Question One –
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? Throughout the Horror Genre Codes and Conventions have been used throughout all films, shows or shorts however, it is how they have been used is what drives the consumers. Once founded producers, have a tendency to latch onto the same idea time after time, this would then be repeated throughout other films which intend to live up to the expectations of the 'greats'. Yet, when flipped, these can create something of brilliance and we as the audience find ourselves compelled to see more! So, from this, we had one began to entwine a few of our own ideas that take the norm that we might expect to see, then flip it to create a more engaging Narrative.
To begin with, character Roles. We decided that we wanted to challenge the roles of the typical Female victim and Masked Antagonist entirely. Instead we tried to create a set of characters who are relatable yet, when the 'action' begins, the role that they play becomes difficult to almost recognize.
Question 0ne –
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? Starting with the female, throughout any Horror film, the Female character role is without a doubt stereotypical and within an instant we can pick out which female is going to be the 'Final girl' Our group and I found that this predictability is far too common and that we wanted to 'challenge' the role by introducing a switch throughout our media product. Within the opening scene, we instantly opened the audience’s judgment by given the indication that the film they are entering is a typical 'boy – girl' slasher where we can tell the Narrative without even watching the entirety of the footage. However, we wanted audiences to believe this as we then began to unravel that this character type is in fact both a Victim and Antagonist. We did this, by of course having the character 'possessed' by the doll, this then lines up the character type, as she was once this pure (use of white clothing) innocent Female that we would expect to see within the beginning of any horror. Yet as the film goes on, we use the doll almost as a Hidden Antagonist as she is slowly taken control of the Female thus twisting her personality into this dark aggressive and delusional psychopath. This then drives her inner 'evil' as she begins to direct her abusive actions towards her other half. We also began to address the fact that it is always a Male that commits the crime. This constant use of a male Antagonist makes for a predictable Narrative. So, to flip this, we wanted to physically show the character being 'abused' by his partner. We also tried to keep the lighting soft when he was alone in scene.
Question 0ne –
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? We did however begin to introduce the main Codes and Conventions that you would expect to see throughout all horrors. For instance, the use of lighting was used to portray rather dark and sinister scenes such as the footage of the forest. We made adaptations to the outfits as the Female character –Alice- was dressed in all black once fully transformed into the possessed being. We used multiple different shots that can be replicated any classic or modern horror film, to replicate tension or distress. These range from extreme close-ups to indicate the pin that our characters our suffering from e.g. the burnt hand or side on –mid shot to show the intensity of the violence taking place between the couple. We also felt that the acting itself helped to emphasis these effects as the dedication is clear to see when viewing the pure emotion that these characters are experiencing.
We felt that we have made excellent use of the intensive editing that has taken place throughout this product. For instance, we have used reference form our Blog's as we found that the use of superimposing has been used throughout a vast majority, of horror films. So, from this, we began to introduce our own version as we used our nonlinear opening as an opening to add a monochromatic tonal range, using various editing effects. These alterations then effect the whole screen given an overall tragic atmosphere. We also made use of 'jump scares' by cutting to our hidden Antagonist (the doll) at random points in time. This then added tension throughout the film as people are unaware of when the next 'scare' will be yet, it also adds justification as it indicates that this doll is the reason for the personality change. We also used multiple shots to create our own actions matches which then show one action through a series of different angles and movements. We then began to split scenes, in order to create a form of parallel editing, this was used to show the different reactions of the abusive relationship when "occupying" their own space. We also made use of Eye-Line shots to show when the characters are addressing one another, this also gave us the ability to make interesting use of camera techniques.
Question 0ne – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? When confiding into a setting we wanted to use something that is almost generic to the horror franchise, in order to give the film its trademark. This was just so that when people where viewing the film, they could judge by the setting and instantly tell that they were watching a horror film. So, from this, we had the idea of using a nearby forest as it was secluded which is great for creating a sense of isolation. However, we wanted to keep this scarce as we felt that over shooting this setting would remove the uniqueness that we were trying to achieve. We also used a house as when researching, it seemed more fitting as well as convincing when basing the film upon a young couple. It also helps to manipulate the viewer’s emotions as they begin to feel uneasy within their own homes as they could begin to relate this to their own reality, meaning the events that they have just witness -the killing as well as the possessed doll- could happen to them, if not anyone.