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

In this blog post I will be answering the first evaluation question. Firstly, all of my products are in the horror genre so I need to look at the common conventions of this genre and evaluate whether I used them well. I have produced a Wordle listing all of the horror conventions.

I used the different conventions in many different ways as I adhered to some and subverted others. The main conventions I decided to use were darkness, shock and the use of a victim. I focused on these because from watching a lot of horror films before I know these are the conventions that have the largest effect on me. Despite focusing on these 3 conventions, I still adhered to most of the conventions presented in my Wordle apart from subverting some like abandoned and isolated, which I explained the reason for in my post about the representation of locations- It is a very common convention for horror films to take place in very isolated, large houses however I decided to subvert this stereotype by using an urban and busy area. This should make the viewer think that nothing very bad will happen, which will make the shocking moments more surprising and so they will have a greater effect on them.

These are some essays/articles that I have read about horror films which helped me to fully understand the genre and why people enjoy it:

http://www.horrorfilms101.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/essay-what-is-horror-film.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/opinion/sunday/17gray.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/horror

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070725152040.htm

This is the directors commentary for the house scene of my film. I discuss the shots that I used and why I used them.

I used a website called photofunia.com to place my film poster and film review into the real world to get a better understanding of how they will look in real life and not just on the computer screen. Doing this allowed me to actually see quite realistically see what my products would look like on real billboards and magazines. I think that they look very natural and not out of place at all, which is probably because I used all of the common horror conventions when creating them. I analysed three of my favorite horror film posters to learn more about these conventions. The main things that I noticed running through them all were the following: Large face of the antagonist in center of page, tagline at the top, title of the film in red near the bottom of the page and so on. Doing this research before I started to make my poster made it easy to include all of these common conventions. Despite this there is one convention I feel I should of included however didn't, which is a weapon. This would of made it clearer that the film is a horror. You can see the blog post of the deconstructions here.

I also made a wordle image of the conventions I found in film posters:

Similarly to how I researched existing film posters before producing mine, I looked at existing film reviews before making my own. I went through the same research process of analyzing three different reviews, finding the common conventions and then using these in my own review. You can see my film review deconstructions here.

 My film poster on a advertisement board.

 My poster and film review in a magazine.

My film poster on a large advertisement billboard.

Horror Films/Games that have influenced me

There are many different horror films that influenced me to make my short film the way that I did.
Stay Alive (2006) (Film)- This is the horror film that influenced me the most as it gave me the initial idea about the concept of a game coming to life. It didn't receive very good reviews -http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441796/ however the only part of it that influenced me was the actual concept of a game coming to life.



Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2011) (Game)- This is the game that I decided to base my film around. I chose this game because it is known as one of the scariest games ever made and so I thought that it would work well with my horror film. It is the game that the protagonist is playing throughout the film.

Representation- Location and Lighting

Whilst making my short film i had to consider many different factors such as location, lighting etc. as these all lead to different representations. Firstly I will talk about the location of my film. I chose to have the first part of my film take part in an urban housing estate for a few different reasons. It is a very common convention for horror films to take place in very isolated, large houses however I decided to subvert this stereotype by using an urban and busy area. This should make the viewer think that nothing very bad will happen, which will make the shocking moments more surprising and so they will have a greater effect on them. My second location goes back to following the popular conventions of horror films, as it takes place in a forest. I decided to do this as I thought that the contrast between the two environments would work well.

Estate Location

Forest Location

Deciding on the lighting for the film was another decision that affected representation. I decided to go with the normal horror conventions and film in the dark. Darkness was crucial as some parts of the film (e.g. the monster appearing at the door) wouldn't of worked in daylight. Darkness makes the film a lot more scary as you cant see everything- the antagonist could easily be lurking in the shadows and the viewer wouldn't be able to see him. Filming in the dark was a lot more challenging as it makes it very hard to keep good lighting continuity throughout the film and it also meant I had to try and use artificial light sources effectively.

Todorov's 5 Stages of Narrative Revisited

Back in June 2012 I made a blog post with slideshare about Tzvetan Todorov and his 5 stages of narrative which you can see here http://www.samsmediabloga2.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/tzvetan-todorov-narrative-theory.html
I have decided to revisit his theory now that I have completed my short film to compare my own film and his theory. His theory is as follows:

Stage 1
A state of equilibrium (A state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced) is defined.

Stage 2
Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or crisis.

Stage 3
The Character(s) recognise that there has been a disruption, setting goals to resolve the problem.

Stage 4
The Character(s) attempt to repair the disruption, obstacles need to be overcome to restore order.

Stage 5
Reinstatement to the equilibrium. Situation is resolved, a conclusion is announced.

I decided to make my film based around this theory however with a twist at the end. A few of the stages in my film also differ slightly. Below you can see the 5 stages of my own film as well as the 6th stage that I added in to subvert the theory and surprise the viewer.

Stage 1
Protagonist is playing the game in a state of equilibrium.

Stage 2
Antagonist approaches house, protagonist hears the gate opening and investigates.

Stage 3
Protagonist sees the antagonist, tries to run away to escape from him.

Stage 4
Protagonist is still trying to get away from antagonist.

Stage 5
Equilibrium is restored when we see protagonist back at his desk playing the game.

Stage 6 (Twist)
Just when you think the film is over (because the equilibrium has been restored) you see the antagonist outside the window.

Updated Version of Film

I have spent a lot of time editing the film since the last one I uploaded and it is almost finished. I have improved the sound a lot by adding in some new effects and changing the volume levels. I have also reduced the length of the video by roughly a minute because previously there was a very long section where nothing happend, and so it flows a lot better now.

Film Review Draft

This is the first version of my film review. I am unsure whether to add a background colour as I quite like the current white background as it keeps the page looking nice and clean. There are also a few fonts that I would like to change before the final version however I havent been able to find suitable ones yet. In general I think that the layout works well so it wont change much between this draft and the final version.

Editing Process

I am currently in the process of editing my film. The film is almost completed apart from a few minor changes that need to be made. In the picture below you can see a screenshot of the project with both the video and sound.