The document discusses the conventions used in zombie horror film openings that the filmmaker drew upon for their own student film titled "Devour". These included: 1) Using a one word title to foreshadow the zombie attacks and killings, displayed in red, white, and black typography inspired by "World War Z". 2) Maintaining the same typography for the credits to keep the atmosphere consistent. 3) Introducing the protagonist and antagonists to establish their roles, taking inspiration from "Dawn of the Dead". 4) Showing different locations to indicate the scale of the outbreak, as seen in "World War Z". 5) Employing common techniques like voiceovers

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

2. Title of the film
The conventions of titles in horror films was to include the title at the end or
towards the middle of the credits. This was apparent in the film ‘World War Z’
(2013) and ’28 Days Later’ (2002). In addition to this, I found that the conventions
of credits was to ‘animate them’ onto the screen, including movement, so they
appear and then disappear off the screen.

3. Title of the film
The title of the film ‘devour’ was decided fairly early on in the planning and production process. I
decided to use this title as it reflects the narrative of a zombie horror. It would also foreshadow to
the audience that there would be a large amount of attacks and killings; mainly by zombies. The
title also follows the conventional themes of my genre. This is evident in the films ‘Night of the
Living Dead’ and ‘Dawn of the Dead’ which both indicate to the audience the presence of zombies.
However my title is unconventional in the way that it is only one word; rather than a longer title. I
think that the word ‘Devour’ is fairly self explanatory and doesn’t need to be explained further to the
audience; they can interpret it themselves.
I took inspiration from the films ‘World War Z’ as I thought the red typography on a black
background was very effective. I then found that the combination of red, white and black was even
more effective, so I added this onto my title in the programme ‘Live Type’. In terms of the way it
appears on the screen, I wanted it to ‘creep’ onto the screen slowly, to produce the atmosphere of
tension. In addition to this I cut all of the non-diegetic soundtrack that was playing from the
previous scene, to also keep the atmosphere of tension.

4. Credits
For the credits I decided to follow the same typography as the titles, due to the fact that I thought
the original typography was effective and should be used throughout the entire opening. I found
that this was generally conventional in my chosen genre of zombie horror films, apparent in the
films ‘Dawn of the Dead’ and ‘Night of the Living Dead’, two of the three films I researched at the
beginning of the project. I was inspired by these examples as I thought the typography should
remain the same all the way through the opening to keep the atmosphere created by them
throughout.
In addition to this, I needed to choose where and when the titles should appear on the screen. I
decided, taking inspiration from the initial research I completed, to place some titles on screens
alone, and then some onto shots in the film. These could then be positioned in the shot, so I placed
some in the middle and some in the left hand corner, or at the bottom, in response to my target
audience feedback.
In terms of what credits I put onto the screen I used the timeline I created earlier in the process,
taken from watching the film ‘Legally Blonde’. This helped me to see the vital elements that I
needed to include in my credits such as editor and director as well as cast.

5. Characters
The conventions of introducing characters, I found
from research, was to establish the difference
between the antagonist and protagonist. This is
evident in the opening of the film ‘Dawn of the Dead’
(2004), as the zombies (antagonists) were shown in
small flashes, with a large amount of special effects
makeup on, and the antagonists were shown being
attacked and inferior.
I researched conventional protagonist characters,
as seen in the image on the left (Julie from Warm
Bodies). I specifically looked at this character
because it was specific to my sub-genre of zombie
horror films. This is also why I chose a female to
play the part of the main protagonist.
In addition to this I decided to only have one
protagonist in the opening sequence to make the
chase scene seem more desperate as the young
female is clearly all by herself. I also aimed to
clearly show the protagonist and antagonist,
establishing the difference between them.

6. Settings/locations
I found that the conventional way of establishing locations in existing horror films was to
show a range that would be in the film. For example in the opening of the film ‘World War
Z’ (2013), there are many locations shown to establish the idea of the problem being on a
global scale. I decided to follow this convention, using the low budget I had, to show that
the outbreak was not in only one location.
From research I found that the general common settings and locations in horror films,
specifically zombie horror films, were remote areas such as woods, But in addition to this,
they took place in deserted cities or towns (e.g. in 28 Days Later). I thought that this was
effective, but it wouldn’t be possible on a low budget film. So from this I decided to go down
the route of using a remote location, specifically for the chase scene to emphasise the
danger the protagonist is in.
If I was to create my film on a high-budget scale to a tent pole audience, I would utilise the
idea of a deserted city or town, as this would create a bigger impact on the audience in
terms of the scale of the zombie attacks. This is also one of the reasons I created a range
of establishing shots to indicate to the audience the scale of the zombie attacks.

7. Costumes
From research I found that costumes for zombies were mainly ‘normal’ common
clothing. As my zombie character was a young woman I found that common clothes
of this age range was t-shirts and jeans. I also decided to use a white t-shirt for my
zombie so the blood on the t-shirt was more easily visible.
In terms of my protagonist character, I also followed the conventions of zombie
horror films by dressing the young female in a shirt and jeans with boots. This
followed the conventions of protagonist characters, as seen in the image below. I
wanted to present the character as an ‘average teenager’ as this would make the
chase scene more dramatic as it would show the audience ‘this could happen to
anyone.’

8. Narrative
I found that the conventional way of establishing narrative
was to use voice overs of news reports, or TV footage of
news reports. Both of these methods are evident in the
openings for the films ‘World War Z’ (2013) and ‘Dawn of
the Dead’ (2004). I decided to follow this convention by
recording a range of voiceovers which I then overlapped, to
create the idea of a large amount of reports coming in
about ‘viscous attacks’. I thought this method was effective
and established the narrative clearly for the audience, and
quickly, without loosing any tension.

9. Camera work
From research I discovered that the camera was used conventionally in
existing zombie horror film openings to establish the location or setting of
the film. For example in the opening of the film ‘World War Z’ the camera
was used in a static position to show various locations in the opening
sequence. As I thought this was an effective way of establishing a
narrative I decided to follow the conventions of horror films, specifically
zombie horror films.
However to enhance this further, for the opening of my film I decided to
use a pan left and right in my establishing shots, so it would give the
effect to the audience of the scenes being ‘revealed’.

10. Editing
In my opening I decided to use a dual narrative, so the use of editing was
vital. To represent the change I used a ‘fade to white’ video transition,
whereas for establishing shots I used a cut between each scenes.
The editing in my film was used to create a quick pace, with many of the
shorter shots being cut straight next to each other. Rather than using a
longer transition in the action sequence (the chase scene) I used basic
cuts as this would help the audience to focus on the narrative, and the
fact that it is all sequential, with no large gap in time.
The image below shows an example of a video transition I used to create
the idea of a dual narrative. (Fade to white)