The document discusses conventions used in psychological horror films and how the author's media product incorporates these conventions. Specifically, it mentions using themes of blood and eerie music in the title sequence. The title sequence focuses on the murder of three bodies to set the tone. Psychological horror conventions discussed include using a female protagonist to subvert expectations, settings like houses and parks, flashbacks to explain the killer's motives, and unsettling sounds and music to build tension. The author aimed to follow these conventions to create suspense for the audience.

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

2. My media product uses all of the major conventions used within
the horror genre.
One of the conventions which I used was the theme of blood as
this was a common theme used within the majority of horror
films including the ones which I researched into.
The use of eerie music was also present in my title sequence
which was quite slow and at some points created tension in my
sequence.
My title sequence was focused on murder which is quite clear to
see through the shots which included a total of three bodies.

3. Why I chose to do an opening
sequence for a horror film
I decided to create a horror opening sequence as I have always
been fascinated in how they are able to convey the eeriness of
the film. I felt that this genre would also be easier for me to stay
focused on and to give out the effects which I want to convey.

4. Research into genre
Horror films have always been popular with many different
audiences with there not being just one specific type as there
are several different sub-genres within horror including the
physiological horror which I decided to do for my opening
sequence.
Through my research I found that the majority of psychological
horrors have males who are the psychotic killers and I wanted to
go against the common trend and make my main protagonist a
female.

5. Representation
Commonly people who are classed as psychopath are shown as
Uncaring
To have shallow emotions
irresponsible
To have insincere speech
Overconfident
Have a narrowing of attention
selfish
Violent
Psychopath
A person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal
or violent social behaviour.

6. Conventions of the genre
Some of the main codes and conventions that you will see in any
psychological horror film are as follows:
Weapons
When watching a Psychological horror, the weapons you tend to
see are not actual physical weapons, but tend to be more
supernatural and psychological. For example, the killer’s twisted
minds act a weapon of fear against the victims in the film.

7. Settings
Some of the main settings you will see time and time again
when watching a Psychological horror film are big houses,
forest/ woodland areas, ware houses, schools, and hospitals and
so on. These types of settings create realism for the target
audience as they can relate to the film on some level, having
seen or are currently live in these settings. This increases the
fear and suspense for the audiences are they begin to picture
themselves in these positions.
Following the codes of psychological horrors I had
Based my settings in an fairly average house and a
Children’s park.

8. Sights
When watching a psychological horror film, often there are
flashbacks that take the audience back to see why the killer is
disturbed and to explain what happened to them in their lives
that has lead them to become mentally challenged.
We also may see silhouettes which can terrify the audiences.

9. Sounds
Common sounds/ music that we hear when watching a
Psychological Horror film are; Contrapuntal Sound- this is sound
that doesn’t match the action that is on screen.
This contradicts the action taking place on screen and adds to
the paranormal fears of the film.
Psychological horror films use eerie music, like other sub genres
to build tension and to create suspense.
I added eerie music to my title sequence as this helped to create
suspense for my audience.

10. Characters
A disturbed, or tormented individual is the main protagonist,
and usually comes back to get revenge on their victims. The
victims can differ but like any horror film, a mass amount of the
victims are female. The uses of children as the killers are also
very popular. E.g. the Orphan and the Omen
When psychological horror films use children as the killer, again,
the victims tend to be female. This could have something to do
with the fact that mothers are maternal and the female
audiences watching will be able to relate to the characters in
some way.
For this I had the some of the victims as females however the
majority of them were female.

11. Generally, this type of horror tends to be more subtle, meaning
there is less physical harm and bloody gore visible to the
viewers. Psychological horrors create discomfort in the viewer
by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities
and fears.
They expose the evil that hides behind normality, but with
splashes of the paranormal which the audience is unable to
relate to completely.
Some say that this sub-genre shouldn’t be linked to horror,
because it relates more to the thriller genre, but in psychological
horrors one of the main purposes of the film is to frighten the
audience mentally, whereas this is not always the case in
thrillers.