Thursday 1 March 2012

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

The Title of the Film

The title of our two minute film; 'the chatroom' was displayed on the last frame. The movie ends with a close of shot Melek the victim’s upper body being hanged, full with blood on her face and body. Our group was inspired by the 'Se7en' title fonts, and choose a similar style on iMovie. We wanted to create the last frame with suspense, and having the audience wanting for more, thus the reason why we chose to put the title of the movie on the last frame, to keep the audience intrigued throughout the movie acting as an enigma.
Setting/Location
The setting of our film had many locations; the murderers basement, the victims room and at the end- in a park. Our location in the park was very well suited with our genre; horror, as it was a realistic place for someone to be killed late at night where it would be hard to be caught. However, the scenes that were taken in Melek the victim’s room went against the conventions of a horror movie, due to the fact that the movie starts with the basement and her room contrasting the two different personalities’ and misbelieving the audience as they wouldn’t think it would be a horror movie. This also builds the enigma of what the film is based on.  
Costumes and Props
In every film made in the film industry props and costumes are used, which is a convention of a media product.  Our group were very inspired by ‘se7en’ as it had completed its aim in wanting us to watch more, so we wanted to create the same affect, by having shots of random products, but contrasting it with the two different people. An example would be, opening the film with a close up shot of the murderer opening a can of beer, contrasting it then with a close up shot of the victim opening her water bottle, opposing the two different characters. The iconography of the shot of the beer could symbolise the creepiness of the murderer and can foreshadow what the murderer could do as it is a an alcoholic.  

Camerawork and Editing

We used a lot of close up shots and wide shots for example the shot of the heroine, the close up shot puts emphasis on how dangerous this person may be, as they are taking drugs. This shot type is suitable for our genre being horror as there are many close up shots in horror opening scenes to build up the tension and to get the audience intrigued. Furthermore as our editing technique we used elliptical shots, where only the important scenes are on display, for example shots of the victim’s pictures being crossed and shots of the murderers match on action shot when he takes the rope with him, so that the audience do not miss it. This also foreshadows the upcoming events, as there is no dialogue but important props such as the rope.

Title font and Style

The font style we used for our movie was the ‘Papyrus’ style. We chose this style of font in particular as we as a group thought that it fitted well with the genre and it gave it a creepier look. We also wanted the white title to contrast with the dark shots, so that the writing could stand out. We were inspired by the ‘Se7en’ font styles and we thought that this particular font style fitted most with the ‘scary’ and disturbed look.

Story and how the opening sets it up

The opening of our film starts with a range of shots from both of the actors, juxtaposing both their personalities. For example a shot of the victim drinking her water, then opposed to the murder drinking his beer. This juxtaposition makes the victim look very innocent contrasting with the murder drinking his beer. These shots introduce both the characters and protagonist, and what kind of person the main actor is, foreshadowing upcoming scenes in the film.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

The beginning of our film starts with a black pitch and then closes up shot of the beer can being opened. This creates a sense of unknown and randomness, getting the audience intrigued. The opening scene has shots of both the protagonist and the victim, and how both of their personalities are being juxtaposed with each other emphasising how different the two are and highlighting the creepiness, which makes it appropriate for the horror genre, as there is no dialogue at all, which builds up the tension. In addition most horror opening scenes has no dialogue which makes it fits in with our genre.

How characters are introduced

Both characters are introduced in the same way, but emphasising on the two personalities, as they both oppose with each other, for example the shot of the yogurt opposed to the shot of the heroine. This effectively emphasises on how naïve the victim is shown to be compared to the murderer. The fact that the murderer or the ‘bad guy’ is black challenges media stereotypes as it is rare.


Special effects


The mood we were trying to create when we were editing was to create a mood full of tension and suspense but at the same time having the audience wanted to watch the whole of the movie to see whether the ‘bad guy’ gets caught or not. We were attempting to create the whole theme of creepiness and thriller, by having a romantic/creepy song-lord knows best, to set up the mood.

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