This document discusses how the student's media product uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real horror films. The opening title sequence includes elements like: a mysterious title ("The Unseen") that hints at the plot; a run-down shed setting that lacks context; props like candles, spiders, and fake blood used in ritualistic clips; and a genre-typical montage style without dialogue. Inspiration was drawn from films like [REC] 2, House of 1000 Corpses, Arachnophobia, and Paranormal Activity regarding atmosphere, lighting, incorporation of fears/rituals. The goal was to look low-budget and "homemade" while still setting up genre expectations for the audience.

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

2. Title of the film
'The Unseen'
During the planning and research stage, my partner and I decided to base
our film upon paranormal activity of some sort. So, as we were
focused on this initial idea, we wanted to hint at the story's overall
plot, through the use of the title. And we felt that 'The Unseen' fit
perfectly, as it suggests that the things which occur during the film
cannot be explained by natural forces, instead they're the creation of
something that we are unable to control or foresee. Also I think that
'The Unseen' relates well to other horror film titles (e.g. The
Awakening, The Tunnel.) as they give you a slight insight as to what
the film is going to be like. Overall, I feel our title is relevant to the
initial plot of the film and therefore it works well.

3. Location/Setting
We had a few different options for this, as we managed to select a range
of different areas which we were able to set our film; as we mentioned
in the planning and research section of our blogs. However when it
eventually came down to it we didn't really need anywhere
spectacular, we needed somewhere simple. Luckily for us, Kate had
the perfect place in her garden! The shed had been neglected over the
years, as it had been used merely for storage, so the interior was
slightly damaged, with many collected cobwebs hanging from the
ceiling. This was our ideal location, although it's become evident that
you're not actually able to see the surroundings, so the location seems
to be a slight mystery, however this adds to the films edgy
atmosphere, and a common convention of the horror genre. It fits in
well with the horror genre, as you're not aware of the surroundings
and therefore you don't know exactly what is going on, instead you
only have a rough idea, this also means there aren't any specific
meanings linked to the overall plot.

4. Costumes/Props
Our initial idea involved having a main character appear within our
opening, so we did some planning and developing on costume ideas,
which involved make-up/clothing, however after watching and
receiving feedback from our draft video, it became evident that we
weren't going to achieve the effect that we wanted to. This lead to us
changing our idea, which lead to us deciding not to involved a
character, instead we focused on the props (candles, matches,
cobwebs, spiders, blood and newspaper clippings) and 'rituals' that
were performed using the props, so only our hands were filmed. This
develops the conventions of the horror genre, as our lack of character
helps to create a tense atmosphere, as what is happening isn't exactly
clearly, it doesn't give much away, there is anonymity; this suggest
that anything is possible, which is a main convention of horror
nothing is impossible.

5. Props:

6. Title font/style
Throughout our title sequence we've kept our typography consistent,
instead of switching between different fonts; this is a typical
convention of most film openings. The reason why we decided on this
particular font is due to it resembling our chosen genre, most
effectively, and so that it catches the audiences eye. However instead
of using bright colours, we thought white would be more effect, as it
'ghostly' and therefore this carries on our idea of paranormal activity.
We were influenced by the simplicity of the film 'Insidious', their title
also seemed to be fairly simple yet effective.
We didn't change the typography when introducing the production
companies and cast, as we didn't want to abandon our 'eerie'
atmosphere, and therefore we decided being consistent was our best
option.

7. Plot – How the opening sets it up
We didn't include any dialogue in our title sequence, instead we took a
different approach; we didn't lead on any significant information, as
we didn't want to give the plot. So we made our title sequence into a
montage of clips; of different rituals, which appear to be related to
each other. This hints to the idea that our plot is based upon
paranormal activity, hauntings etc.

8. Genre – How the opening sets it up
To follow the usual conventions of the horror genre, we decided to make
our opening into a montage of different clips, which appears to be
fairly common within horror films, such as House Of 1000 Corpses.
Also to make our film seem more 'home made' we didn't use a tripod,
instead we wanted to use the shaky camera technique to our
advantage, so our footage would look of lower quality and therefore
would be seen to be more believable to the audience.
To make our film reflect it's genre we've tried to play on the audiences
primal fears, which we researched beforehand, so we included blood
(watered down) and a spider (that was not harmed during the making
of our video, as it was most certainly already dead) We also created a
creepy atmosphere by using candles, so the audience would be on
edge, and this builds up to the actually film, as they wouldn't know
what to expect.

9. Special effects
Special effects are a very important conventional aspect of horror films,
as in many cases you have to create things which are not possible in
reality. However we didn't have enough funding to produce something
of Hollywood film standards. Instead we used things that we could
easily get our hands on, such as candles and matches. To create the
fake blood we used a range of different ingredients (syrup, flour,
tomato ketchup and water) so we were able to create the desired
consistency. Though this is a disadvantage, as we wanted to produce
something of lower quality, so that seemed more realistic.

10. Film Inspirations

11. Film inspiration: [REC] 2 (2010)
As you can see from the pictures they have used a range of different
newspapers cutting, which include a collection of news articles about
possessions and hauntings. This gives the film a sense of reality,
which could make the overall experience of the film scarier for the
audience, as it they might find it more believable. We attempted to
recreate this scene, however we didn't
have enough resources or props to create
something of such high quality. Though
I feel what we were able to produce puts
across the idea that it homemade, and
this helps to create a sense of reality
which leads to suspense for the audience.

12. Film inspiration: House Of A 1000
Corpses (2003)
Candles create an eerie atmosphere within the shots that they appear.
They are perfect for low key lighting which is required for a horror
film, they're also essential to create a dark and creepy atmosphere, to
build tension, which is why we incorporated them into our title
sequence. Candles are also associated with things like hauntings and
exorcisms, as they're placed around a room to add suspense.

13. Film inspiration: Arachnophobia (1990)
This film plays on the audiences primal fears/phobias of spiders, as
'arachnophobia' is very common, therefore by including spiders within
our title sequence we're easily able to create a creepy atmosphere.
(Though I would like to restate my point; the spider that we used
within our title sequence, is definitely dead. So no living animal was
harmed in the making of our sequence)
Spiders are often associated with the horror
genre, due to their appearance, as they're not
aesthetically pleasing. But also as they can
be dangerous, as many are poisonous.

14. Film inspiration: Paranormal Activity 2
(2010)
The Paranormal Activity films heavily influenced our title
sequence, as they're based on the 'unknown' so you're unable to
known exactly what is going on, it creates a mysterious edge to the
story. In this scene the maid appears to be performing some sort of
ritual, in attempt to protect them against
'evil spirits'. Which we adapted in our title
sequence; and therefore we were able to
imply that we were also performing some
type of ritual, which links our opening to
our initial plot and gives the audience more
of an insight in to what we were hoping to
achieve and produce.