental danger as the victim isn’t actually shown getting hurt, an idea of danger is only presented. The storyline is also built up through

the argument between Jane and Mark, this exposes the characters mental problems and emotions.

The landscape, setting and lighting of the scene is very important to the film. We have followed the generic conventions of the scene. In scene 1 and 4 we filmed outside, we filmed later in the day, the lighting at this time was dark, dim and eerie giving the scene a sense of danger. The setting develops thoughts this is why it was very important throughout our film.

The Blair Witch influenced our scenes 1 and 4. Both films are set in the woods where the light is sparse and the surroundings are unknown.

Blair Witch Project- 1999

In scene 2 and 3 we filmed inside. These scenes were very important and the audience needed to see the characters. We added extra light to the scene, this also follows the conventions of a horror as the lighting make the scene feel important and making the audience think there is more to discover. The bright white light also conveys heaven which links with death.

Like Psycho we used bright light. Although we weren’t highlighting danger it was important to have light in the scene to highlight there importance in the story.

Psycho- 1960

Although our film follows the conventions of a horror film it also challenges them. In most horror films the antagonist is presented as a male but in our film the antagonist is presented as a female this is clear from the shape of the actor. This doesn’t change the effect of the horror film as the identity of the antagonist is unknown making the audience unaware of what she is capable.

Forms and conventions of the sequences and institution logo:

Unlike many other horror film openings we show our institute logo and film title after the opening shots in the scene. Although this is different to some films, the Saw movies show the institute logo and film title after the opening shots. We decided to show them after the opening shots as this gives a sense of panic and makes the audience want to keep watching to find out what happens next.

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Throughout the opening sequence we have used titles over the shots. These titles show the names of the actors. We put these in the corner and set them in a white small font and added fade in and fade out effects so that they didn’t take the attention away from the film,. The names of the actors were shown over part of the film when the actors where in the scene. We also included the names of the group at the end of the film before the institute logo and the film title.