TO WHAT EXTENT DID YOU FOLLOW

CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA TEXTS?

In order for our film to look professional, we had to follow a range of codes and conventions for the
particular genre that we were to create. Although we had aimed to create more of a thriller than a
mystery film, that was difficult to do due to the narrative we had chosen for the film as there was not an
existing film available with the type of storyline we had created. However, there is a similar narrative in
the film It Follows (2014), which shows a young girl being followed by a supernatural force.
Before we created the film, research was carried out in order for us to know all that we could about
short films, and the conventions to follow for the correct genre, this helped to a great extent as we
were able to work around our narrative for a thriller film in order to engage an audience. The way we
had done this was to create a montage hoping to build tension for the viewer through it, as that is one
convention that all thriller films have. The films we had looked at with the intention of gaining the
thriller/mystery conventions, were The Mist (2007), The Guest (2014) and Case 39 (2009). This was to
enable to us to see how these films had built suspension with their narrative and an enigma. Also after
researching these films, we had looked at how a seemingly harmless situation can progressively
become worse, which is a convention of Toderovs narrative theory that suggests that most films start
with a state of equilibrium, which them becomes disrupted.
During our research, we had also looked at Barthes Narrative Codes, and I believe that we had
followed the Hermeneutic code throughout the beginning of our film, as the viewer is immediately set
up with an enigma as to who the stalker is and why she is stalking the main character.
Also following common conventions of a mystery film, we had used the Apple software Garage Band to
create a mystery soundtrack to go as background music for certain scenes throughout the film. This
was very useful for mystery element of the film, as our audience feedback told us that doing this was
successful in creating the sense of a mystery, and that the main character was in a state of fright.

POSTER CODES AND CONVENTIONS.

Starring characters to entice
an audience if the actors
were well known.

Bold and large

title to introduce
the film.

Month of film release to let the

audience know when the film is
available to see.

Producers/ directors

Tag line to create

an interesting
enigma to the
viewer.
Central image to
attract the
audience

Age certificate