Evaluation Activity 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e film openings)

Frame 1 is our title, We feel like this conforms to our horror genre because of the white text font on the black background which is effective with its dark colours and is often used in horror films to present negativity. The sketch font style is also effective as it partially relates to a childlike theme as our main character is of a younger age.

The second frame partially shows our location which was quite derelict and hidden away. This was off road as we felt that it was safer, especially for the young girl who had to lie on the ground. We believe that our film location follows the expectations and conventions of the horror genre. There are many different location expectations in a horror and most of them being in derelict, dark areas. This makes it more daunting for the audience and has more success in captivating them. The second frame was the shot that revealed the location the most where a long shot was used when the man was walking back to his car. As shown, the location is quite narrow and derelict with no-one or anything in sight. This was the main reason for the choice of location and also because we wanted it to follow the horror conventions/expectations. 

The third frame reveals the costume/clothing of the young girl who is primarily the main character. As shown in the screen capture, she is dressed in a white nightie/dress which particularly reveals the ominous red colour of blood. The shot used here was actually a point of view where the man looked down at the young girl as she laid there. I think that the costumes of the character fit in quite well with the horror genre with both representing there character and how they want to be seen. For example it is often that the young girl was presented being innocent and vulnerable whereas we don't supposedly meet the character or have an understanding of what she was like. The expectations of costume in a horror genre alternate and can often present positivity and what the character is like or in comparison, they could be dressed in a way that makes the audience turn against them simply because of the way they may look. In our film, we feel like we fit the expectations as the young girl is dressed in a way that we sympathise for her with her night-time clothing and with the man dressed in work clothing again simply suggesting how it was unintentional and it was just an accident.

The fourth frame shows a part example of where we used match on action. This was a significant part of our editing process as this editing technique acts as a bridge between the two shots and connects them making the audience more engaged and focused on the shot itself rather than the cutting of it. We used a lot of match on action throughout to make a smooth cut between the two shots which makes the audience more attentive and therefore when the film builds up to the climax it would be more unexpected and would therefore scare the audience more which is the main focus in a horror film.

The fifth frame represents the beginning of the opening and partially sets the story as we find out the man has hit the young girl. This isn't realistically conventional of a horror however that is how we intend to shock the audience as they may not expect a hit and run to turn into a horror. In the fifth frame, we used a two shot from behind, revealing the man standing over someone who we are yet to be introduced too. The opening sets up the story through its conventional location and the daunting non-diegetic sound. We felt that the frame above set the story as it was the first shot which actually set an idea of what could happen next.

At the very start of the opening, there isn't much that suggests the genre as there aren't many horror conventions. However at the point of the sixth frame, the conventions begin with the young girl supposedly coming back to life which although isn't very realistic, it would extremely scare the audience which is the key focus. That particular point in the opening is also very unexpected and there was a buildup which lead to it again causing more of a shock for the audience. We feel like this indicates the genre as it is conventional of a horror to contain blood and gore; also another key element that confirmed the genre was the non-diegetic sounds which add more effect to specific moments, for example when the girl opens her eyes. As well as this being a sudden shock, the close up and the loud non-diegetic thud adds more effect and therefore scares the audience much more than expected. The range of close-ups again helps demonstrate the genre as in frame 6, it is close up to her face which makes the audience focus much more and when the unexpected occurs, the audience would be even more terrified.

Frame 7 shows the first shot where we are introduced face-to-face with the first character. The immediate assumption of this character would be negative as we weren't formally introduced to the young girl on the floor and therefore we would sympathise for her as she is supposedly the victim. When the man moves the girl to the side of the road, it represents his character as being weak and vulnerable as he isn't owning up to what he has done. The first shot of the young girl is quite graphic as she is covered in blood and again we sympathise for her character and the fact that she is young, we believe that she is innocent. However, nearer to the end of the opening, the young girls character come backs to life and has some sort of plan against the man that hit her. At this point we partially panic for the man as we are left unknown to what is going to happen to him.

The eighth and ninth frame represent the special affects that we used in our film. To edit our film, we used the Adobe Premier Elements software which provided us with many tools to make specific shots and clips within the film look more effective and in some cases, more unrealistic. The eighth frame show the girl as she got back up and supposedly came back to life At this point we used the cutting tool multiple times making it look quite agitated. This was done for effect to make it look like more of a struggle and make it seem as if it wasn't quite so real. The ninth frame is a very significant point in our film however it is not extremely noticeable. When the girl woke up she looked down at her hand and we were revealed a close up shot of her hand and the movement. We used the reverse tool to make the movement of her hand look unrealistic. The software we used allowed us to make multiple changes for affect and to partially confuse the audience as they would be unsure of how the action happened and there would therefore be more engagement to find out.