Evaluation Activity 1

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

The first frame shows a low angled shot which introduces the scene to an ominous and gloomy setting, straight away the shot conforms to the conventions of a horror as the dark forest setting makes the victim look vulnerable and under potential threat from danger. The low angled shot creates mystery and a suspense as the audience cannot get a full view of the setting or what is going on. As it is the first shot of the opening scene, we are shown a glimpse of the main character who is walking home, creating the enigma as to where she is walking from and where she is walking to. The audience are given a clear view of the sky creating pathetic fallacy, as the sky is cloudy and gloomy,it can link to the conventions of a horror as it creates a negative atmosphere, connoting the power of the antagonist.

In the next frame we are shown a close up of the victim, as the audience, the victim is introduced completely vulnerable and innocent to the events that are soon to be taking place. Close ups allow the audience to understand the emotions the character is feeling. At this point in the opening scene Charlotte is shown to be angered and oblivious as to why she has been pushed out of her way, her facial expressions connote frustration and anger. Although her body language subverts the conventions of a horror genre victim, later on in the scene, close ups of the victims face will connote terror which will be conforming to the stereotypes of a victim in a horror genre, as they are usually screaming or scared due to the actions of the antagonist. In the bottom left corner of the frame we are shown an opening credit introducing the actors name.We used a fade in and fade out transition to make the credit flow well with the opening scene and create a clean shot so the audience will not take focus away from what is happening in the scene. Just before this shot is introduced we are introduced to the antagonist as he is the character who frustrates the victim by budging into her while walking opposite directions. The audience are faced with the enigma as to why the character has done so and whether he is to play a later part in the scene as it is not yet obvious he will be the main antagonist. For the audience, this could foreshadow the victims kidnapping at the end of the scene.

In the third frame, we used the technique, Match on Action, to complete this technique we used three different short close up shots of the victim putting on headphones. also this was successfully shot, the actress was quite clumsy when trying to complete the action. In the future we could develop this technique further by practicing the shots before hand and filming several versions of it to be able to finally chose the most successful shots to create a cleaner match on action.

The fourth frame was one of our most successful shots. It shows a high angled shot behind the trees causing the background to have a shallow depth of field, leaving the victim to be out of focus and the trees to be in focus. This conforms to the conventions of a horror as the dark forest shows to be consuming the victim making her look weak and vulnerable as she is far from any sign of help.

The fifth frame presents an over the shoulder shot, presenting the audience the setting of the opening scene. our setting is based in a creepy forest where the victim will be isolated from life around her, this conforms to the conventions of a horror film, as the victim is not even more vulnerable than she was before, powerless to the strength of the antagonist. By using an over the shoulder shot, the audience are able to watch what is happening through the eyes of the actor, building the tension for the audience as well as for the character.

Frame six is one of our most iconic shots, as it is the first time the antagonist is presented as his scary and villainous personality. The shot will hopefully be unexpected to the audience, introducing the scary, jumping moment which will increase the thrill factor. The antagonist is shown in the distance to be wearing all black, this can conform to the stereotypes of a horror film as black can connote death and negative power.

Frame seven shows the victim to have fallen over and dropped her bag,presenting her to be weak, vulnerable and helpless. The low level medium shot helps the audience relate to how the victim is feeling as the medium shot helps the audience focus on her body language. The audience are also given the enigma as to why she has left her bag on the floor and who will later find the bag and hopefully save the girl through the film.

Frame eight presents one of our actions shots where the antagonist meets the protagonist, the male antagonist is very dominant which conforms to the stereotypes of a horror but the girl screams to try and getaway which also conforms to the stereotypes of a horror as her innocence lets her getaway for the first time. When editing we used two shots to film this action sequence, one medium shot from side on and then a low angle shot to show the antagonist falling and the protagonist getting away.

Frame nine presents a long shot of the protagonist running away the long shot allows the audience to capture everything that is going on in the scene. The audience are giving the idea that she is now safe and away from the potential dangers of the protagonist.

Frame 10 is a close up shot of the victim screaming, the close up shot allows the audience to get an insight as to what the character is feeling as we focus on her emotions and body language. The shot shows her to be scared and frightened by the antagonists actions.

Frame 11 shows the title of the film, the title conforms to to the conventions of a horror as we have used white writing on a black background which is what most modern horror use nowadays. The thin, ominous writing creates a horror and unnerving effect.