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

2. Narrative
When we were establishing our plot we took all features and conventions of the
horror genre into consideration. This included aspects such as typical: lighting,
sound, shots, props and colour.
The storyline of our film is based around one character, called Greg, who is stuck
with a job that he doesn’t enjoy. By day Greg is just a children’s entertainer
down on their luck. However at night, unaware of his actions, we find that his
unstable mental state makes him adapt a murderous nature as a killer clown. We
established this plot by researching horror films to give us ideas, one film that was
inspired us was ‘100 tears’. This film also features a killer clown who is drove to kill
due to his mental state.
Our title sequences show the main character, Greg, during a nightmare and we
used footage of him sleeping combined with flashbacks to his dream. We used
flashbacks within this section as we thought it would help the audience to
understand the storyline better. We also used these flashbacks at the beginning
of our film, as they are significant to our storyline because they give information
on what events are going to develop further on in the plot. Our film is classed as
non-linear because the storyline doesn’t flow and it isn’t continuous because of
these flashback scenes.

3. Camera
We considered the different ways we could film our footage such as using a range of:
angles, shots movements and positions. However we also tried to focus on showing the
audience that we understood the codes and conventions of both an opening
sequence and our genre.
We use multiple high angle shot within the first two minutes of our film to convey to the
audience that the genre of our film is horror. High angled shots are often used within
horror films as they can convey the vulnerability of characters and this make the
audience feel on edge as they will be expecting something to happen to them
throughout the film.
Below are examples of the low angled shots that I used:

4. Camera
We got the inspiration to use high angled shots from Stephen king’s IT as he uses a high
angled shots to show vulnerability when he introduces a character who is about to be
murdered.
We also used a low angled shot within our film to make our main character, Greg the murderer,
look powerful:

5. Camera
Our group also used multiple close up shots within the first two minutes of our film to
introduce the main character Greg. We also used this shot as close up shots are
generally used within horror films to show the audience how characters are feeling.
Below examples of the close up shots we used:

6. Editing
Within the first two minutes of the film we didn’t use continuity editing as we used many
jump cuts between showing Greg in bed and the flashbacks that he believes to be a
nightmare. We edited some shots to make them only appear for a short period of time
and this made our film develop at a fast pace. We also made the shots appear on the
screen for different times and the changes were out of rhythm with the music. This will
make the start of the film look unnatural and this make the audience feel
uncomfortable as it will conveys straight away that our film is within the horror genre. A
film that we got the inspiration from was ‘Bloody Mary’ as shown below, tittle sequence
had a very fast pace:
A link to the title sequence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXzQ65gbrM0

7. Sound
Throughout the title sequence of the film we use stereotypical unsettling horror
movie music. This is effective as it will make the audience feel nervous that
something may be about to happen and it conveys to them straight away that
our film is a horror film. We used other sound effects such as harsh chimes when
Greg finds a body in the woods as it will draw the audience’s attention to the
serious situation on the screen. After the open titles have been shown we used no
sound in the background. This will have resulted in the audience being surprised
to see two more very quick flashbacks that are shown once Greg is awake and
this will make the audience nervous to expect other surprises which will keep
them interested in watching the film. We didn’t use any further sound in the
opening two minutes as we wanted the audience to focus on the conversation
that Greg and Joanne had in the kitchen.

8. Mise-En-Scene
The main costume that we used was the one that the killer clown wore:
However to make the clown look more conventional to the horror genre we wanted to
make the clown look messy and scruffy so we decided to use black face paint and we
ripped the outfit to create this effect and make it more realistic. Also we used fake
blood on the costume to symbolize that the clown is the killer in our horror movie.

9. Mise-En-Scene
We used multiple locations within the first two minutes of our film:
These locations were chosen as they had conventional aspects that links them with our
genre. For example wood are often featured in horror film and the colour red and black
that feature in the bedroom suggest danger and mystery. Further explanation of the
locations can be found on our blog.
We used props such as household objects when we were filming indoors as they made
the scene look more believable and natural. For example when we filmed in the kitchen
we had Joanne make Greg a cup of tea as they were speaking, this made the scene
look realistic.

10. Typography
The font that the opening titles are written in is edge and almost like a typewriter style
which is effective as this style is often associated with crime such as hate/stalking
messages. We used this as whilst the titles are being shown Greg is being follow by the
killer clown. Actors names, editors and the film distribution company’s name will appear
on the screen in write writing. We chose the white bold writing as it will contrast with the
dark scenes that are taking place behind it to highlight the importance of the
distribution company. The main title ‘The Entertainer’ will appear in red as this will
suggest to the audience that the film features danger. The main titles will also be in
larger writing to emphasise the importance of the name of our film.

11. Iconography
During the beginning of the film visual conventions of the horror genre were
featured. This includes the fake blood that was used on the victims t-shirt and the
clown’s costumes which suggests that the genre is a horror since there are
connotations that a murder has just taken place. We also used visual effects such
as gloomy lighting which we edited onto the footage on the software final cut
express. This gloomy lighting will add an uneasy atmosphere to the film and will
convey that the film is going to a horror that features mystery.