This document discusses how the media product both conforms to and challenges conventions of real media. It conforms by effectively building suspense through music and setting an eerie scene in a graveyard and chapel. It develops conventions by intentionally creating confusion about whether scenes are dreams or reality. It challenges conventions by avoiding fake blood, using natural lighting instead of low key lighting for practical reasons, and including a voiceover at the end instead of no dialogue.

1. In What Ways Does Your Media
Product Use, Develop or Challenge
Forms and Conventions of Real
Media Products?
Question 1

2. Use forms and conventions of real
media products?
• Our media product conforms conventions by effectively building
suspense. The music change’s throughout and although folley
would have made our piece seem more realistic, the music we
chose was ideal for tension building.
• It also conforms to conventions by having an eerie setting. The
grave yard and the chapel all effectively created enigma by
wondering why the character was there.
• The costume that our main character was in conformed because
she was either mentally disturbed or the media product would have
been a paranormal take.
• It also conforms conventions by have very long shots with cut-a-way
of frightening images. In the film opening of “se7en” it is entirely
just cut-a-ways, which is what gave us our idea to use cut-a-ways.

3. Develop forms and conventions of real
media products?
• Our media product develops the thriller/horror genre
due to lack of clarity. We found it extremely difficult to
make it clear to the viewer that when the character
wake’s up in bed it isn’t a dream but in fact when she is
in the hospital gown is the end of the film and the
character waking up is the start of the film.
• Just before the character wake’s up in bed there is a
collection of shots that’s included which we added in
to create more enigma and less sense. We wanted to
create confusion and for the viewer to feel intrigued
into what they’re watching. This was also another great
technique used to build the suspense.

4. Challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
• As our film opening is a horror we decided against using any fake
blood or weapons. We decided it would make it more realistic and
less amateur if we didn’t use it.
• Most horrors for example “Blair witch project” have low key lighting
and the viewer finds it hard to establish what they’re actually
looking at. Our media product was natural lighting outside the
chapel and high key lighting inside the chapel. This was due to when
we was able to take the opportunity to film and when we was
granted permission to be inside the chapel. Although low key
lighting could have made our piece slightly more effective it would
have been harder to see anything at all because we was unable to
put any light to the outside.
• Also, our piece had a voice over towards the end. This doesn’t
conform conventions as most effective horror opening doesn’t
include any dialogue to build suspense.