The document discusses how the opening sequence for a horror/thriller film uses conventions of the genre. It establishes the main protagonist finds her mother dead after hearing strange noises in the house. This increases tension and surprises the audience with a twist. Music and editing are used to build tension and suspense. The sequence represents teenagers and young adults as the target audience by showing the main character vulnerable from drinking. Gender and culture are also represented by portraying females as more vulnerable victims.

1. Qu e s t io n 1 - In what ways
does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media
product?

2. • The genre that we chose for our opening
sequence is Horror/thriller. These types of films
look for a way to provoke a negative emotional
reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most
primal fears. The most important characteristic is that they
astonish the viewer through scenes of ghoulish and the
supernatural. Horror films mostly deal with the audience’s
nightmares, hidden worst fears, and fear of the unknown.
• A film is categorized as a horror film if it contains a plot
about death, and serial killers. Themes that are most
common in typical horror films include ghosts, torture,
gore, werewolves, ancient curses, satanism, demons,
vicious animals, vampires, cannibals, haunted houses,
zombies and serial killers and the list can go on and on.
• Examples of films that are recognized as horror movies
include Universal's Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931) and
paranormal activity.

3. • A film can be seen as a horror movie by the atmosphere
created in the movie e.g. through mise en scene, lighting
and the setting. Lighting is used to create shadows and put
emphasis on specific things for example on the eyes or the
hands and this creates tension and enigma. The shadows
created add a mysterious mood and makes the audience
pay more attention because they don’t know what’s
happening in the background and the audience will pay
attention on the thing that the light is concentrated on e.g.
the eyes.
• However, the mise en scene has a huge impact on the
atmosphere of the movie because all the audience can see
is the camera frame and everything in it is the mise en
scene. Blood, shadows, sudden changes all signify horror.
The narrative structure of any type of horror/thriller
is different but all have a pattern of
increasing tension.

4. • For example in our opening sequence the main protagonist
first comes into the house then she starts hearing sounds in
the house and this scares the audience creating tension and
enigma and the audience what to know what is happening
e.g. who is making the sounds? Then she finds out that her
mother is the person who is making this sounds and she sees
her crying and holding a picture of her with a candle next to it
suggesting that she’s dead,(but she doesn’t know that) at this
point she discovers that she’s
been strangled and dead.
This bit is the twist and it
shocks the audience.

5. • The form of our opening sequence covers the features of an
opening sequence because it gradually increases tension and it
ends with a shock/twist effect. Also the job of our footage is to thrill
and shock and I think that our footage is successful in doing this
because when I watch it back it actually shocks and thrills me.
• The style of our opening sequence is like all the other films. The
sound track that we used was menacing and eerie music and we
used this type of music because of our genre chosen and to build
up tension and this adds more horror and this achieves our purpose
which is to make the audience fearful of what is coming or what will
happen and this type of music also makes the audience feel that
something bad will happen and sets the atmosphere and the mood.
It also makes the audience want to continue watching the movie to
find out what will happen to the girl etc.
• The editing pace first flows really well and smoothly to create a
natural feel to the film but then it starts to cut and cut to create a
sense of rising tension and the “Oh my God what will happen?”
effect. The colors used also shows and suggest our chosen genre
which is horror/ thriller; the colors used were dull, brownish and
kind of Smokey to make the atmosphere seem spooky and that
something is hiding and will be revealed.

6. Qu e s t io n 2 - How does
your media product represent
particular social groups?

7. • Our opening sequence represents different age groups in particular
teenagers and young adults which are our chosen audience. This is
because it reflects their rebellious nature and their love to go out to
parties and get drunk without any help or guidance about anything
which makes them more vulnerable than the other age groups.
• As a result, in our opening sequence the main protagonist is killed
because she couldn’t defend herself from the person who killed her
because she was too drunk and this is demonstrated by the way she
is dressed and the way she walks into the house.
• This also can represents the British culture because the most age
group that die are teenagers and young adults due to being unable to
protect themselves for the reason that they are under the influence of
drugs or alcohol.
• Gender plays an important role because
I think that females are most likely to be
killed due to their soft and caring nature.
Making them more vulnerable than
males and this is due to the males
having an aggressive and stronger
nature.