Daniel DaCosta Brewster

Evaluation Activity 1:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (I.e. of film openings). My media production is called Locked and is about two high school students who are studying at school late at night; however the antagonist is out to get them! I believe my media product doesnt tend to incorporate forms and conventions of real media products as our task was to create a two minute opening sequence to a horror film, we used films such as: The Ring and The Grudge 2 (Japan) as clear influences for our film because we know that these two of the most successful horror/thriller films to date and have affected ways to scare the audience, which we tried to replicate in our production. However our film has many aspects which are new to the screen as we wanted to portray something which had never been seen before to try and be as original as possible, with our; Shots, Costumes, Locations, etc. We knew that we didnt want the same old stereotyped horror/thriller film where everyone expects whats going to happen and are normally correct, although we still wanted to keep these aspects such as our music. The traditional stereotype is music which helps to build tension e.g. an orchestra which slowly increases the sound until the fatal impact, we tried to incorporate this into our production but also have things which are unexpected. One our unexpected shots in the production is the last one (see page) this is where the camera is tilted upside down in order to create an image that the antagonist is on the ceiling and has jumped upside down, this is our Unique Selling Point (USP) where we wanted people to see it and have that lasting image in their mind, remembering that LOCKED by Dreadflick was an amazing film that is different to all the others out there. We wanted to create a thriller and a horror creating a sub genre, which has been carefully interlinked within our production, with the last few scenes we wanted to show that the protagonist is running but she has no way out in terms of escaping the woman.

Daniel DaCosta Brewster

Setting & Location:

We opted to move away from the traditional warehouse or home, although this is original is doesnt conform to forms and conventions of a horror; however we was easily able to include other conventions within the production. The main reason why we chose the school as our location is that we was targeting young people aged 15-25 who would watch our film and be able to remember the kinds of things which went on in school or still do today, this allowed the school environment to make the plot become more clear to them because they can relate it to everyday experience which they once had.

The audience can also familiarise with this type of environment as they spend a maximum of 5 days a week at school, so an immediate relationship is created between the production and audience, as they are able to understand where the location is, and why it is set in such a way, e.g. props of desks, chairs, computers, whiteboard, paper and pen etc. We can see that this shot shows the students in their natural state and this tells the audience that theyre hard working students. We didnt tend to go with the traditional location but we developed a key element which does use conventions of an horror, we had that the protagonist has nowhere to go when running way from the antagonist, they are locked inside and theres only one option left, which is to die.

This shot shows the protagonist running away from the antagonist, this also shows that the location is convention which a normal horror will would have as she has doesnt know where to go and she had the chance to go before but she chose to stay, which also is a form of convention we see in modern horror and thrillers today.

Daniel DaCosta Brewster

Costume & Props:

Costume

In our production the actors do conform to the typical conventions of a horror film, theyre two vulnerable school girls who are at school late, this is seen in many films, although theyre not all dressed in full school uniform they both are staying after school to learn and better themselves which shows that theyre strong characters and know right from wrong, however during the film we soon realise that the protagonist is the a smart well dressed person as we can see from the way she is dressed. We wanted to portray them both as two hard working black students who have a mixed personality, one which showed in the way they dress as its not the typical conventions we see in a regular horror/thriller film as theyve adjusted their uniform to the point where its just socially acceptable, we wanted to do this so that the actors can relate to the audience and they can gain an insight to the type of people they are. We had Jonas who we wanted to move away from the forms and conventions of a horror/thriller film, however we portrayed him as someone who seems sporty and energetic, he also comes across as masculine, this definitely shows the conventions of a horror film, as he sees a vulnerable woman who is in stress and needs help, he puts on a front and takes up the role of the more masculine character. He has lines such as; Take a step, Ive got this lines like these are apparent in horror and thriller films, as they want to impress the audience and show off, this helps the audience ultimately relate with the audience better, and heighten the scare factor.

The costume for the antagonist is one which is doesnt necessarily apply to the typical conventions of costumes, however our idea for the antagonist costume is influenced by The Grudge 2 (Japan) we decided that the costume is not exactly to the idea of the film but it does have some aspects of the Ring as well, a white gown and a pale skinned girl who is out to stop people remaining in her building. We have followed the typical conventions with the pale skin, shes a pale girl who doesnt look approachable, and this conforms to the conventions of horror/thriller films as even though she doesnt seem approachable she doesnt hesitate to introduce herself without any words.

Daniel DaCosta Brewster Props

For our props we used a belt to be left behind by Dami who suddenly dissappears, this doesnt apply to the conventions and forms of traditional horror/thriller films because the belt was meant to symbolise unity and togetherness between their friendship, however once dropped it was a sign that she was on her own to face what was to come, but on the other hand the idea of the belt does apply the conventions of a horror/thriller because normally in these genres there is something left behind by the first victim which symbolises that theyve dissappeared, which is what we wanted to incorporate in our production.

Title Font and Style:

The opening scene ends with a huge text which illustrates our production called LOCKED, we opted for the text : BankGothic Md BT. As editior I believed this font to be successful as it was easily made into 3D text and looks good in large font or small font. We decided to go for a large text which doesnt really appear in horror or thriller films however the colour red which we used to symbolise danger is often used in horror films. Thriller and horror films tend to use the colour red to symbolise danger too which is why we used it as our main colour, as it goes with the conventions of a thriller or a horror and we wanted people to be in fear. The text is in bold as we want the audience to see it and along with the colour red its easily spotted and people can see it, we opted to put it at the end of the film as we wanted people to have it as their lasting memory of the film, this will ensure that the remember it.

Daniel DaCosta Brewster

The Title of The Film:

The title of the film does follow the conventions of a typical horror/thriller film, the title of the production leaves you guessing to what is going to happen in the film, the term LOCKED tells you the basic storyline of the film, which does happen with other Horror/Thriller films such as; Paranormal Activity and The Grudge. Locked automatically makes the audience assume that something or someone is going to be locked somewhere and has easy access to the person theyre trying to chase or kill, our film runs smoothly with this convention, however our title can also create and enigma depending on the type of uses and gratification that the audience uses to decode our title, our title can also confuse the audience as they wont realise anything to do with the word locked in the opening two minutes and because we have the title at the end they will want to continue to watch the rest of the film to find out what happens, this however does apply to the elements of a horror/thriller film as it draws the audiences attention. After analysing both the titles of the film and the text used within the film, I think its fair to say that both of them apply to the typical conventions of an horror/thriller film as they both have very similar characteristics which help the audience create and image and spur them to watching on.

Special effects:

The special effects I used when editing was that we took four different shots but kept the camera in the same place which allowed us to cut the clips at certain points and speed them up so that the girl was once at the end of the corridor but then within seconds she was then in the

Daniel DaCosta Brewster

face of the audience, this doesnt really apply to the conventions because the type of movement is original although the way the shots were taken and put together are the same in other horror/thriller movies where antagonists move with their powers. We thought of this idea as our other one was going so well, but this idea was both imaginative and also served its purpose, to catch out the audience and scare them.

The Story and how the opening sets it up:

The story is introduced with an establishing shot which pans across which along with the music connotes that there is something bad going to happen, we see two students who the audience will assume are two hard working students who are trying to better themselves by staying after school and improving their education, they are doing their work and they realise the time is late and they need to go, this automatically suggests to the audience that something dangerous is going, when they need to go back for their folder this creates tension for the film and foreshadows that something bad is going to happen to the protagonist.

As theyre in school late and theyve forgotten something you almost feel to sympathse with the characters and the fact that theyre girls also hints that something bad will happen and makes the audience gain a bond with the characters, to want them to remain safe and as far away from danger as possible.

How the characters are introduced:

Daniel DaCosta Brewster

The proganonist is introduced as a hard working girl who is staying after school late to try and finish off her work, the protagonist isnt alone, she is accompanied by her friend, this creates an atmosphere that she is safe and there is nothing bad is going to happen. The character of the girl is introduced as one of a scary one, it forms enigmas such as; How did she get there?, Who is she? And Why is she there? Etc. The audience can see that shes a pale girl which conforms to the usual conventions of a horror/thriller film and they can also relate to it as they see something scary and they run away which also is a common convention.

Camerawork and Editing:

In our opening sequence we tried to use various different shots to try and make our proudction seem interesting and urge the audience to continue to watch, we used shots such as; Extreme close ups and High angle shots to try keep the audience happy. We had included some P.O.V shots which worked really well with the circumstances, for example, when the protagonist went back to collect her folder, we had a Point Of View (P.O.V) shot of the folder, we took so many shots so we could decide later which was the better ones and which were the ones we didnt need. Editing the shots was made easy by the shots we had created, we used shots which are commonly used in horrors/thrillers, which apply the conventions of those genres as they were easy to put together and make look good. This shot is a high angle shot and shows the protangonist running away from the seen antagonist, the shot is one which applies to the conventions of a horror/thriller film, however the editing doesnt as the CCTV camera is not a shot which is always seen in horror/thriller films but is apparent in the more updated films. Overall I think that the editing and camera work does develop forms and conventions of real media products, however there are some elements which suggest that they challenge them, creating a sequence which challenges the audience to continue watching to find out what happens next.