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In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? By Bethany Bouchareb SCARLETT We researched existing horror movies and their conventions in order to create our horror film, which was inspired and developed through the existing openings. However prior to this we held discussions in which we decided what sort of themes we would like to follow. As a group we agreed that our film opening would be under the sub-genre of slasher. Therefore we researched the horror slasher films to get an insight of the conventions we must include. The films we looked into detail with were: Chucky, Scream and Unborn. Chucky was the main horror film which we analyzed as it was closest to the narrative that we had thought up (a killer doll). Chucky had iconic themes such as the location of an abandoned house, the pathetic fallacy of stormy weather through out, the youth and the feminine gender as a victim (due to the convention in all horror movies that these 2 types are most vulnerable), dark lighting, slow and creepy non diegetic sound as an element of mood music which builds suspense, and the red font used

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Page 1: Evaluation question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? By Bethany Bouchareb

SCARLETT

We researched existing horror movies and their conventions in order to create our horror film, which was inspired and developed through the existing openings. However prior to this we held discussions in which we decided what sort of themes we would like to follow. As a group we agreed that our film opening would be under the sub-genre of slasher. Therefore we researched the horror slasher films to get an insight of the conventions we must include. The films we looked into detail with were: Chucky, Scream and Unborn. Chucky was the main horror film which we analyzed as it was closest to the narrative that we had thought up (a killer doll). Chucky had iconic themes such as the location of an abandoned house, the pathetic fallacy of stormy weather through out, the youth and the feminine gender as a victim (due to the convention in all horror movies that these 2 types are most vulnerable), dark lighting, slow and creepy non diegetic sound as an element of mood music which builds suspense, and the red font used on the title to establish it is a horror as red connotes to blood and danger. We used all of these main conventions to develop and challenge our film opening so that it was as believable and realistic to the actual film industry.

Page 2: Evaluation question 1

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NARRATIVEHorror films use the theories of Todorov and Propp. Todorovs theory entitles that there is equilibrium, a disruption of the equilibrium, disequilibrium and then a new equilibrium. Propp’s theory states there are set roles of each character e.g. a hero, a damsel in distress. We have began to use Todorovs theory in our horror film opening as we began with the group of teenagers laughing, drinking and relaxing in the park this was representing the equilibrium where everything is normal, we then introduced the disequilibrium with a flash forward showing the doll tormenting the girl. This also introduces Propp’s theory as it shows a protagonist survivor (Riley) no other characters to be seen, the audience decodes this that the other characters are dead. Also a villain is shown as a killer, which is the doll (Scarlett) A disruption to the equilibrium is also used when the doll is seen swinging on the swinging in light, showing she is around, and that something is going to cause disequilibrium. These theories were used in existing horror films. There is always a villain or killer and in our film opening we have created a doll who is a killer called ‘Scarlett’. Films that have used this theory and who we have been inspired by are

LOCATIONA stereotypical and common location used for horror movies is the

forest and is highly used for AS horror movie openings, therefore we challenged this convention and went against it as it felt too over used and too predictable. We chose the location of a park due to its convention to horror movies of vulnerable children and it represented youth and innocence, which juxtaposed against the idea of a film as then an innocent doll becomes corrupted and kills. Although we didn’t use a forest there is one clearly visible in the background of the park, which adds an eerie feel and conforms to the convention even though the action doesn’t occur in the forest. Our location was shot both in light and dark, the light showed the audience our location as when it is dark it isn’t easy to see, however the darkness in the flash forward brought an eerie and spooky feel to our film opening which seemed vital to our genre.

CHARACTERSWhen creating characters we ensured

that each one had a different personality to the other, we also made it so the definition of each name matched their personalities (research can be found on the blog). Although this wasn’t a convention for horror movies it showed modern day adolescence in which everyone is different and original, this challenged horror movies. However in horror movies women are often used as the main character as their feminine gender is represented to be over emotional and they often convey fear to the audience. We used our characters as adolescence as it gives the audience can relate to them due to our certificate being 15+, also they can understand their reactions and language, making it more enjoyable. All though we used adolescents as our main characters our main protagonist in our film opening was ‘Riley’ the female survivor and ‘Scarlett’ the female doll. Both of these challenged our genre because in horror films because as I’ve already mentioned women are used to convey fear and be feminine and over emotional, therefore they don’t often make it to being the survivor. It is also common that the ethnicity of ‘Black’ is normally the first to be killed however we challenged this and chose our Black character to be the survivor. This made our horror film-opening stand out from other horror openings created. One of our main characters, the doll, Scarlett, was inspired by our main inspiration for our film opening, Chucky. Chucky inspired our mise en scene with his costume, he looked quite child like with his dungarees, freckles and stripy top so for our killer doll we a sweet little dress with knee high socks and bunches with ribbons in her hair. However to create a horror vibe we put scars on her face with make up and we made her eyes look really big so it gave a feel that she was threatening and always staring. We also made her seem quite spooky by incorporating her laugh during a scary moment and having her swing on the swing, in a children’s area making her put people on edge. Also

LIGHTINGThe conventions for lighting in horror films are

dark as they create an eerie/mysterious film, and predict bad things are going to happen. In the flash forward of our film opening we used dark lighting as it was at night and represented this through the use of night vision on the digital camera, the night vision part has come out green tinted and you can tell that it represents darkness. The lighting before the flash forward is in daylight and this represents the equilibrium of the story and suggests everything is fine, this also shows that is the beginning of the film. However it is not bright day light, it is a dull day, suggesting something bad is going to happen.

PATHETIC FALLACYPathetic fallacy is a main convention in horror and the definition is when the weather acts, as a human emotion for example when a sad moment occurs in a film it is likely to be raining. Pathetic fallacy is majorly used in horror films as it sets a scene and creates an atmosphere; Chucky used pathetic fallacies such as storms within their film to express distress and panic. We also used pathetic fallacy in our film opening, the weather was windy and rain which predicted something bad was going to happen, this also made it follow the conventions of not only horror but our main influence, Chucky.

SOUNDA convention for horror films is to use non-diegetic music that builds

suspense and unnerves people as it creates an element of fear for the audience. We successfully used this convention by gaining music off of a website called royalty free music, we found the appropriate sound track by searching under the genre of horror on this website. In the end we used a track called ‘evening of chaos’ which had low pitch sounds and effects of knifes being sharpened which suggests murder within the horror field, this also acts as an enigma code for the rest of the film. Diegetic conventions of sound are as follows:

Laughing Screaming Heavy breathing Footsteps

Chucky used such diegetic conventions and as a main influence, we incorporate sounds such as the screams, the laughing and the heavy breathing. We recorded these separately to the sound of the camera with a microphone and a boom in a closed in space so the microphone couldn’t get wet, Another main convention of sound that is shown in the horror film openings is a diegetic sound of laughing, screaming and heavy breathing. The difficulty with this was syncing.

THEMESThe theme of our film followed Propp’s theory concerning characters

as it was good vs evil, the protagonist survivor vs the villain. The good characters of our film opening were represented to be quite vulnerable which was shown through their age, which was shown through their actions (getting drunks in a park). The killer doll Scarlett was represented to be evil due to her action such as torturing Riley in the flash forward and the mise en scene of her make up represented her to be scary. Such themes exist in Chucky (our main influence) as chucky s represented to be evil through carrying props such a s a knife and carrying out killer action, the girl in the film is represented to be good through trying to escape/defeat the killer doll. Although our theme of evil has been challenged as more than often the evil character is male and we used a female doll, which is unlikely as usually the female characters are good and represented as a sexual object and a victim.

Page 3: Evaluation question 1

Evaluation question 1

When creating characters we ensured that each one had a different personality to the other, we also made it so the definition of each name matched their personalities (research can be found on the blog). Although this wasn’t a convention for horror movies it showed modern day adolescence in which everyone is different and original, this challenged horror movies. However in horror movies women are often used as the main character as their feminine gender is represented to be over emotional and they often convey fear to the audience. We used our characters as adolescence as it gives the audience can relate to them due to our certificate being 15+, also they can understand their reactions and language, making it more enjoyable. All though we used adolescents as our main characters our main protagonist in our film opening was ‘Riley’ the female survivor and ‘Scarlett’ the female doll. Both of these challenged our genre because in horror films because as I’ve already mentioned women are used to convey fear and be feminine and over emotional, therefore they don’t often make it to being the survivor. It is also common that the ethnicity of ‘Black’ is normally the first to be killed however we challenged this and chose our Black character to be the survivor. This made our horror film-opening stand out from other horror openings created. One of our main characters, the doll, Scarlett, was inspired by our main inspiration for our film opening, Chucky. Chucky inspired our mise en scene with his costume, he looked quite child like with his dungarees, freckles and stripy top so for our killer doll we a sweet little dress with knee high socks and bunches with ribbons in her hair. However to create a horror vibe we put scars on her face with make up and we made her eyes look really big so it gave a feel that she was threatening and always staring. We also made her seem quite spooky by incorporating her laugh during a scary moment and having her swing on the swing, in a children’s area making her put people on edge. Also