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

1. EvaluationQuestion1:
We decidedtoname ourmovie ‘The Nightmare’ becauseitsumsupwhatthe actual movie isabout.
We included‘The’inthe title because byusing‘The’the title soundsmore dramaticsuchas ‘The
Prestige’. Thismakesthe titlestandoutmore because whensayingthe title itsoundsghoulish,this
meanspeople whoreadthe title are more likelytorememberthe name asitgivesoff a frightening
atmosphere of the movie. Whichmeansmytargetaudience will be attractedtowatchthe movie as
we are targetingteenagers,whowill definitelywanttowatch moviesthatgive those petrifyingand
excitedfeelings. Forproductions,we are usingourownwhichiscalled‘BigDreams’,we decidedto
use our ownproductionas we weren’table findasuitable productionwhichwouldmatchwithour
movie’sgenre andstory.Asyoucan see we didn’tname ourproductionsomethingdark orspookyas
we feltthathavinga dark name for our productionwouldbe toomuchas if wouldn’tbe realisticif
our movie andthe productionbothhadnameswithsimilarfeelingstoit.However,forourmain
streamwe will be using‘Universal’because we feel thatmakingourownmainstreamcompany
wouldbe time consuming,whichwe couldbe usingitoneditingthe moviemore professionally.
Our firstscene showshowthe protagonistisverydistressingashe ishavinga nightmare;thisis
shownto foreshowhowhissituationwillbe worstashisproblemsare goingto getevenworst. By
startingwith‘Disruptionof the Equilibrium’,we have challengedthe ‘Todorov’sNarrative Theory’
whenwe didn’tfollow the typical moviestructure aswe didn’tstartwitha happyscene like mostof
the moviesdolike BlackSwan andMemento.The openinggave awayquite alot of ideasonwhat
the movie isbasedonand what genresitcontains.Thisisbecause ourfirstscene wasquite serious
and whenthe protagonistwalkedupstairsinslow motion,it builds upsuspense asthe audience
wouldbe questioningwherethe characterisgoingand whatwouldhappennext.The mainreason
for thisisas the previousscene containedstrongemotions,sothe audience wouldexpectthe
emotionstobuildupas itgoeson. Inthe firstscene,we introducedthe protagonist,whose ethnicity
isAsian.Hence,Ican confidentlysaythatwe broke the stereotypical ideaof havingawhite
protagonistinmoviesasmostmoviescontainawhite protagonist.Notonlythat,as‘Propps
character Theory’suggestshowthe Herohas to be strong as ithas to overcomesthe process
‘Disruptionof Equilibrium’however,we made the protagonistweakasyoucan see fromthe first
scene,whenhe isseendistressedbecausehe isunable toovercome hisfearinthiscase hispast.
Secondly,we are introducedbyanothercharacterwhoisa psychiatrist,he playsthe role of a
helper/mentorashe isthe one whoguidesthe protagonistovercome hisfear.Duringthisprocessof
helpingthe protagonist,youcouldsee how the psychiatristismuch strongerandholdsmore power
than the protagonisthimself becausethe protagonistneedssomeone whocontainsmore power
than himself ashe ispowerlessandneedsamentortoguide himintosuccess. Anothercharacteris
the step-motherof the protagonist,whowas actuallyfirstintroducedinthe nightmare howeveras
the step-motherhasanillnessof ‘multiple-personalitydisorder’ whichsuggestsushow the person
whowas present inthe nightmare wasactuallyherotherpersonality,Evie. Furtherintothe story,
the actual step-motherwithherreal personalitywasshownquite laterinthe opening,whenthe
protagoniststartstell the storyof his past.In the protagonist’spasthisstep-mother,Evawasshown
as someone whoiscaringand lovingtowardsthe protagonist. Intermsof propsandcostumes,we
justhad all the character weartheirnormal clothesexpectof Evie.One of the conventionswe used
to showthe genre of thrillerwasthroughEvie’scostume inthe nightmare.She wore aredmaskand
had bloodonher face;thisportrayedthe thrillergenre as mostthrillermoviescontainthese kindsof
conventionsforexample inShutterIsland,Saw,Spectre etc…Also,nearthe endof the openingthere

2. isa scene of Evie beatingthe protagonist(inthe past),whereshe uses aweapon.Thisconventionis
usedto showhowseriousherillnesswasasshe was harmingEthan(protagonist) unintentionally.
Havingthe right locationsdetermineshow professional yourmovie looksasitnaturallygivesoff a
certainatmosphere whichadds ontothe scene. We usedthe locationof ‘Heath’asa forestinthe
nightmare andwe shotthisscene inafternoonbecause itstartsgettingdarkaround that time but
not toodark. Thiswas the perfecttime forusto shoot since shotswon’tbe toodark. Also,since
nobodywasin the forest,itlookedisolated,whichsuggestedhow the protagonistwaslonelyand
had nobody.Anotherlocationwasinanapartment,where we change the settingabitto make it
looklike anoffice forthe psychiatrist.Todothiswe made sure to shootonlyincertainarea sowe
don’tgive intoo muchdetail aboutthe locationandmake the settinglookfake.The shotsare either
locatedinthe forest,whichgave off an eerie atmosphere orinside aroomtoemphasise his
emptinessandhowhe isstill trappedinhispast. Inthe nightmare,the protagonistrunsawayfor
someone whoisn’tphysicallythere,it’sonlyhisimaginationsthissuggestshow defencelesshe is
eveninhisdreamsto Evie.
Finally,Ihave usedvarietyof shotssuchas LS, Mediumshots,CU,overthe shouldershotandmany
more to focuson certainelementsinthe scene.Inaddition,Ihave alsousedarange differentediting
such as addingtransitionssuchas‘crossdissolve’,zoominginandmanymore. Forspecial effectwe
usedslowmotion,addingTextstoprovide audience withsome informatione.g.people starring,
changingthe colourto make two differentshotslooksalike.