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

2. Init lR r
ia eseach:
Before I began the process of producing my media products I knew that I would have to research
thoroughly into existing media texts and audiences. Short films attracted me from the outset due to the
amount of creativity that can be applied to the project. I began by researching existing media products
through Youtube. This was a very useful way of analysing how producers of texts create successful short
films. Lovefield by Mathieu Ratthe was the most inspirational piece of filmaking I viewed during my
research. I partnered with Lorna Nellis to create a film together. Our film has been strongly influenced by
Lovefield, in particular the subvertion of genre. Lovefield combines elements of horror, suspence and
drama with a twist at the end. Ratthe succesfully adhered to genre conventions in Lovefield, until the
ending. The audiences’ expectation is that the antagonist has killed someone in the field. The tension
building music hightens until it is revealed that the apparent victim is actually giving birth. In our film we
followed the conventions the majority of horror/psychological thriller films to easily establish and target a
specific audience. Stricking imagery of the antagonist early on engages the audience with our film. As the
protagonist runs away from the apparent stalker, we hope that audiences will asume that the stalkers
intentions are to do something horrible to the protagonist. We used visual iconography of the antagonist
pulling something out his pocket which we hope audiences will asume is a weapon. He then pulls out the
purse she dropped. Although the audience may believe that the film is following a linear narrative the
ending subverts the audiences expectations to create a much more impactful piece. We decided on
creating an unexpected ending from watching lovefield as it prevents audiences from being passive
conumers of text.

3. In r aion t myfil
el t o m:
It was important to research existing media products before starting the process of creating my own
film. It helped me to understand what features and conventions of existing media products would
work well in my own production work. I quickly realised that certain genres were generally more
successful as short films. Horror and thriller genres were the most engaging their as narrative is
generally more simple and effective when the storyline is under ten minutes. I also had to consider the
budget and resources I had available. I therefore chose against doing a comedy or action film as that
would rely on good actors and a big budget. I also considered what genre amateur film makers like
myself chose when creating a film. Many chose horror and thriller and these genres produced the best
short films. After deciding upon the genres I wanted to study further I researched existing media
products on Youtube. Lovefield as stated in the previous slide is the text that we took the most
inspiration from. Parallels can be drawn from our finished film and Lovefield which will be discussed
in the next slides. We liked the idea of following many conventions of a particular genre to create a
dramatic twist at the end. As it says in the video description the story “takes the audience on a roller
coaster ride of emotions”.
Looking at the
responses to Lovefield
on Youtube indicated
that many people enjoy
the subversions of
genre

4. Deconstuct E ingM Pr s: L E IE D-Hororsuspense/ct
r ing xist edia oduct OV F L r / a ion
Lighting
•Dark/cold
•Harsh
•Natural Sound
•Dissonance Camera Work
•Tension building •Close-up shots
•Slow at start/climatic towards end •Pan
•Goes from horror and tension •Tilt
during the middle to romance and •High/low angle
tranquillity at the end •POV shots
Editing
•Invisible editing
•Fade to black at end
Costume and Props Location
•Typical rural American (farmer) •Isolated
Characters
•Dungarees •Rural
•Crow
•Knife •Countryside
•Old man
•Phone •Field
•Pregnant lady
•Blood
•Baby