This is my short presentation on all of the conventions used within my film production.

1. In what way does your media
products use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media
products?
By Nina

2. Contents Page
• Narrative (2 slides)
• Institutional elements
• Credits
• Genre/sub-genre/hybridity
• Mise en scene
• Sound
• Camera (images)
• Camera (explaining)
• Editing

3. Narrative
• My film production is conventional to both a short film and the horror genre, meaning I conformed to all the
ideologies of both a short film and horror genre by implementing these conventions effectivly. This meant
my film was easily achnowledged by the audience as a short horror film.
• Within my film production I decided to create a storyline that was simplistic and did not have contain a
complicated narrative as this was not conventional in short films. In addition, I did not want to confuse the
audience as to much information in a short space of time would be slightly over-whelming, so sticking with
the convention benefit my film production overall. However, in the actual structure of my short film I
subverted the convention implemented by Todorov who argued that all short films contain a narrative
timeline of an equilibrium-disruption-recognition-repair-resolution. As opposed to this structed I decided to
first of all have an equilibrium the go straight into the disruption where enigma coding was used to engage
the audience throughout. Also, there was no repair or resolution and the end of the film as it ended with the
actress stabbing herself which indicates that she had died and the antagonist won. I found this structure to
be more effective, as it when straight into the antagonist stalking her which meant the audience stayed
intrigued throughout the equilibrium and then frightened when the disruption was occuring.

4. Narrative
• Within horror films a common conventions conists of a single person or group of people being corrupted and
persued by the main antagonist featured in the film. In short films, it will mainly be one person who is
repeatedly being antagonised and will stereotypically be a female. In my film production I decided to
develop the convention by implementing a female protagonist where she is perceived as the damsel in
distress throughout the film. Also, the antgaonist will be a male which again conforms to the ideologies of
the antagonist in the horror genre. In addition one of the stereotypicaly locations within the horror genre is
the protagonists house, which I have used in my short film. I decided to use this conventional location as it
adds into everyday fears and intensifies the fear factor due to an indiviuals house being their place of
comfort and safety. This conentional can be seen within all of the Paranormal Activity Films that I had
previously researched in which the protagonists in the film are being harrassed by the antagonist in their
own homes. Also, due to the horror genre target audience being mainly teenagers I decided to make the age
factor of my target market young people, which is why I decided to cast a 17 year old as the protagonist
which will be more relatable and frightening to them.

5. Institutional elements
The BBFC (The British Board of Film Classification) is the a UK film and video regulator which implements age
ratings such as U, PG, 15 and 18 all of this depends on the nature of the film, they are responsible for censorship on
all the films/videos shown in cinemas and on TV throughout the United Kingdom. The BBFC have legal power over
the rate of the film and can cut or go as far as reject work. Their main aim is to ensure that all children and
filmgoers have protection against harmful or illegal material. In my own flm production I decided to show the age
rating or classification of the film as due to my research on short films it showed that the bbfc ratings were not
included or evident in the film production. In order to conform to the conventions of short films I decided to not
implement the bbfc badge.
After researching the horror genre and short films in horror, at the start of the production it consisted of
institutional codings to give the audience a clear insight on who helped in making the film. I decided to make my
own as opposed to using other institutional coding like I did in AS Level which was 'Blumhouse productions' which
is a well-known horror production. In my film production I used my own to add a sense of originality which was
firstly 'Plummer House Productions' and then 'Rendall Studios'.

6. Credits
After researching the horror genre in short films it was clear that the credits within the production were not big and
bold with fancy writing, so I decided to stay conventional and do the same. Within my film I only used three credits
which consisted of the actors/actresses names so the audience recognises who is acting within the film. Also at the
end of the production it says 'Directed By Nina Onungwa' which is conventional in horror short films. I decided to not
include a lot of credits as due to it being a short film, there was not be a lot of involvement so there would not be the
need for big titles throughout the production. This means there would only need to know what it is called, the
actors/actresses in it and the producer of the production. The images down below show the credits within my film:

7. Genre/sub-genre/hybridity
• Within my film production I decided to create a psychological short film, where
instead of using gore, violence and paranormal antagonists I relied on the
protagonists fears and anxiety throughout the production. To further the plot, it was
done through containing elements of vouyeurism and stalker elements so the
audience was aware the protagonist was targeted and at the same time the
audience stays intrigued as to how the narrative will play out as the protagonist is
becoming more and more anxious. An example of a psychological horror is 'The
Others' which has a similar plot of the characters being unaware of who the
antagonist is. It also plays into everyday fears as the plot takes place in their own
home.

8. Mise en scene
I used Mise en scene within the film production to make sure all of the ideologies within the horror
genre were implemented. For example, within the horror genre the antgaonist is conventially
dressed in black which signifies evil I decided to dress my antagonist all in back to conform to the
ideology. For example in the Scream series the antgaonist is dressed in all black with a hoody on and
a mask. Also, I made sure a knife was used as the antgaonists prop throughout as at the start it was
shown to the audience. This enhanced their intriguement as a knife denotes death and violence
which indicates that the stalker is out to kill. I decided to dress my female protagonist in baggy,
normal clothing w was done so my target market relates to the character as this is common wear
within todays younger generation. Furthernore, her clothing highlights the equilibrium of the
protagonist as she is seen as comfortable within her house which will later be disrupted by the
antagonist Instead of having a blonde protagonist which is stereotypical in horror films I subverted
that stereotype and decided on a brunette.

9. Sound
• Throughout my film production I decided to use a non-diegetic
soundtrack as this is very conventional within horror films. It
adds tension and creates a scarier dynamic which is exactly
why I dceided to implement it into my producton. I used two
different soundtracks within the film depending on what was
occuring, for example the secound song was played when the
antagonist was getting closer to the protagonist which denoted
that something bad was going to occur and soon. In addition,
another non-diegetic sound was which was a sound effect
noise, that was used to look as if the antagonist had made it.
This made the protagonist feel uneasy. However, within the
production diegetic sound was also used for example when the
protagonist was on the phone to connote she is unaware of her
surroundings and oblivious to the antagonist following her.

10. Camera - Images
• Within my film productions I made an attempt to use a wide variety of camera shots within
the short film. Here are a few down below:

11. Camera - Explaining
• I made sure to try and implement a range of different camera shots to signify more meaning an
intensify the plot at the same time. This includes distance shots of the protagonist and necessary
angles that were used througout the narrative. Due to trying to create a simple storyline as it was a
short film not a huge range of camera shots/angles were used but I was still able to be as diverse as
possible. This is due to taking in the research of short films as not many camera shots/angles are
used in the production due to lack of time and simplistic storylines. I made sure to use vouyerstic
shots as the narrative consisted of the antagonist following the protagonist with point of view
shots. Furthermore, after researching the horror genre it was clear that every film had low-key
lighting which is an indication of danger which increases the fear factor. In my film I had low-key
lighting as the setting was at night, however in the protagonists house the lighting was high-key
which subverted the conventions of the horror genre, as I was still able to enable fear with high-key
lighting.

12. Editing
• I decided the the easiest and most efficient way to edit my film was through iMovie which is an app on
the Apple iphone making it easily assesible at all times, this made the editing process a lot quicker and
effective as opposed to using Premiere Pro which was on the school laptops. This is a common app
used for editing and is easily very cheap at £3.50. The traditional production and editing has been
challenged as by using iMovie as my editing software I am using a new media product.