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

Our opening scene starts with the official Lionsgate horror opening. This is because it makes our production look more realistic and Lionsgate would be the suitable production company.

Our piece is obviously a thriller and we have aimed to use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of the genre by experimenting with editing techniques, sound sand camera angles

We made sure that our camera shots would be long enough for the audience to take in all that is necessary from a shot whilst allowing connotations to puzzle their mind. This also leads to curiosity because we have very long shots with the hooded man at the centre of the frame, yet it is difficult to make anything out of it but it emphasized the importance and mysteriousness of the character. We also took advantage of the costume to enhance the mysterious and suspicious effect by using caps and hoodies, all of which were dark and neutral colours. We made sure that we would include relevant iconography to uphold the traditional conventions of a thriller. These included the location; a dirty garage with low lighting in a discreet location. We researched about Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary opposites, including good vs evil, in our case victim vs murderer. We also followed this theme through to production by using high and low key lighting. The girl’s death was the only part of the clip with low lighting.

The sound played an awfully important part in our production. It was significant to make sure it was in sync with the shots, whether it is the timing or mood. Throughout the clip we used non-diegetic music in the background creating a sound-bridge which resulted in a disconcerting atmosphere.  Also when the hooded man turned on the radio to hear the news report (pre-recorded with my voice) it was an extremely vital moment for the audience to listen so they could begin to understand the plot and feel involved.

The horror/thriller crossover share many common conventions such as a dark environment which we included with the garage, also a main murderer and a main victim. Some of the well-known themes of horror are death, victims, as well as the conventions of the production such as unpromising music, and editing or creating a story which itself creates and enigma for the audience: leaving them deducing. Two examples of this are ‘Disturbia’ and ‘The Shining’ as well as many others. Both films holdback information until the end so the audience are more intrigued and, ultimately, more scared. We generally fit to these conventions of the horror thriller genre by having the classic characters of a ‘victim girl’ and a ‘nasty murderer’, as well as using enigmas, by not showing the murderers face.