Evaluation Question 1

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

My film is a thriller/horror inspired by films such as Twilight and Underworld. These opening sequences have many similarities to mine, for example, Underworld is a dark film, and there is a sense of danger, much like ours. Also, in Underworld, there is a mixture of digetic and non-digetic sound, and although there isn’t as much of a mixture in mine, there is still both of them. The weather in these films always seems to be quite dull/miserable, and is reflective of the mood of the film, and ours uses this convention and conforms to it, as it is an overcast day. The setting of these films that inspired ours is similar to ours, for example, Twilight is set in a wooded area and so is ours, and this is fairly typical in a thriller/horror movie. Another example of a thriller/horror that is set in a forest is Friday The 13^th; the opening scene is set in a forest. The music is usually contrapuntal in these films, and so is ours, the editing is based around the music that we used. Ambient sounds are also often used, as it gives the film a sense of realism, and at the end of my opening scene, there is ambient sound used to add tension and make it seem more real.

Furthermore, my film develops typical conventions of a thriller, as our main actor is a female. Although she is made to seem vulnerable, as is typical in a horror/thriller, it is not typical for a female to be the main protagonist. I used quite modern music in the opening, which compared to films such as Underworld, is fairly different. Usually in these kind of films, the music is heavily classical instruments and is in the expressionist style.

However, my film challenges conventions by using high-key lighting in places, and there are some bright colours in here and there. The colours in thriller/horrors are usually dark colours, unlike ours where we have some bright greens in it. Also, my film is a 12A, which is unlike most of these kinds of films which are usually 15s or 18s, like Saw, which is an 18.