The document discusses how the opening of a horror film media product challenges conventions through its characterization and style. Specifically: - It features a female antagonist, challenging the typical male antagonist. Her casual demeanor undermines the male detective's authority. - It uses slower editing and more dialogue than typical fast-paced horror openings. Tension is built through the conversation rather than cutting. - The title uses a plain font rather than a bold horror-related font, which challenges conventions. - Other unconventional elements include the use of a clock ticking to indicate time passing, normal clothing rather than horror-themed costumes, and conveying horror through shots other than close-ups of props.

1. Q1. how does your
product challenge the
conventions of real
media products?

2. Characters
The antagonist is usually given prevalence in horror films
and shown as one of the main characters next to the
protagonist. Our us of a female antagonist is
unconventional because usually antagonists male and more
obviously physically intimidating. The character is that of
a female fatale who doesn’t take the detective seriously
and is clearly not bothered by the gruesome crimes she had
committed. This type of character is shown in Basic
Instinct as well as Pulp Fiction and these were our main
inspirations for our female antagonist character
The male detective character is a stock character in the sense
that he is a classic 1st victim in a horror film. Because he is a
detective he makes the audience feel safe and lures them into a
false sense of security. This isn’t massively threatened by the
female antagonists blasé nature however it undermines his
authority and gives the feeling that she is in control. This
contrasts with patriarchal ideologies in society that women are
less dominant than men and less intellectually and physically
imposing. Once the detective is killed the audience would feel
a sense of tension and they would feel constantly on edge
because its already been established that any one character
could be killed. The film Halloween also does this in its
opening when the main antagonist is a young boy who kills his
sister implying that no one is safe.

3. The husband s face is never shown,
this creates enigma and an air of
mystery which adds to the horror
conventions and also implies that the
killer could be anyone.
The idea of having a husband and wife
double act was inspired by Bonnie and
Clyde and the actual main reason for
only showing POV shots of the husband
was because we couldn’t find a
realistic actor to portray him.
However we were also partially
inspired again by Halloweens opening
and its use of POV shots of the knife
which created enigma and suspense
around who's point of view was
actually being shown.

4. Mise-en-scene
Aswell as the cigarette we
used a bloody knife which
can be seen in all three
locations. This type of
prop is makes it obviously
that the opening is that of
a horror film, this was
important to emphasise
because the interrogation
scene might lead the
audience to think they were
watching a thriller film.
We used a single desk lamp for
lighting, this gave the shots an
eerie feel and single lamps are
also widely used for
interrogations in movies. We
took inspiration for our low key
lighting on the two characters
from The Dark Knight (Jackson,
2010) we also thought it would
be a good idea because we didn’t
want it to be to be too obvious
that I’m 16 because the
detective in the film is meant
to be much older.
We used a cigarette as a prop, we were
inspired by the character of Mia Wallace
from Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994). The
cigarette gives the image of a female
fatale, we included this because we
wanted her to be laid back and calm in
the face of being interrogated. The
dominant female character wasn’t
conventional of horror and it challenged
residual ideologies that women are less
intimidating than men.
Our title was a plain serif font in
white on a black back ground. This
wasn’t massively conventional of
horror because a lot of horror films
will include references to the plot
in their titles.

5. soundFree sound and YouTube were two sites we used when looking for sound to use in our
opening. One of the most unusual features of our project was the inclusion of a semi-
continuous clicking noise which showed that time was passing. It was non-diegetic and its
main use other than showing that time had passed was to suspend the sense of tension that
is present during the opening
Getting the various sound levels correct was
important. We lowered the volume during the parts
where the actor was speaking because this made it
easy to hear clearly what was being said. We also
used the sound effect of a camera flash as a photo
is taken. The noise was old fashioned and added to
the openings noir nature, it also reinforced to the
audience that the police were involved and it was
an official investigation.
In horror films there tends to be a slow beat
throughout with sound focussed on action
areas that release visceral pleasure. Our
production did this as well so it was in this
respect conventional of the horror genre.

6. Editing
When you watch our opening one of the first things
you pick up on would be the cutting rate, which is
slow compared to other films of the horror genre.
This slow cutting rate goes against normal horror
conventions which tend to be fast paced to suit the
action. We chose a slower rate because our opening
contains a lot of dialogue.
We did also employ a faster cutting rate in the
flashback scenes this created contrast with the
rest of our piece and was conventional of horror.
So in terms of editing and more specifically
cutting rate we were both conventional and non-
conventional.
We chose to desaturate our footage using image controls. This took a lot
of the orange light from the lamp away, this improved the overall look of
the footage aesthetically as well as making the footage look more typical
and conventional of the horror genre. Another affect it had was making the
lighting look more lowkey.

7. Typography
We used a plain white font called Adobe
Calson Pro on a black back ground. We
chose it because it was typical film
noir and its plain and easy to read. As
I said its very plain and this
challenges conventions as many films
use more obviously horror related fonts
that include features like being
written in blood. Our title challenges
conventions of horror through its lack
of conventions of horror.
We thought a lot about hierarchy with our
typography. The titles first show the actors names
followed by producer , director and the film
title. Each name was in larger font than there
role because this looked professional .
“Causation” was the largest word, because it’s the
title of the film, obviously.
Monsters was our
main inspiration
for the title.

8. Camera work
Our main scene is the interrogation scene in which the
detective interviews the suspect. The interrogation
scene from The Dark Knight heavily inspired us both in
terms of content and camera work. It incorporates an
array of slow moving shots which reinforce the
unsteady undertone of the two characters as they
converse. We wanted to emulate this because we felt
it was very effective. Furthermore our shots were
quite steady as a result so it looked really rather
splendid. The steady nature of the shots could be
interpreted as unconventional because a lot of horror
films employ handi cam shots which convey unease.
Another positive from the Dark knight was the
framing which was quite intimate and as a result
had a visceral nature which made the audience feel
as if they were part of the back and forth. Our use
of over the shoulder shots also helped to keep the
tension in the conversation.

9. How our opening is not
conventional
The role of our antagonist is portrayed by a
female actress; this challenges dominant
ideologies because in most horror films the
antagonist is a male character.
Horror films are usually associated with
high cutting rates to build tension,
however our opening has a slower cutting
rate and we build tension through other
mediums like dialogue which is cool.
We used a plain pretty standard white
text font for a lot of the titles. We
chose it because it stood out clearly
and was visible against the background
but didn't take attention away from
what was happening on screen. The text
wasn't conventional because most horror
films use bold bright fonts to impose
themselves upon the audience.
Our opening featured a lot of
dialogue, this isn't normal
for horror openings because
they usually don't contain
much speech.
Not many close ups are used in
our piece, usually horror
films use many close ups to
intensify a scene or put the
focus on one particular prop
like a bloody knife or dead
body. We convey horror through
tracking shots and over the
shoulder shots.
We used a clock and had the
time clicking down which is
rather unusual and quite
innovative I think.
In terms of costume the
characters are wearing normal
clothes that don't
particularly reflect that the
opening is a horror opening.
We altered the colour for
some of our shots slightly
to give the scenes more of
an eerie feeling. We also
wanted the overall colour
scheme of our opening to
consist mainly of three
colours.

10. How our opening is
conventional
The locations is an isolated and
desolate ware house with low key
lighting, this is typical of a horror
film.
The main colours we
use are red and
black which convey
danger and death.
The exaggerated non-diegetic sound of the clock
ticking helps build tension and also conveys that
time is passing. Exaggerated sound is a convention of
horror. We also used it in the flash back where we
showed montage editing.
Props like the bloody
knife that featured in
our opening are
conventional to horror.
The location of our
typography is quite
conventional and its
positioning is similar to the
True Detective opening.
We establish enigma by hinting through
dialogue that there are two serial killers
involved. In terms of plot, our piece
centres on people being killed by serial
killers. This idea is quite conventional to
the horror genre.

11. Q.2 How does your
media product
represent particular
social groups?

12. Social groups that are represented
and how they are represented
The social groups that we do cover
are not accurately represented in my
opinion because that would imply that
many women in their 20’s have a
tendency to commit murders.
There is a binary opposition between
the male and female character as he
questions her and she gives flimsy
answers before her husband murders
him.
The antagonist in our piece is meant to be
a female in her 20’s.
Both the characters given prevalence in
our piece are white and you can’t really
tell what class group they belong to.
Although they are both relatively well
spoken which could lead to you saying they
are middle or upper class.
social status isn’t a key feature in the
opening and because only four people come
into the scenes not many social classes
are represented nor ideologies reflected.

13. How are representations
technically structured?
The female character wears a red
blouse with black trousers the colours
indicate danger and are typical of
film noir. The male character is
smartly dressed in a blazer and shirt,
this connotes that he is upper class.
This shows us using costume and mise
en scene to reflect social class.
Another factor is that a lot of
prevalence is given to the female
character which shows that she is
actually more in charge of the
situations than the detective who is
meant to be the voice of authority
Low key lighting imbeds a sense of
criminality and the one source of light
is typical of a police/detective
interrogation scene in a noir movie.

14. Representations of gender.
Both male and female characters are given equal
prevalence in our opening. A female is not the
conventional choice for a horror antagonist and
the idea of a young women committing murderous
crimes is unusual and goes against ideologies
that men would be more likely to commit such
crimes. Throughout the piece the female is
portrayed as the more intelligent character and
her persistence to not properly answer the his
questions whilst using a monotone voice shows
her lack of respect for authority. Along with
her male partner she is shown to kill only men
in the opening so she could be seen as
matriarchal. Overall in our opening the only
female character is shown to be dominant over
men but in a negative way because she is a
serial killer.

15. We challenged gender associated
ideologies with our use of sound,
mostly in terms of conversation.
Although the male character is
asking the questions the female
is controlling the conversation
by answering in a monotone voice
and not giving anything away.
This becomes more clear at the
end when the male character is
killed because the audience
realise that the female was just
stalling until her accomplished
arrived. The way in which she
ignores the questions shows she
is cold hearted, its like Drake
said “you know a girl is hurt,
when she ignores you”.

16. Q3. What type
of institution
might
distribute your
film?

17. What type of distribution company
might distribute our film?
From my own research into Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974)
I would of come to the conclusion that Bryanston Pictures should
produce our film. However I don’t think this is a good idea
because the company is American and Hasn’t released anything
decent in a while. I think the film is more suited to the
British independent route so I would choose Vertigo films as the
distribution company. From the research that I’ve done into
Monsters (Edwards, 2010). Vertigo have also released many other
British independent films like StreetDance (2011, Giwa)
Vertigo Films specialise in distributing
commercially driven independent cinema. This is
well suited to our film because it has many of the
characteristics of the independent films that
Vertigo release. For example our film would have a
low budget and no recognisable actors/actresses. It
also doesn’t contain any key talent. Our opening
would also be independent because it doesn’t
include any characteristics of a tent pole
industrial film.

18. Vertigo have made use of innovative release strategies in the past to increase buzz and
revenue. Ideally our film would appeal to a mass audience but it might only appeal to a niche
audience because it’s a low budget independent horror, because of this I think it could be
trailed at some cinemas to get feedback and then if it does well it could be released to
further cinemas.
In terms of synergistic promotional activity I don’t think our film would be able to
attract a lot of interest because of its content. Other companies might not want to be
associated with horror content involving murders. Furthermore films like The Hobbit (Jackson,
2012) were able to partake in synergistic activity with New Zealand Air because the movie is
internationally renowned and was shot in New Zealand. Our film isn’t an internationally
renowned tent pole film so I doubt it would attract such large investments from companies like
New Zealand Air.
A trailer would obviously be made and released because trailers cost very little due to
the content already being made. As well as this the film could be shown at film festivals,
independent films gain a lot of publicity as a result of being shown at these festivals
especially if they win awards. Utilising the opportunity that film festivals present for a film
like ours makes sense because one of the main purposes of film festivals is to help the
independent film making industry.

19. Guerrilla film distribution is a low budget way of
distributing promoting and marketing a film. Vertigo
have used Guerrilla film distribution in the past on
Monsters which was a huge success as a British
independent film. Moreover Guerrilla distribution
typically involves methods like flyers, stickers
posters and graffiti. However in recent times it has
developed and expanded and it is now widely used on the
internet. Instead of just drawing attention locally,
the film can be networked through individual groups on
Web 2.0. In terms of using the internet for Guerrilla
distribution events can also be organised to promote
the film, like flash mobs for example. Due to these
factors a think Vertigo films could use a viral
campaign as a really useful way of distributing the
film and making it appeal to the target audience and
even people outside the target age groups. Linking into
earlier points the use of Web 2.0 and a viral campaign
could attract a wider range of mainstream cinemas who
are prepared to show the film. Which would broaden the
films radius for being exhibited.
In the modern film industry social media is very
important for distributing both industrial and
independent films. Most modern films have social media
pages and do things like run competitions, social media
is used because its free and its particularly useful
for horror films because most of the target audience
will be on at least one social media site.

20. Q6. What have you
learnt about
technologies from
the process of
constructing this
product?

21. The blog was used to keep track
of what we were doing during the
process of producing our opening.
It was useful as a reference
point for our collaborative work
as a group. As a group we
completed the group tasks
together, on the individual tasks
we each did separate work.
We used other online tools and websites
such as YouTube as a source of
information and inspiration that we used
in our blog posts and in the actual
production of our opening. A useful
website for finding movie and TV show
openings was Art of the Title which
helped to give me a lot of ideas about
different factors in our own opening. The
creative process of producing the horror
opening has definitely opened the door
for me to a much wider range of resources
that I didn’t know I could utilise.

22. Blogger was a key feature of our coursework
because it made it easy to keep track of our
work. Blogger is pretty easy and simple to use
and it allowed us to personalise our web page to
fit the themes of our opening which was useful.
The fact that it is a simple site to understand
made it comparatively easy for us to produce
detailed blog posts quite quickly.
Blogger was also pragmatic because it gave us an easy
way to manage and place content on the web. Overall I
think running a blog was interesting because there
are currently a growing amount of blog genres on the
internet and I feel that basing one around making a
horror opening is pretty groovy and innovative.

23. Most websites on the
internet now allow the
comment function! Blogger
stays true to this trend as
Callum King demonstrates in
this screen shot.
The ability to receive and
reply to comments allows
you to receive feedback and
criticisms so we know how to
improve our posts.
We used YouTube as well as Blogger as I said
earlier. YouTube was also vital because we had to
upload all our pieces to YouTube before we embedded
them onto our Blogger blog. YouTube helped us gage
how popular our videos were and you can see one has
got near to 250 views.
YouTube is also more widely used than blogger so it
opened up everything to a wider audience which let
us receive comments from anyone. You can also see
how all our various rough cuts are presented on
YouTube.

24. Initially we had problems with casting
and location but in terms of technology
our project has run quite smoothly. To
film our work we used Ben’s DSLR camera
and a school tripod. We also made use of
the schools track and dolly so that we
could shoot tracking shots which made
our work look much more professional.
The main warehouse location for our
interrogation scene was shot on two
different sets so we had to sort out on
set problems with lighting to ensure
continuity. This meant we had to alter
the brightness/contrast of the shots
when we edited them.
As well as this we had to be aware of the rule
of thirds and the 180 rule so that are opening
made sense and looked realistic because if you
break continuity the audience will have a less
immersive viewing experience. We didn’t have
an unlimited amount of shoots to get
everything right so we have had to change and
alter some things using aftereffects, for
example some of our tracking shots were
slightly rocky so they have had to be
stabilised even though we did use steadicam.

25. Obviously the whole process required editing . The
programme we used was Premiere Elements 9.0. we also used
this for the preliminary task where we all used the soft
wear to produce various effects and just basic editing to
put shots together. We each took part in the editing and
the main thing we learnt was how to use the Premiere
programme. We used music throughout all the videos we
have produced to emphasise certain things so getting the
sound mix right and learning how to put edit sounds in
was very important.
Our opening was legitimately a whole new ball game,
before we started editing the opening the most
complex editing we had done was the split screen
inserted to the right for our preliminary.
We also had to alter the lighting and colour scheme of our piece.
To do this we used image controls to alter the saturation of
colours on the screen, another thing we did was changing the
brightness/ contrast. On the left there is a before and after . The
bottom one is the after, you can see that we made it darker and
edited the amount and degree of shadow. This basically made the
opening feel more intimidating and conventional of horror theme.
One hard thing we learnt to do was ensure consistency of colour
because otherwise it wouldn’t of looked professional.

26. Because we used two locations it was quite difficult to ensure continuity especially as
we wanted to use shots from the two shoots seamlessly and make it seem as if they were
natural and coming from the same warehouse location. Furthermore this two screen shots
below show the two separate locations which we filmed with a two week gap. This gap could
have been a problem because you might be able to tell that they were separate mainly due
to my sideburns looking much more lively in the later segment we shot at school in the
drama studio.
For our titles we took inspiration from Monsters (Edwards
2012) it’s a simple white Serif font on a black background .
This doesn’t take any attention away from what's happening on
screen so the audience thoroughly understand the story. We
added key frames and changed the size of the text, this
allowed us to have a slow zooming effect on the font. Simple
titles are also classic and conventional of independent
films.