This document discusses how the media product Entrada uses and challenges conventions of existing horror films and media. It summarizes that Entrada uses found footage conventions seen in films like Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch Project. It also switches between cameras like in Blair Witch Project. For sound, it uses subtle violins in scenes as seen in the short film Scrambled. Entrada challenges conventions by switching cameras more frequently and adding sounds to visual effects to make them seem diegetic. The poster relates to The Haunting but only uses two colors instead of multiple. The review follows the film's color scheme instead of magazine conventions and includes the film poster.

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

2. Film
My media product, Entrada, consistently
uses forms and conventions of existing
media products from my research.
Conventions including typical use of
camera in existing short and featured
horror films, music and sound effects,
editing, mise en scene and narrative
structure.
From my research I identified a number of
camera angles, shots and movements
which I found useful for the final film. One
was allowing an inanimate to have
characteristics of a human. I identified this
technique from the short film, Mannequin.
In my first draft of the film, the mask is
seen hanging on the wall as though it is
talking to Charlie. I used the technique I
had seen in Mannequin to make it look as
thought the mask has characteristics of a
human, by creating a shot where the
camera is slowly tracking in towards the
mask. In another shot, I had Charlie sitting
on the floor in front of it to show a sense
of dominance of the mask over Charlie. You
can also see this in Mannequin as there is a
close-up of the mannequin’s face at a low
angle.
Mannequin
Entrada

3. Film
Another convention my media product uses is the filmmaking style called “found-footage”, the film is
completely viewed from a handheld camera or any other camera in the scene. I found that this was very
popular in horror films and very effective when trying to make the audience jump as it looks more
realistic than traditional filmmaking. Within my research of a found-footage film, I found many
conventions that I found useful when making the final film. These include always looking in the
direction that the character is, quick movements of the camera and switching between cameras.
Example of these are found in popular feature films such as Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch
Project and the short film A Final Message. In the final film, the whole film is filmed in this style and
these conventions helped create a scare for the audience. For example, In The Blair Witch Project, the
characters each had their camera attached to a torch. In my final product, there was a scene where Cole
is split up from the other two. He hears noises and looks around and quickly changes direction. The
camera featured a light onboard so it was easy to achieve this convention. Unfortunately one of the
cameras didn’t have this so we held a separate torch in the other hand to keep this convention featured
throughout the film. I used this convention so that people could easily see what the character was also
seeing when In the dark.
Entrada The Blair Witch Project

4. Film
Switching between different cameras in the scene
was another conventions in the scene that felt
useful when developing the story. This gave me
opportunities to see things from different angles,
see what each person is seeing if it was important.
This is done a lot in found-footage films such as The
Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity
series. It was very easy filming this because it didn’t
have to be filmed at the same time as it could be
just edited together in post-production. A good
example of this is shown in The Blair Witch Project.
In the final scene, the characters are in a house and
can hear someone shouting downstairs. Once the
character goes downstairs we hear a loud thud as
the camera is dropped. The view is then switched to
another characters camera at a different location.
I’ve tried to challenge this convention by switch the
cameras more frequently. When Cole is split up from
Timmy and Danny, the camera switches between
both Cole’s camera and Timmy’s camera. We also
know that they are in two different locations
because Timmy and Danny are shouting for Cole,
but when we switch to Cole’s camera we can’t hear
anything in the distance. To help the audience
notice this even more, I made sure their names
were on screen at all times. This convention helped
a lot to give the audience a sense of loneliness
towards Cole at this time.
SWITCH
SWITCH

5. Film
Other than conventions of camera use, I have also used and challenged the forms and
conventions of music and sound effects. Even though music is only used in the first scene and the
credits, I have tried my best to challenge the conventions with that time. The sound effects are
used throughout the film whether its used as diegetic sound or to be as part of the motion
graphics or visual effects.
The music used in the first scene of the film consist mainly of violins and horns. This is what I had
identified in the films I had researched. In the short film, Scrambled, there are times where high-
pitched violins can be heard very subtle. This type of music is used as a tool to create suspense. I
have used this in the first scene, which shows a brief origin of how the spirit consumed Charlie as
his host. During the first few shots, I had added a high-pitched violin soundtrack subtly as well,
which fitted the scene quite well as Charlie’s mother, as well as the audience, are eager to know
what Charlie is doing upstairs.

6. Film
As I said before, the sound effects are used as
either diegetic sounds or sounds that are part of
the motion graphics or visual effects, which are
also diegetic sounds. There are many sound
effects used throughout the film to immerse the
audience in fear. These sounds include the
whispering sound that comes from the mask,
running sounds, stick breaks and many more. I will
talk about the diegetic sounds used in the film.
When looking at the short film, A Final Message,
the two characters hear many noises which causes
them to investigate where they came from, which
would have the same effect on the audience
watching it. In my final media product, I attempted
to challenge this convention of finding out where
these sounds came from. In one scene, all three of
them are in a tent, sleeping, apart from Timmy,
and the sound of something running wakes them
up. They then exit the tent to investigate. I used
this convention because I wanted them to
investigate and find something that makes them
want to leave the woods. In other words, I used it
to develop the story faster so that the audience
wasn’t bored with pointless shots of Timmy
playing with his camera.

7. Film
I will now talk about the non-diegetic sound
effects that help with the motion graphics such as
title sequences and also the diegetic sounds used
with visual effects. The sound effects that were
non-diegetic weren’t used very often but were
effective when they did. Music ad sound effects
are used frequently in the title sequences of the
films I’ve researched. For example, the title
sequence of Scrambled has a short music track
playing over it. In my final product, I challenged
that by adding very subtle but noticeable wind
sound over the title sequence. It gives a very
spooky effect that makes the audience eager to
know what comes next.
The sound effects used with visual effects make
the shots more realistic. An example of where I
have used a sound effect along with visual effects
is towards the end of the film when Timmy has
stabbed the spirit in the neck. When the spirit
drops to the ground, a bright light emits from the
mask. As the light flashes to its brightest, I added
the sound of a ‘woosh’ to match it. This allowed
me to create the illusion that this sound came
from the mask itself.

8. Poster
The poster of the film uses many different conventions used in existing posters for horror films.
The first is the colour scheme used in on poster. On most of the posters, the colour scheme
would primarily be black, white and two other colours. I decided to challenge this convention by
only using one additional colour other than black and white. This makes the theme more visible
to audience.
I would say that my poster relates the most to the design of The Haunting poster. You can see this
as I have shown the three main characters’ face, showing a seriousness which makes the
audience wonder what for. I have also shown the location of where the film is set underneath
these faces as is seen in The Haunting poster. Not only just the location but showing what lies
inside it, which is the Ghost, rather than the eyes on The Haunting poster.

9. Review
My review also uses a lot of conventions from my research. Since it was a double page spread there
were a lot of sections that I could use from existing reviews that were in my research. These sections
include, the fun facts about the making of the film, the essential facts of the film such as release date,
run time etc., and also the conventions of the main images used on the page.
I also decided to challenge the conventions of the review in existing magazines. In these magazines, the
designers use their colour scheme for the review. But in mine, I chose not to do this and follow the
colour scheme of the film used in the poster, which was blue, black and blue. I also challenged the
product by adding the poster of the film in the review. None of the existing reviews that I had
researched featured the poster of the film in the review. I thought it would good to have the poster of
the film next to the verdict section of the double page spread. Which gives the audience more taste of
the film when finishing reading the review.