A description on how we did our media.

1. HOW DOES OUR PRODUCT CHALLENGE
CONVENTIONS AND HOW DOES IT
REPRESENT SOCIAL GROUPS OR ISSUES
Liam Willoughby

2. HOW WE MATCHED THE GENRE WE CHOSE
• Themes of classic horror
• Setting, tone and atmosphere set during the film
• The characters and role in the film
• The eerie sound used to set tone and atmosphere

3. THEMES OF CLASSIC HORROR
• In our film we included certain themes and elements that added to
making our film conventional horror, these are:
• Costumes used, such as the clown mask we used for the antagonist of
the film.
• The props we used such as the knife used by the killer clown and the
flashlights while in the dark.
• The setting we used to film the scenes was in a dark abandoned house
and this created a perfect setting for our film. This also allowed us to
use minimal lighting to create a sense of fear for the audience. These
all added to us creating elements of conventual horror.

4. MISE EN SCENE
• Location: The location we used was an abandoned
house. We used this because it was the perfect
setting for the story we had in mind and fit the
genre accurately. This location allowed us to have
the correct atmosphere of a dark place with
minimal light. Although while filming we had
problems with our location due to issues with
property owners. The picture was our original
location but we were forced to change. Although
the second location was not to different and also
had a similar setting to it. The issue with the
change of location was that it required us to
reshoot every scene we already film and slowed
down editing. Also the new location had rooms
that had a lot of echo while we were shooting
scenes with dialogue. This made certain scenes
harder to hear while editing.

5. GENRE
• Genre/Setting: The setting we were
aiming for was dark and abandoned.
We felt this fit the genre perfectly
because it had numerous elements of
conventional horror. This allowed us to
integrate certain characters into this
setting that also matched the
conventions of horror, such as having a
killer clown. We also added to the
setting and genre through the editing.
We did this by adding certain sound
effects such as the evil laughter and
doors slamming shut. This added to the
atmosphere of the opening to our film.
• Also we included certain props in our
opening that helped add to the making
of our film of the conventional horror
genre. These props were the clown
mask, the knife and torches. All these
helped add to the genre because these
are all elements of conventional horror,
they add to the experience for the
audience and makes them feel
immersed in the film they are watching.

6. CAMERA WORK
• In our opening we included a
variety of camera shots that
added to the theme and genre of
horror. An example of these is the
long shot we used to establish the
setting we were in and also show
our antagonist in the background.
We wanted to show him turning
the other way not facing the
camera to add a sense of mystery
to the character, leaving the
audience wondering what he
would look like.

7. NARRATIVE • In our opening for our film we wanted
our narrative to come across as
understandable yet realistic. Our
narrative is about three boys visiting a
house expecting a party after receiving a
note. This plot will come across as easy
to grasp for the audience and also
understand able. Here we focused on
our target audience a lot and focused on
the age group we were aiming for. This
is clear from the whole party aspect of
the film. This makes it more relatable to
the audience watching the film and
therefore more enjoyable. This aspect of
the film also looks at social groups and
how they are portrayed in modern film.
‘Reckless teenagers’ is the attitude
adopted by the characters in our
opening.

8. NARRATIVE
• While filming our opening we came
across many things that we wanted
to change in our film. We did this
because we felt it worked better
story wise and made more sense
when it came to editing. An example
of this is that on our original story
board we wanted the character of the
clown to be an old man who died and
was haunting the house. Although
later on down the line plans changed
and we made it so the clown was a
maniac killer we was toying with the
boys in the house and picking them
off one by one.
• We chose to make this change
because it we felt that we could do
more with different camera shots
and plot devices if the clown was a
killer. For example we wanted to
have a shot with the clown killer at
the school standing behind the boy
while they were walking. If the clown
was a ghost haunting a house this
wouldn’t work and would make the
school scene feel irrelevant.
Therefore we made the antagonist a
killer so that we could add to the
feeling that the boys were always
being watched by this maniac, which
in turn makes the audience wonder if
he was watching the whole time,
making them feel uncomfortable.

9. NARRATIVE
• Another thing that also changed was
the storyline of the opening. We
wanted originally for the boys to
start at school and then later on
make their way to the house. This
would follow a similar narrative path
as described by the narrative theorist
Todorov. We later decided to change
this and open with the boys entering
the house and then showing them
how they got there. This challenges
Todorov’s theory and throws the
viewer right into the action.
• We felt this would be the most
appropriate approach because
audiences going to see a horror
movie are there to be scared, which
is something we also discovered
from our questionnaire. To give the
audience that feeling immediately
when they begin watching the movie
gives them the most satisfaction
when watching a horror movie. This
is why we decided to challenge
Todorov’s narrative theory, because
it takes the audience by surprise and
throws them out of their comfort
zone. This is the ultimate goal for a
horror movie.

10. EDITING
• Our editing process was very
important in the making of our final
product. While editing we wanted to
include numerous elements that add
to the genre of conventional horror.
We did this by doing things such as
adding sound effects like doors
slamming shut and adding ominous,
eerie music to help set a scene. By
adding these elements it allowed us
to create a certain atmosphere in
each scene. We felt this was crucial to
the product because this would
determine how the audience viewed
the scene (alone with visuals).
• During our stages of editing we ran
into some issues. These issues were
during our break, I myself and
another member of our group went
away traveling. This lead to
confusion and a mix up with the
footage, putting a hold on editing and
ultimately slowing down the
production of the final product. In
the end though we put in the work
hours after school and finished the
opening.

11. SOCIAL GROUPS
Characters represented

12. CHARACTER REPRESENTATION
The three boys:
• In our film the characters of the three
boys go to house after they have been
invited by a note they found. They do
not know who wrote this note or
where it came from. Immediately the
audience can recognize these
characters as reckless and naïve. In a
way the audience could feel sympathy
for these characters because they
know where the story is heading and
the fate for the boys.
• The reason we portrayed the boys as
reckless is because we wanted our
target audience to relate with these
characters. Our target audience was
young adults. Therefore they have
passed their teenage years and they to
could have made some reckless
decisions during their time. Therefore
this invests the audience into these
characters and makes them ‘root’ for
them throughout the film. This makes
their demise even more tragic and
therefore has a strong element of
conventional horror.

13. CHARACTER REPRESENTATION
• The killer clown
• The character of the killer clown in our
film is a lot of mystery behind him. We
did not want to reveal to much about the
character of the clown because with the
audience knowing so little about him,
they feel threated. They feel threatened
because the character does not appear to
have many human traits. This makes him
hard to connect with and makes it clear
to the audience that he is the antagonist
of the film.

14. LIAM WILLOUGHBY
• In our film we have included many
elements for the genre of conventional
horror. We have done this through the
use of mise en scene, editing, camera
work, narrative and the characters. All
of these factors have added to the
development of Clown Face and
justified our reasoning for taking on
this project. Although there were a few
issues along the way we over came
them and produced a strong product.