EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings).

2.  My media products title is “The Walk
Home”. This is a typical horror/thriller film
title. It entails an ordinary, everyday
occurrence that is not going to be what it
seems, a regular premise for a horror/thriller
film.
 A similar title to this is the 2015
horror/thriller, “The Visit”. Its about two
siblings becoming incredibly frightened by
their grandparents disturbing behavior while
visiting them on vacation. This is similar to
“The Walk Home” because it’s called
something very ordinary which turns out to
be not so ordinary at all.

3.  This font is edgy and sharp, connotes to fear. The
typography resembles splatters of mud, which
incorporates and links to the films theme of
nature and a graveyard.
 The font appears to be etched, giving it a cryptic
feel. Many horror films have fonts with this type
of ominous, gritty typography in order to match
the sinister atmosphere of the genre. “The
Possession” is an example of this. I like how the
word “The” is small in this title. It gives the word
“possession” more prominence.

4.  A graveyard is a stereotypical setting for a horror film as their
associated with scary things like the un-dead, zombies and
demons, also many daunting figures around such as
gravestones etc, perfect for the genre of horror.
 It is a very effective setting because of the creepiness and all
its connotations. They connote to gloom and sorrow, as this
is were people often come to mourn or visit the dead.
 After looking at “The Gravedancers”, which is also set in a
graveyard, shows that it’s a perfect location for a horror film
because it received positive reviews and was chosen as one
of the 8 Films To Die For in 2006 at an annual horror film
festival.
 Furthermore, the shed used for the party scene is supposed
to represent a typical place were a teenager/young adult
would through a party, so that the audience, who are young
adults, can relate. It provides a rustic, urban theme.

5.  The main character is wearing a long coat and thick,
comfortable tracksuit trousers. He is dressed very reserved
and covered up, giving the feeling of unease and secrecy
to the audience.
 The clothes are very are bulky and warm, implying that it’s
cold outside. The fact that the weather is cold adds to the
films eerie, ghostly feel. Its almost as if its pathetic fallacy;
the iciness of the air hints to the cold-hearted, callous plot
line.
 For props, I used a disco ball in order to
make the party scene as realistic as
possible. The multi-coloured lights
provides a party atmosphere, which is
what I intended to create.
 The goriness of the ripped off arm
indications to the horror genre because of
its gruesome flesh and bone.

6.  The graveyard scene starts with an establishing shot. In the 2009 horror movie
“Drag me to hell”, this is also done to capture all of the graves within the picture,
adding suspense and mystery to the location.
 In “Drag me to hell”, the size of some of the grave stones diminishes, therefore
appearing a lot smaller to the viewer. By using the graveyard from a high angle
you make whatever the focus is not very powerful in the daunting surroundings.
 In my opening sequence, stopping and starting of the music creates tension and
creates a suspenseful feeling that something bad is about to happen.
 Tension is an integral part of any horror film. The variety and suitability of my
video transitions creates, in my opinion, a realistic feel to my project as the
different choices and different lengths have been judged correctly.
 The grey/green colour grading in “Drag me to hell” is also similar to my opening.
The colour grey connotes to murkiness and fog. Fog puts you in a state of haze
and blocks you from seeing beyond a certain point, which is why grey is a perfect
colour in order to create mystery.
 In “Jennifer’s Body”, the film opens with a tracking shot through someone's
garden. The tracking shot makes it seem as if someone is walking through the
garden, showing that there maybe a stalker theme to it, making the scene seem
creepy. It is also set in the night like most horror films are, so the use of shadows
and not being able to see around you has the audience fearful of what might
jump out from the shadows

7.  The colourful lights in the party scene give off a
trippy feel, which helps portray that the main
character is drunk. It also allows the audience to
feel/imagine what the character is feeling.

8.  The cliff-hanger at the end of the opening is designed to create
tension and make the audience ask questions like; what will the
demon do next and what happened to the boy? Cliff-hangers
are often used in the genre of horror to do as so. For example,
the movie “Sinister” opens with Super 8 footage depicting a
family standing beneath a tree with sacks over their heads and
nooses around their necks. An unseen figure saws through a
branch acting as a counterweight, causing their deaths by
hanging. This leaves the audience wanting to know the
backstory of this footage and who the unseen figure is.
 The party scene implies that is night time and therefore dark outside. The dark and night
connote to fright, fear and the unknown, already foreshadowing that something bad is
going to happen, which is a standard theme in a horror film.
 As the main character is at a party, this also infers he has been drinking alcohol, meaning
the he will not be in a sober headspace, again suggesting that something will go wrong
due to his intoxication.
 The still of the severed hand at the end of the opening sequence suggests that this is the
main plot for the film because it is the major climax and scare of the sequence.

9.  The demon/zombie is introduced very minimally to add suspense and
mystery to it’s appearance. This, like most horror films, is done to make
the audience want to keep watching to find out what the demon looks
like.
 For example, the 2009 horror movie “Forget Me Not” opens with a
suspenseful, mysterious plot. A young girl is running through a graveyard
at night, unbeknownst to the audience why and who she is.
This crab shots gives off the
feeling there’s someone
watching ‘Ellis’. This is when the
stalker/zombie is introduced,
however, her/his identity is
never shown physically to
maintain suspicion and mystery.