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

2. Tears
Tears is a video that I used in my research whilst preparing
for the making of my opening sequence. Whilst watching
tears, I focused mainly on the aspects of mise-en-scene,
as the mise-en-scene is very effective and helpful
towards the opening we made. I did focus on all
elements such as sound, camera work, editing etc. but
the main focus was the mise-en-scene, as the other
videos I researched focused on the different elements so
the research was not biased.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K136askLqTc

4. How I have challenged tears and developed through mise-
en-scene
How I have challenged Tears Through my Research
From the mise-en-scene, it wasn’t clear where and when the film was set, as it was based in a deserted area. It is an area that as the
audience we are not able to identify the location. However, in our opening scene, we challenged this as we used a graveyard, a
location that can be identified which is generalised as an uneasy place, which we hoped to be very effective. As an audience, the
only information we could gather although it was very little was that there were two girls, one being the little girl on the swing and the
other being the scary character. We challenged this idea, as we used three characters, involving a young girl, a scary girl but also a
hero. The hero is based in a more modern house, which contrast to the olden idea of a graveyard. We originally wanted to use the
idea of a villain and a innocent young girl, like in tears, but we decided that in order to make our opening scene a unique style, we
changed the formation of the opening. The idea of making a horror meant that from our research, we had to identify aspects of mise-
en-scene that we could use an if challenged, would still fit into the genre.
How I have challenged real products in general
There was not much aspects of the mis-en-scene that we challenged as we figured that to keep the opening in its particular genre, a
same atmosphere must be given to the audience to make it a horror. This includes locations, characters, props, costumes etc. Most
characters tended to be girls as it is stereotyped that they’d be victims in a horror movie. Also, location tend to be simple and
unidentifiable whilst costumes tend to be simple and unusual. Therefore, instead of challenging this, we developed on this, as we
used simple but horror type locations, but also used titles with effects that do not give a friendly approach.

5. How I have developed tears through my research
There was one thing that intrigued me whilst watching tears which was the simplicity of the use of costume. To be sure that the
audience can gather that there is a ‘scary character’ and a innocent young girl, the girl had to be dressed casually but simple, not
over extravagant whilst the ‘scary character’ dressed in a more unusual, simple and old style look. This create the sense that
there is an old, scary and frightening person, a common theme of horror movies, haunting a young child, which creates the
source of tension. Also, another theme that reoccurred throughout was that there was not any sign of any other people in the
scenes, which we also tried to adapt to make it seem that the area is deserted and contains a haunted atmosphere. One thing
that I noticed about the location was that most people would stereotypically expect the scene to be in the time of the night, but
what I realised from tears was that the time of the day can be as effectfull in a horror opening scene if the location, costumes,
blocking and props are used right. We developed on this created our sequence during the day, using minimal but effective
costumes, props and location to make the scene genuine.
How I have real produdeveloped cts in general
Most opening that fit into this genre will consist of not only characters that are mysterious but identifiable to the audience, but also
an item or object which is usually a central theme of the movie. For example, items such as old jewlerry, chest boxes or items that
are valuable in a persons eyes are usually what creates the negativity in a horror movie. This type of prop creates more mystery
than the characters as the characters are built up around the mystery of something, which in some cases are valuables. We
developed on this as we used a necklace with a large gem, which to the audience is concerning and mysterious.

6. Locations were deserted and
simple, similar to our product
The title sequence in the real product had effect on a
black background which we developed

7. The woman in black
As I researched the mise-en-scene using the opening sequence
of Tears, I researched the use of sound in the opening of the
woman in black. I chose this video because it gave me a lot of
ideas on how sound should be produced, and how it attracts the
audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z_XetLZlqc

9. How I have challenged the woman in black through sound
There was one main thing that I challenged in the opening sequence that we created which
was the use of dialogue. In The woman in black, there was no speech at all, only music that
switched up tempo as it went along to match the performance of the little kids. Although we did
use music to match the performance, we also had a part in the opening where a character is
seen and heard to be reading of a paper. This is a convention that we challenged as most
openings, as not only the woman in black do not really consist of the use of dialogue.
However, we challenged this in a way that we could make it effective. We used sentences
such as “it will never let her go” and “been captured” which are words that can be gathered as
unpleasant and frightening. We specifically chose these words in order to keep the sense of
horror running, challenging the aspects of horror openings rather than challenging the genre
itself.

10. How I developed the woman in black through sound in my research
A video that I researched to find this information out and develop was the opening sequence of the woman in black. In the woman
in black, the music starts of slow and calm, whilst the mise-en-scene shows kids playing with their toys. We similarly did this,
except instead of toys, the sound matched the performance of the character in the graveyard. As the opening continues, the
sound of the music gets louder and faster, as more instruments are involved whilst the performance on the screen gets more and
more unusual. At the very end, the music stops and there is a sort of screaming foley sound, which is a random noise that is
frightening. All of this was something that we developed on rather than challenged, as sound is something that the audience picks
up on easily and if it were to friendly or jolly, the opening would be addressed to the audience in the wrong way. We developed on
this as we used a rapid changing use of tempo in the music we chose, with no use of dialogue or speech. The only thing that we
challenged was the order in which the sounds are used, as the random foley sound was used more than once throughout, whilst
there was a pause of sound consisting of natural sound at the beginning when there was an establishing shot of the graveyard.
How I developed real products in general
As I researched other products, a common thing that occurred was the lack of dialogue and the use of unusual frightening sounds
and music. There was a consistency of natural sound used also, as the sound of wind without any interruptions of cars etc
seemed to be very effective every time it was used. From this, we carried out the same theme to make the sound effective in our
opening. We used natural sound mixed with music. The atmosphere that was created by all the videos I researched was a sense
of surprise, shock, purely through the sound itself. This is the same sense that we wished to carry out which is why we followed
most the techniques used in horror movies with the use of sound so that the video fits in its genre.

11. Antisocial
The camera work is what I focused on in antisocial,
although it was very limited. It stayed in one place and I
analysed how effective it was. I looked at the woman in
black and tears also, to contrast to antisocial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6S9ZyK0n-o

13. How I challenged the camera work in anti social through my research
In Anti social, the camera stayed in one place and was shown to the audience through the eyes of a webcam. However, whilst watching the woman in black
and tears, I realised that in a typical conventional horror opening sequence, there would be a lot of close up shots as well as an establishing shot. A close up
shot on a movement, such as the swing in tears and the dolls in the woman in black is something that is usually done by camera work. We challenged not
only anti social but also the other two videos analysed, as we used a the typical close up (holding the necklace) but used a mixture of long shots and
mediums shots with it, to make it look effective and unique. We used long shots and close ups on all of the characters individually, apart from the hero. The
reason we did the was because it would be conventional for the audience to realise the negative and vulnerable actors by using close up shots, but would not
be conventional to instantly give away the appearance and presence of the hero as it would give a sense that the hero is either a victim or a villain. There
were not any developments in camera work from antisocial as it was very limited.
How I challenged real products
Not only in the woman black and tears, but in horror openings in general, there would tend to be a large use of close ups with the only wide shot being the
establishing shot. This is conventional because the main idea of a horror is to not give away any clues, and wide shots or long shots can give away a lot of
ideas to the idea just through little aspects of the mise-en-scene. I challenge this convention as we used a variety of shots, which gave away a variety of
locations, but like a conventional horror, did not give away the narrative. The camera work was simple however, as we did not use much tracking shots or
panning's, we kept the camera static.

14. Editing
Whilst focusing on editing, I analysed all the products to see the conventions of a typical horror
opening. As it is a title sequence, there is a lot of focus on edits and it is a large element of the
opening sequence. I saw that all the opening sequences add in an edit transition each time there is a
new location or date used, I kept this the same and did the same as well as adding a few edits aside.