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

2. Themes within Horror films
Scary Movie 3 (2003) and Scream (2003)
• Horror films tend to involve themes such as violence and stalking.
This is denoted in films such as scream (2003) where the victim
Sidney is stalked and intimidated by the Ghostface Killer.
• This also presents gender roles within films as female characters
tend to be the ones victimised and oppressed by male characters
like the Ghostface killer who plays the role of the antagonist within
the film.
• Another film which presents this element is scary movie 3. In the
opening sequence of the film, female characters Katy and Becca
receive a phone call from an unknown male. Shortly after this
phone call, supernatural things happen within the home. This is
denoted through the fridge door opening suddenly. When Becca
goes to look for Katy, she finds her sat dead in the chair.
• This connotes that women in horror films tend to be weak.

3. How does the theme of violence and
stalking relate to my media product?
• My film has developed the convention of gender
roles between men and women through binary
oppositions of good and evil. This was done
through performance where I had a male
character stalking an innocent female character
as he saves her picture on his phone. When he
sees her, he then challenges her. She becomes
intimidated by his body language which was very
controlling. This was further emphasised when he
became violent and brutally beats her to death
before putting her body into a bag.

4. Enigma within horror – How did I use
this element?
• Enigma is a common feature of horror films.
• Films which present this includes insidious where son Dalton falls
into a coma after suffering a drop from the ladder to his attic.
Doctors were unable to find a cause of the fall which generates
enigma as it leaves the audience unsure of what is going on.
• I included this convention in my media product through having
antagonist stalking her.
• I wanted to give the audience a sense of mystery as to how he
began stalking her.
• I also directed him to drag the girl’s dead body into a property
where he then walks off. The verbal feedback given by my audience
suggested that they were left shocked by the violent events which
took place in the film.

5. Incorporating Enigma into My Product
• I included this convention in my media product
through having antagonist stalking the female
character.
• I wanted to give the audience a sense of mystery
as to how he began stalking her.
• I also directed him to drag the girl’s dead body
into a property where he then walks off. The
verbal feedback given by my audience suggested
that they were left shocked by the violent events
which took place in the film.

6. Camerawork
• Camerawork elements within my film involves
the use of close up shots, point of view shots and
even mid long shots.
• This is presented in films such as Warm Bodies
2013 where there is an extreme close up shot of
the main character as he walks.
• I used this convention in my product through
having close up shots of the antagonist as he
stares at the girls picture on his phone before
having a matching shot to a close up of his face as
he talks to himself.

7. Sound
• In terms of sound, horror films tend to have very
slow pitched soundtracks with low key tones of
instruments such as pianos and violins.
• These instruments generate a sense of tension
and gradually speed up when the action becomes
more intense.
• I used this convention within my media product
in order to give the audience a connotation of
underlying darkness which can give the idea that
something negative is about to happen within the
narrative.

8. Editing
• Editing techniques within horror films consist
of long takes.
• To an extent I used this technique in the scene
where the antagonist approaches and
challenges his victim.
• This was done to give a dramatic effect to the
film whilst presenting the build up to the
brutal murder which takes place.

9. Lighting
• In terms of lighting, horror films tend to include
low key lighting to connote darkness and possible
isolation.
• Despite my intentions to conform to this code, I
experienced technical issues with lighting as the
camera wasn’t well equipped to shoot well in low
light conditions.
• This led me to rely on street lighting and lower
levels of daylight in order to shoot clear footage.

10. Any challenges faced in the production
of my product?
• Due to laws regarding weapons being deemed as offensive, I decided to
challenge the convention of the use of weaponry in horror films when a
character is being killed.
• Instead I edited the action of the antagonist murdering his victim to take
place off screen. However, the sound of the victims screaming and being
beaten whilst the antagonist taunts her can still be heard in order to
maintain the action of the audience. This technique also generates enigma
as they are left unsure of what is going to happen.
• By using this technique, I also conformed to the conventions of horror
films where brutal actions are edited in a way that audience members
don’t see exactly what happens to characters. This was done in my
product to reduce the disturbing effect it produces to the characters.
• Also I did this as my film was targeted at a fairly young audience aged
between 15 and 25. As the violence isn’t as extreme as violence in films
such as psycho where a female is stabbed to death in her bathroom by a
male stalker, I was able to conform to the codes of a horror film with an
age 15 certificate.

11. Summary
• Overall, the key themes relating to the horror film genre includes
low key lighting, tense, slow pitched sounds, long takes and violent
performance.
• All of these elements combined creates enigma, a purpose of
horror films as it attracts the audiences attention towards the film.
• I have used these codes and conventions within my film through
using low key lighting, extreme close ups and continuity editing.
• Due to having a lack of sufficient light to film properly in low key
conditions, I had to challenge this convention through using mid key
street lighting in order to gain the best possible image quality of my
product.
• Lastly, the conventions were developed through using these
techniques as I was able to familiarise myself with using cameras
and software in the construction of my product.