In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms

and conventions of real media products?

SHORT FILM
The beginning of my films starts off with slow paced scary background music. I
released through my research that typically they start off with slowed paced
music, usually nursery rhymes accompanied by a scary backing track; as nursery
rhymes are sung by children who are deemed as innocent but the fact they are
joined by a scary backing track gives the opposite effect and actually creates a
scary soundtrack; however, children singing would not suit my film so I took the
idea of using something innocent and making it scary by using train noises and
children laughing. This binary opposition made my soundtrack create suspense
and a sense of horror. I chose to opt out of including lyrics in my soundtrack and
only involved some silent screams and laughing, I thought they provided a more
inhuman aspect to the soundtrack. The first soundtrack I tried to use for my film I
gathered off a free copyright free music site, however the tempo was too fast for
the beginning of my film so I decided to incorporate this the chase scene which
ultimately emphasised the situation the protagonist found himself in, the upbeat
music creates a tense atmosphere when watching the film. This is very typical in
horror films and also my sub-genre action, they use high tempo music to raise
the audiences adrenalin levels so the scene seems tenser and fast moving like a
chase would actually be like, this is what I tried to incorporate in my own film.
However, I also came to the conclusion that non-diegetic sounds are commonly
used in a horror genre as this the fear of the unknown as the audience do not
know where the sound is coming from. However, I chose not to use this as my
film didnt really need another scary factor as
the antagonist is made noticeable right from
the start and this is also evident and supported
in my film poster as the antagonist is clearly noticeable and can be recognised
by mise-en-scene.

The image on the left is the starting

music which starts as a slow tempo this can be seen by the sound loudness bar. The
one on the right is the music leading up to and the beginning of the chase scene; this is
seen by the sound starting louder than dropping then starts to rise up again creating
suspense.

My narrative of my short film use conventions of real media products. A wellknown narrative theorist is Tzevan Todorov; who states that events occur in a
chronological order throughout the film and has a structure of an Equilibrium
which is disrupted by an antagonist without being realised by the protagonist;
however its noticeable by the audience, this then develops into the protagonists
recognition of the disruption. I believe throughout my own film I have used this
convention theorist throughout, for example Todorovs first chronological stage is
the undisturbed equilibrium which my film reflects throughout the train station
scenes where my actor is making his way home. Then the second stage of the

disruption with the actors recognition happens as he walks out of the train
station and its noticeable that someone is waiting him. After 30 seconds or
stalking Todorvs final stage is revealed when they turn down an alley way and a
shot of a weapon is used which is then swiftly followed by the Antagonist picking
up the weapon and chasing his victim.

This shot shows the audience recognising the disruption in the equilibrium; shown by the
picking up of the weapon. Yet also the Protagonist hasnt realised as he is still turned
away.

My chronological structure to my film abled the audience to understand the time

period of the film and not feel lie the film is all muddled up due to flash backs
and cutting back and forth through time periods. Right from the start in the first
scene my dialogue hints at the narrative as the script indicates that someone
wants another person dead.
I believe I successfully demonstrated a good understanding of involving
conventions of real media products into my own short film. As my genre is horror,
I research in detail some short movies and the techniques they used in order to
create a scary atmosphere to the movie, furthermore, how they grab the
audiences attention. Through my research I gathered that a typical horror film
would generally follow Todorovs theory of the disrupted equilibrium, which
consequently made my film have a chronological order as this theory is easily
conveyed with this time structure. This was taken into account and ultimately
constructed the bases of my story line; beginning with an average day of an
average man, then something disrupts the equilibrium and then comes to a
conclusion. My demographic profile also played a big part in the story as this
outlined what my target audience was looking for; this along with quantitative
and qualitative research allowed me to understand my audience and how to fully
engage them with my media product.

My short film uses typical form and conventions that any normal film would use.
In terms of editing I used this to cut from shot to shot and also to trim down clips
which were too long, furthermore, editing can determine the pace of the film;
this is good for chase scenes which I included in my film. I made the chase scene
clips cuts quickly between each other so the audience feels involved, this also
indicates that this would be a fast moving moment in real life, this adds a
realistic feel, I believe this could be compared to any short film real media
products as this is a common technique used in films (I gathered this information
through my research of short films). In the beginning I explored different
transition techniques and effects to create a free flowing transaction from shot to
shot. Typically I used a simple cut to cut shot. However, this was not always
appropriate, especially at the start when text is shown. I chose to fade the text in
and out at this made it seem more fluent and professional, like other short films
did.

The image on the left shows simple the simple cutting transition between clips as
mentioned above. The image on the right shows the fading transition used at the
beginning of the film.

In terms of mise-en-scene there is a clear difference between the antagonist and

the protagonist. This is obviously very typical of any film or movie and mise-enscene is the easiest and most visual way to convey bad and good characters. To
portray the protagonist as an average man returning home from work I chose to
dress him in a working attire which involved the use of smart clothing like tie and
trousers and a coat. For the antagonist I have dressed him in dark clothing with
his hood up to hide his identity and this makes him seem like a criminal. This
helps the audience put him in the character type of the villain (Propps Theory).
This is also supported by his prop which is a pole which evidently paints him in a
negative light as it shows his intensions of acting violently. , which suggests
character and actors can be put in character types by what they wear and how
This is an image of my
they are presented.
This image is of the
Protagonist, this is
shown by his smart
attire which conveys
him as the victim

Antagonist this is shown

by his hooded jacket which
hides his identity; this
clearly presents him as the
murder.

In terms of shot types

I realised that a lot
of shot in a horror film
are usually made to
seem the protagonist
is being stalked;
this was done by
hiding the camera
(grab shot) and even
sometime a
tracking shot like
someone if
following them with
their eyes. I found
this very influential as
the audience as it
gave me a
understanding the
she is being followed
before an actual
character (antagonist)
is revealed. I took
this into account when
filming and
included some grab shots of my own, like one behind a fence as a character
walked passed. I thought this also contributed to the representation of horror
because the shot makes it seem like it is hiding a person. I used close ups to
make the focus on the main character and during the chase scene this show his
facial expressions and gives off a sense of confusion as the camera is shaking as
he runs.

This is a grab shot which I talked about in the paragraph before. This shot makes
it seem that he is being watch or stalked.
During the stalking scenes I favoured long/medium shot types, I believe this
created a distance between the audience and the main focus. Which helped the
stalking scene as it made it look like the main character was being watch from a
distance which Is typical of a stalker as they dont want to be seen. I think, this

combined with certain grab shots made the stalking scenes realistic
furthermore, I tried to add a little wobble as I was filming so the camera shot
moved like someone was actually hiding and perhaps changing their position. I
thought of this idea through my research off OPEN DOOR which had a long
stalking/watching scene. Also, I used some tracking shots as this abled the
audience to see the characters facial expressions during some scene: for
example as the Protagonist exits the train station and continues to walk up the
road, I then included a tracking shots as he walks passed as this allows me to
capture his facial expressions and consequently this represents what he is
feeling.
A good camera shot I thought was very effective and conveyed the situation of
the scene well was a extreme close up. Even though this is classed as quite a
simplistic shot it can also be very effective as it almost creates a relationship
between the audience and character as well as making the audience feels a part
of the film. Furthermore, the shot provides a sense of realism as the camera is
being hand held by the character who is running so it makes the scene seem
disorientated, distressing and confusing.

This is an example of the extreme close up talked about above. This is used
during the chase scene so his facial expressions are visual.
I realised that all my short films that I had researched, all used a establishing
shot at the beginning. This sets the scene and location of the first scene and I
found this was a good place to put the film name and also the production
company. This also helps convey the narrative as the audience can get a sense
of what the story has in store from the location and setting; for example my
establishing shot was of a train station, this suggests to the reader that someone
is going or coming back from somewhere.

These images show the progression of the establishing shot used at the
beginning of the film.
In terms of camera angles, low angled shots which appeared to be hidden
slightly by showing an object in the foreground and having the actor in the
background; this made it seem like one actor was stalking the other, especially
at the beginning when this was actually the case. Throughout the film I used a
range of different camera angles to make it more varied and to entertain the
audience so they wouldnt get bored of the same shots. Also the use of wide
angled shots helped provided more visual of the location of the establishing
shots. Also, this shot was effective throughout the stalking scenes as I mentioned
above; that this makes the audience feel distanced from the main focus, and this
combined with the camera shots (grab/long/medium shots) create a sense of the
protagonist being stalked/watched. High angle shots were also used, usually
when descending stairs; this used the forms and conventions of real media
products as throughout the research I realised that this was a common shot used
for stair cases as this allows you to show him starting from the top and making
his way down.

High angled shot of the victim descending the stairs.

Also, short films tend to use text at the beginning of their films to tell the
audience who produced the film and also what the film is called. I thought about
challenging the forms of conventions by having the name at the end of the film;
however, my focus groups concluded that this wouldnt be a good idea and
would prefer to see the title of the film at the beginning of the film. Also, they
agreed on what font what be suitable for the gene of horror, they concluded that
my chosen title looks like it was written in blood, this is very conventional which
helped represented my genre and ultimately set the tone and convey the genre
of horror right from the beginning. The credits was written in a more simplistic
font but yet still had a scary aspect to it. I used the same font for my film title as
I did for my poster; this seemed like a very common relationship with film poster
and film titles. The text used in my film follows conventions of a real media
product as it is used to represent the film at the beginning and also helps
recognition of everyone who was involved in the film. For example I started my
short film with the production company name, this is then followed by the film
Title I found out that it was common among real media products to have them in
this order.. For the production company I have used a simple text so its easily
recognisable and readable. On the other hand I have used a bolder and bigger
font for the film title, this is essential as this is the most important aspect of the
opening scene. Moving on to the credits, I chose to keep this simple also to make
them easily readable like the production company name, this allowed me to have
more credits on each scene. All the texts font and colours was in black, this is so
it would convey mystery and darkness which is a popular convention of horror.

This is the text used at the beginning of the film so show the film title and also
the production company.
I have chosen to use two male characters in my film, this develops typical
conventions of character types as I have chosen males to play both roles, and
usually (with evidence from my research) the male is portrayed as the
Antagonist because they are believed to be more dominant, and a female is seen
to be weaker therefore is typically the victim. However, in my film the weaker
male (therefore victim) is recognisable by his physical appearance He is smaller
and has a smaller body build. This is shown by the physical appearance of my
antagonist who is taller and bigger built. However the use of costumes also
supported the character types.
FILM POSTER

As I have created two film posters, I will be talking about both. In the essay I
have talk about how they have used, developed and challenged form and
conventions of real media products. The majority of features stayed the same
throughout both pages ( Image, Masthead, Additional information, Institutional
information and finally font) these will be summed up in the same paragraph;
whereas the remaining features (layout and format) will be summed up
separately.
For the main image used in my poster I have taken a medium wide angled photo
of my Antagonist. This allows the audience to immediately identify him as the
antagonist he is facing the audience which is directing the audience, this also
makes the audience feel more involved in the poster/film. The Location of the
main image I believed to be the most important aspect as this could interpret the
narrative and genre completely differently to what I would have wanted. The fact
that I have chosen woods to be the location of my main image made my poster
look like it belongs to the genre of horror straight away as woods generally have
negative connotations, because it is usually the prime location to commit a crime
or murder as it is very secluded. My research concluded that it was common to
have the main character or the Antagonist on the film poster. Especially on a
horror film poster they tend to have the Antagonist or an object which disrupts
the Equilibrium. This main image hints the audience about the narrative, as he is
clearly the portrayed as an evil character and the weapon indicates violent scene
are involved.

The image on the left was for my portrait poster and the one on the left for the
landscape one. This are both the original images before they had been edited.
In the image the antagonist is standing on top of a hill with a background behind
him. The low angled camera shot looking up at him creates a sense of dominants
and portrays him as powerful; this combination all in all makes him seem scary.
The wide angled shot also allows the audience to view the location which also
reveals a bit of the narrative as the location can be described as the beginning of

woods. The shot also has bits of trees coming in from the sides this helps add a
scare factor to the poster as this can been seen as quite scary.
In terms of mise-en-scene the costume I have chosen to dress my character on
the front cover was too represent him in a negative light and this was achieved
by having him wearing a dark hooded coat with his hood up, this hides him
identity, this is very stereotypical of a criminal. This helps the audience put him
in the character type of the villain (Propps Theory). This is also supported by his
prop which is a pole which evidently paints him in a negative light as it shows his
intensions of acting violently.
This is the image of the
Antagonist in his costume
which is talked about above.

My research of Film Posters allowed me to find a foundation for my own poster;

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS 2 partially was helpful as I believed the dark effects and
little colour conveyed horror the best and was my favourite out of the three.
Looking at and analysing this poster gave me ideas of what to include in my own
to make it seem realistic and I got loads of ideas how to edit my main image to
make it convey horror. This was very helpful in order to convey a negative and
dark effect of the front cover. I put low brightness on the main image; this made
the darker bits darker but allowed the light bits to remain the same. This gave a
more heavy contrast between the two. I believe this was very effective as the
lighter bits where outnumbered by the darker shades which conveyed a sense of
little hope and minimised the thought that the victim would escape. Furthermore,
the light and dark contrast allowed me to show some facial features of my
antagonist, this allowed the audience to see that he is human however the most
part of his face is covered by darkness which suggests evil. Also, I was able to
use publisher to put a black and white effect on my image, this was very helpful
as during the photo shoot the weather was sunny, this ultimately made my
image seem less effective as my genre is horror. However, with the black and
white effect is portrays the image negatively and fits the conventions of horror
much better. This combined with the location ultimately makes the front cover
looks scary and connote horror.

These are the same two image shown as before but now they have been edit as
talked about above.
At the beginning of my construction I decided to make two front covers, one in
portrait and one in landscape. I did this with the intention of presenting them
both to a focus group to decide the best one. My personal first choice was
portrait as this is very typical of film posters. Also a portrait poster seem more
organised and easily readable, furthermore as this uses typical conventions of
real media products this was the more professional option in my opinion. Portrait
allowed me to place text around the main image easily and effectively. On the
other hand, the landscape poster provided a less professional and organised
layout. Also even though I took the main image picture in landscape in
preparation for this poster I couldnt help but think that it seemed spread out and
disorientated. This ultimately made my poster ineffective and didnt resemble
any real media products. Furthermore, the landscape format created a lot of
unnecessary spare space between the main focus of the poster (Main Image). I
thought this made the poster seem very boring and less appealing towards my
audience. In conclusion, my focus group was the ultimate decider which format I
would use for my final construction. All of the focus group decided that they
prefer the portrait format as it looked the most professional and reflected real
media products.
Throughout my research I realised that it was very important to have the right
layout and structure for my film poster. This is so the audience are able to read
the text easily and also be able to establish which feature is the most important.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS took my eye as it is very conventional and looks the
best, the layout stood out to me as it made it easy to read and the different font
types indicated the different importance about each individual texts. I tried to
reflect this in my own poster by using the same layout then designing and
planning my main image around this layout; This has evidently helped my film
poster as my focus group agreed that it look professional and also could be
mistaken for a real media product.

This is the layout of my portrait poster. This shows were I put the text.
I added a slogan and also social media links onto my poster. The slogan followed
uses forms and conventions of a real media product as slogan are commonly
used on film posters as they can be used to attract the audience attention and
even persuade them to look into more detail about the film. I chose to place the
slogan about the masthead; which couldve been seen as it being more
important, however the use of a smaller font enforced that the masthead is
actually more important as it is written in a larger font. The slogan reads The
Disrupted Equilibrium this indicates the narrative as it hints that an event is
going to happen that will disturb the normality of a characters life. In terms of
font I chosen a slim and tall font, I tried many different options for my font type
and my focus group concluded that slim font would suit my genre well.
Furthermore, as I had a black background I had to use white as my font colour,
however this made my poster look professional also the colour white is
contradicts my horror genre however the connotations of white can also be
negative especially when paired with black. The connotations are mystery and
abnormal which helps the colour fit the genre stereotype. I also chose to have a
capital letter at the front of each word as this makes them more attractive to the
audience. My additional information also included social network links;
surprisingly this actually challenges conventions of real media products as y
research gathered that none of my film posters that I analysed had any links to
social media. However, I thought that this would be sensational in the
promotional aspects of my short film, as I maybe I would be able to my short film
trend on twitter which will consequently boost popularity. Furthermore, this
would give a good opportunity to include a link to the films website so they could
view the trailer if they are intrigued by the poster and want to find out more. As
this isnt a major feature on my film poster I chose to place it in the top right of
the page so its out the way, also it is written in small font so it doesnt take
away any attention away from other more important features. Saying this, the
actual text of the social media feature is red, this is so it isnt completely missed
by the audience and can still be recognised. Another feature which is typically
seen on poster and one that I included in my own was the date that it will be
released; this is normally found in the institutional information bet I thought it
should be separate as it is very important. I Chose to put this in red to vary the
colour scheme and ultimately so it will be noticed as a different part of the text.

This is an image of the slogan which is used on both the portrait and landscape
layouts.
Institutional information is located at the bottom of my poster as any other film
poster. This is so its not the main focus. Its also usually the smallest print on the
poster, however some words (usually actors/producers/distributors) are written in
bold capital letters. This is so they get recognition for their involvement in the
film. Also disruption companys logos are usually among this text/feature;
however they tend to look bigger as they are the businesses personal logos,
although they can still be grouped with the institutional information.

This is an image of my institutional information which is located at the bottom of

both portrait and landscape layouts.
I have placed my masthead between the slogan and the release date and used a
clear, large font. This is conventional of real media products such as The Cabin In
The Woods film poster. I have used both these conventions because it makes the
text clear and easy to read plus it is attractive towards the audience and makes
it stand out. To follow this convention further I have also incorporated the
masthead into my colour scheme by using the colour white. This colour as I have
mentioned before, suits my genre well as it is paired with a black background;
this makes the colour white have different connotations which are mystery and
abnormal effects. Putting spaces between each letter of my masthead abled I to
make it longer, this made it seem more inline and the correct size with the other
text.
I have named my film Vendetta, which is a person who seeks revenge. This
reflects and hint the films narrative, as the film is an act of retaliation (revenge).
I think this is effective because this title offers a variety of different ideas of what
could happen in the film. I found that, through research, that it was conventional
to reflect the narrative within the film title, this is clear through Cabin in the
Woods, the narrative is hinted by the definition of the word. I have developed
this convention as I have incorporated my films narrative within the title,
however left room for the audiences imagination to create their own ideas of the
narrative.

This shows my masthead as it is on both my portrait and landscape layouts.

Film Review
As I have created two film review pages, I will be talking about both. In the essay
I have talk about how they have used, developed and challenged form and
conventions of real media products. Some things would have stayed the same on
both posters; like images and article ( language used in the article also) these
will be summed up in the same paragraphs and other features will be summed
up separately in two following paragraphs.
My initial ideas for my main image were to have a medium close up of the
Antagonists face with being purposely taken for the use of the film review.
However, I released that the use of conventions from real media products like
The Kite Runner film review and also Star Trek would be better reflected by an
snapshot /screenshot of the film in action a image that was taken straight from
the film and not purposely taken for the film review. Having this in mind I made
the decision to follows this convention and includes a screen shot from my film. I
chose an over the shoulder shot from the scene as the protagonist is leaving the
train station, being watch by the Antagonist. I believed this gave a hint towards
the narrative and also intrigues the reader as you can tell something criminal or
murderous is going to happen. This is effective as it intrigues the reader;
furthermore, even though its a film review it could be used as a promotion tool
which could boost its popularity, so an engaging and attractive image will be
essential.

This is the image used on both film review layouts, this is the action shot that I
talked about above.
I had to choose my language for my article very carefully; I tried to refrain from
using complicated jargon which a non-media or film specialist wouldnt
understand. My research showed that existing media products use more
simplistic, descriptive and analytical language to intrigue the readers. I tried to
reflect this convention in my own media product by using language which
everyone will be able to understand and read fluently. However this made my
article much longer as I was using more words so I had to reduce the word count
in order for it all to fit onto my article (especially on the double page spread)
I tried to reflect this convention by making my film review easily read by using
language that isnt too complicated and also using columns which allowed me to
separate the article, also this makes it less daunting for readers; furthermore,
this made the article easy flowing.
Through my research I noticed that Reviews tend to be either spread over a
double page or reduced to just the one. I believe film reviews that are spread
over a double page are big box office releases that everyone would be interested
in and therefore having more information; like Star Trek. On the other hand,
smaller releases like The Kite Runner are only allocated the one page and
consequently have less information. With this in mind I decided to construct two
film reviews so both of them have a different format/layout.

Single page film review on the left and double page film review on the right.
My double page spread (DPS) film review uses typical conventions of a real
media product as the layout is very convention and resembles already existing
products. The main image is also the main focus, this is indicated by the location
of the image and usually the size. Usually the importance of an image is usually
indicated by it being placed in the top left. This is because people read from left
to right and top to bottom so people automatically turn their focus to this area. I
had this in mind when creating my own film review. So I decided to place the
main image in the top left as this follows conventions of real media products and
also this made it the main focus, this also attracted the audiences attention as
generally the audience is attracted to images before text. Another feature of the
layout which followed real media products was the extra information like; star
rating, verdict, actors, publishers, ect. This was commonly seen throughout the
research, so I included this in my won film review. I chose to place most of them
under the main image, as they are typically placed because they are right at the
start of the article. To break up the article and makes it seem like textual to the
audience I place quotes written in different fonts. This broke up the text, and also
allowed me to say something else about the film like Oscar winning
performances. At the bottom of the right hand page I placed pictures of the
actors and also a picture of the poster, this challenged forms and conventions of
real media products as this is generally not seen among the film review. I chose
to include this is my film review as it gives the audience an extra insight to who
was involved in the film, making the audience feel like they understand the
making of the film more. Also, in some films they use popular actors that attract
the audience themselves so this could be used as a way to tell people that a
celebrity actor was involved in the making of the film. A real media convention
that I also thought was essential for my film review to look real and professional
was the name and number of the page. This allows the audience to view the
contents page and find the article without having to look through the whole
magazine. So I included the number and page name at the top left and top right
of each page to help the audience navigate the magazine.

The layout of my single page film review also followed real media products,
especially from the magazine empire. Through my research I thought that this
film review was very visually attractive to the audiences. This was more compact
than the DPS however I think it looked good and well ordered. So this is what I
tried to convey in my own. I used black lines in order to separate text, especially
at the top of the page. The reduced the amount of spaces on the page so I didnt
leave any spaces which I thought made the review look unprofessional. At the
top of the page I chose to place the mastheads of the page like film review,
Vendetta as this indicates to the audience what the
page is about straight away before actually reading the
main text. The main image was placed just underneath
this top section, as the main image gives a visual idea
to the audience of what the film is about without giving
the main story line away. Just like the DPS film review I
included extra information like; verdict, actors,
publishers ect, among the film review, this gibes the
audience a sense of understanding about who was involved in the film. This is
also located to the left of the main article as I wanted people to read this first
before the main article. A
real media convention that
I also thought was
essential for my film
review to look real and
professional was the name
and number of the page. This allows the audience to view the contents page and
find the article without having to look through the whole magazine. So I included
the number and page name at the top left of the page to help the audience
navigate the magazine.
The font used in my DPS was generally the same through out, I was able to do
this as the text tended not to be next to each other. I placed some text in
different fonts as this allowed me to break up the text, especially when using
quotes. Also I used the, for the masthead as this is essentially a important aspect
of the page, this is the same for my single page film review this indicates the
importance of the text as its written in different fonts which makes it seem more
important to the audience and makes them take notice of it. However, on the
DPS I coloured oscar winning in red rather than black like the other text. I did
this so it stands out and the audience would just have to read this as it stands
out more than the black text, and release that the film has won an Oscar. I chose

to write this text in a slim font so it didnt look to bold and stand out to much
from the rest of the text. However, I chose to put it in a larger font so it would
break up the text. This seemed common in real media products as it made the
film review easily read.

QUESTION 2
https://prezi.com/q43nqgbwgiqx/edit/#1_95982358

QUESTION 4
http://youtu.be/H9jpTHvVUBs