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

For this evaluation activity I am going to take 9 different shots from my film and evaluate whether they conform to the typical stereotype of an opening sequence of a horror film.

1) Title of film
The title of our film is similar in the fact that it is on a black background, with a simple font. This is a common convention in horror films as many films have this title, one being 'The Strangers.' Most horror films which have a smaller font are more tension building films which fits in with our storyline as we want to create a tense mood. Although the smear around the outside is not a common convention in horror titles it is still sticking to the traditional horror titles of black and red. The actual name 'The Visitors' doesn't give much away and leaves the audience guessing which is another common convention of horror films. We got our inspiration for this title from 'The Strangers' as we thought it was effective and mysterious.

2) Setting/ Location
Our setting is typical of a horror setting as it is just in a house in a normal neighbourhood. Many films have this setting e.g. Paranormal Activity. This is a common setting for horror films because it is a relatable place for the audience which also makes it scarier, this is why we chose it for our film. Our first shot in the film is of the road/house which is how most horror films generally start with an establishing shot as it familiarises the audience with where the action is going to take place.


                                                                                     

3) Costumes and Props

In this clip you can see the the costume of our main character, she is dressed in typical clothes that a teenage girl would wear. This is common in horror films as it makes the characters more relatable to the audience, especially a teenage audience. We have followed the conventions of horror films in the aspect of how the murderer is dressed, as he is in all black clothes and the knife that he holds is highlighted. The way we have dressed our two characters fits to the conventions of the horror genre as it clearly sets the two characters apart highlighting who is the victim and who is the murderer.

4) Camera work and editing

I chose this shot because we used match on action of the door opening which was effective and we also used it later on when the curtain were being closed and the fridge being opened. This is a common film technique in many genres but especially horror has it draws the audiences attention in by highlighting a usually boring action, therefore building tension. Throughout we have also used a variety of shots and lots of long takes, especially when making the tea dragging out the activity, hence building tension.

5) Title font and style
For our opening credit font we had Times New Roman which is an old looking font which is a common style in horror titles. It gives a scary edge to the opening. We had to have them in white as it was the only colour which showed up on all our scenes, however this is not a common colour used for fonts in horror films but it did make them stand out effectively.

6) Story and how the opening sets it up
I chose this screen grab as it is the first indication to the audience that the girl is not alone, as it shows the perspective of somebody from outside looking in. From the opening sequence the story which the audience gets is that a girl is home alone and is just around the house making tea etc. As the shots keep cutting to outside it suggests to the audience that something is going to happen with this person who is looking in, this is confirmed when the audience sees a shot of the murderer behind the girl at the back door, after this the title come up ending the opening leaving the opening as a cliffhanger and the audience in suspense.

7) Genre and how the opening suggests it

The main aspect of our opening which suggests it is horror is the eerie music. However, we have used convention of a horror film to ensure that it is clear that the genre is horror, for example this screen grab shows the girl in a isolated location as nobody else is around, it is also filmed in the dark which is common in horror films as it makes the film scarier as anything can happen in the dark.

8) How characters are introduced
This is the first clear shot the audience gets of the main character, this is effective as the audience have seen her enter the house alone and they can see she is young so vulnerable. We introduce our murderer through his viewpoint and don't actually reveal his identity which builds tension for the audience as they don't know what to expect.

9) Special effects                                        We have not used many special effects but this screen grab shows the transition we used to make the change between the shot of the fridge closing and the title smoother. We also used fade in and out transition on our opening credits.