The document analyzes how the media product meets, develops, or challenges conventions of real media products. It discusses how the short film meets conventions regarding length, structure, titles, and credits. It also covers conventions around idents, target audiences, genres, narratives, characters, locations, lighting, and more. Overall, the analysis found the film meets many conventions but also challenges some, such as having an open-ended cliffhanger ending rather than resolution.

1. I N W H A T W A Y S D O E S Y O U R M E D I A P R O D U C T
U S E , D E V E L O P O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D
C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T S ?
Q U E S T I O N 1 :

2. M E E T I N G
C O N V E N T I O N
S
• Length, form and structure of my short film:
• Overall my film is 5:08 minutes in length meaning that it exceeds
both the conventions of a short film and also applies to my brief.
According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a
short film has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all
credits; I also had to fit the conventions of my brief for my film to
be approximately 5 minutes. Therefore it is very conventional it’s
length compared to other productions such as Vincent and The
Maker.
• Titles:
• In addition to this, the conventions of the short film specify that the
credits of the film should be shown within this timeframe. Here my
product also meets these conventions as any relevant information
such as directors name and any other credibilities, such as
distribution companies, are mentioned within the opening title
sequence and end credits of the film. As this was a solo project
and I did not use any actors within the making of my film, this
allowed me to add credits within the film without exceeding the
length of the film.

3. I D E N T S :
• My products idents are conventional to the film, as they
are shown within the typical placement of the start of the
film and last around 5-7 seconds, which is a similar
length to other existing idents. In addition to this, both
companies are also mentioned within my opening credits
which again is conventional in its titles to contain within
the representation of the film.
• The idents display a clear products and distribution
company to the audience, and also represent the horror
genre of my film, which is typically shown within horror
genres such as Dark Castle Entertainment and Twisted
Pictures, both of which contain horror iconography that is
associated with the horror genre, which both of my idents
also apply to
• However, the ‘Creaking House Pictures’ uses a technique
that looks like it could be produced by hand, and displays
my animated genre of the film, which is not typical for
dents to hold as they are typically computer generated
with a modern look to represent a neutral feel about the
film such as Warner Bros and Paramount. My other ident
‘Luminosity Productions’ is computer generated, which is
typical of dents to hold.

4. T A R G E T A U D I E N C E D I S C U S S I O N
Due to the film being an animation, I found that most animated films can present more serious or violent themes within its storyline
to a younger audience as it is clear to them that no harm or serious consequence will occur as the film is not reality or using real
actors or locations. Therefore I found that by using stop motion, I will be able to target a younger audience without affecting the film
classification guidelines. As I am a fan of animation, I also found that a lot of films today, especially those of darker themes, can be
targeted to a older audience such as 16+. Therefore, after analysing my research into target audience ages, I found that my film
could have a wide audience age range and still be classified as a horror with dark themes without effecting the younger audience or
scaring them. I then decided on a suitable age range by preforming research into other existing horror tv series and film, and seeing
their target audience age. It here where I decided that my film would be suitable for ages 8-18.
I would also have to research a target gender for my target audience, to do this and to find out more of what my
audiences expectations were and what they wanted to see in order to please the audience, I carried out more extensive research
and audience questionnaires ranging from their interests in the horror genre, their age, and their gender. After discovering that the
gender of the target audience were almost balanced, I found that most exciting products did not aim towards gender. I found that the
easiest way to create my product was to not focus on a specific gender and to keep any characters or themes gender neutral to
attract both gendered audiences to my film.
Additionally, I did some research on Pete Buckingham, head of distribution and exhibition for the UK film council to understand more
about audiences and audience theory. Young audiences (15-24) represent 32% of the population, but 40% of the cinema audience.
By contrast 55+ represent 34% of the population, but only 20% of the cinema audience. 35-44 Year olds who make up 38% of
cinema audience represent 35% of the population. I found that as my film is rather a niche audience and the timing of my film is very
short, I would have to release my film on another platform instead of the cinema, as this wouldn't be suitable for my film. I decided
that to release the film online would be the best way for my film as this would be less expensive for families to watch the film as well
as being easily accessible for my age range online would be the most common way that my target audience would be able to hear
about and watch my film.
Pete Buckingham also produced a graph of the most typical genres of films and which gender they would apply to. I found that the
horror genre is fairly gender neutral, however slightly aimed more towards boys, and this was also supported in my extensive
audience research, therefore I would also have to find a way to aim my film slightly more towards the female audience, such as
location, or character representation

5. G E N R E , H Y B R I D O R S U B - G E N R E S
My planning was informed by extensive research: I needed to research narrative and generate initial ideas for my short film
as well as decide on my target audience and my intended genre. I knew that I wanted to produce an Animation and I knew
I wanted it to be quite dark and ‘gothic’ in style. I researched the specific conventions of the Animation Genre genre and
specifically the darker styles of Animation. I carried out audience research in order to identify what specific horror genres
were the most popular with my target audience: I used a survey monkey questionnaire, an interview with a focus group
and social media forums to find out my intended audiences ideas. Due to the young age of my target market, I decided that
a family film horror would be the most appropriate for my film, therefore I had created a hybrid family film horror mystery
genre of film.
Other dark children media products include:

6. • Narrative:
• A short film,conventionally, short film has a running time of 40 minutes or less. However, this is not necessarily true for animation films as
they tend to be shorter in length. My brief specifies that my product has to be approximately 5 minutes in length therefore my narrative
has to be very simple to comprehend within the given time and also not too complex so that my younger target audience (8 years) would
be able to understand. To determine this I found that I would have to use a linear narrative in order for my audience to be able to grasp
my narrative concept in the given time.
• From researching the genre of my short film, my narrative had to clearly display the horror genre through both the aesthetic and storyline
of my film. Conventionally, I used various techniques such as a dark aesthetic, soundtrack and the style of my narration to build up
enigma of my film, which is vital for a horror film. I depended on a dark tone used throughout the 5 minutes of my film, displaying both an
educational moral towards children as well as applying to the conventions of the genre.
• My ending scene is not conventional within short films as it is typical that the whole storyline is covered within the full film, whereas my
ending is not clear and ends in a cliff hanger, which is open to interpretation for the audience. I feel this concept enhances the narrative
and stands out within my product as it is not conventional within both the horror genre and short films; they often depend on resolution of
the situation.
• As my narrative is told throughout a poem, each chapter 4 lines long. This is very unconventional compared to other films in the market
today. However, I felt that due to the young audience of the target market, this way of presenting my narration is both associated and
easily understood by children in the form of fairy tales. It also is easy rememberable due to the AA,BB rhyming pattern of the narration
meaning that the morals and lessons will be easy for young children if they can remember the rhyme. This overall enhances the effect on
the audience and challenges the conventions for the storyline that aren’t usually within tv shows or films, but broadens my target market
for young children who like fairy tales and books as my film can be linked to the common themes within story books and also how they
are presented to the audience such as through chapters and rhymes.

7. C H A R A C T E R R E P R E S E N T A T I O N :
• From audience feedback, I decided to use a female protagonist as I felt that her vulnerability and her age would
be a good representation of typical horror characters and a contrast from the dark setting used within my film,
as well as it being requested from my audience questionnaire I produced, in order to target a female audience
within my film as the genre is typically male based.
• Each character within my film relates to a stereotypical representation of characters shown within the school
environment within reality and also the characters represented within horror films such as the following;
- The main protagonist, often the ‘victim/hero’ of the film.
- The villain, often a monster, mutated, freak, alien or serial killer.
- The immoral teenagers.
- Creepy children.
- Police officers - can be good or bad
- Supernatural beings
- Misfits.
As a convention of the horror genre and an expectation of the audience, I decided not to challenge these
conventions as the way that my characters are portrayed within the film is vital to my films storyline. Throughout
my production, my film needed characters that were relatable and typical of school children, who were easy to
identify with and understand in the given time of the film.
I used stereotypical elements within the aesthetic of the characters such as the characters colour scheme,
espeically in the protagonists by adding pink and purple and a bow, to display the characters innocence and purity
within the film. and using dark schemes such as the villains dark and earthy coloured clothing to display the
audience visually that he was not to be trusted. However, I did also challenge the conventions of the horror genre
by mixing the personality and behaviours of the characters to make them seem less predictable to the audience
such as combining the immoral personality of the teenager and the involvement of children in order to create my
main protagonist, and an unknown supernatural identity of the villain of the film.

8. L O C A T I O N S , M I S E - E N - S C E N E A N D P R O P S
Throughout my film, I decided to contain locations and scenes that were
conventional to the horror genre, I preformed extensive research of the
conventions within horror locations and scenes, as well as asking the target
audience what they expected to see within a horror film. The exterior of my
locations were focused to be very dark and mysterious, displaying to the
audience the unknown and the danger of places that were dark and isolated,
which was heavily contrasted with my school interior scene, which was very
brightly lit. this contrast defined an element of safety at school, which was full
of people and a positive learning environment, displaying to children the
importance of school and behaving well. The characteristics of Locations
included the following;
Small communities or isolated environments such as abandoned building or
forests. Urban environments, dark streets and narrow hallways are highly
popular locations within slasher films rather than paranormal.
Any place that connotes isolation or being alone is likely to be included as
highly populated areas would be an unlikely place for horror or crime events
to take place.
Often places with a dark history, such as old buildings, hospitals or school
buildings, espeically at night are included as these are places that are often
visited or popular during the day
I used these conventions of horror, as the locations such as school, wood
and old abandon building like my cabin, and characters included in my film
were the key elements of identifying my genre to the audience, therefore
challenges these conventions may cause the audience to be unclear of the
horror genre, which I portrayed through aesthetic and visual codes I felt that
the aesthetic and visuals within my film were a strong feature within my film
as it would be the main objective to be noticed within the film, as many
children would use the ‘hypodermic needle’ theory of absorbing and not
question the film, therefore any deep meaning within my storyline or narrative
would often be unnoticed and not questioned by my audience if it wasn't as
obvious to the target market. Thus making my visuals stand out and tell the
story to the audience with my narrative supporting was the best way to
display my genre, storyline and morals to my target audience.
Due to my film being animated, most of my props and mies-en-scene,
were made by hand as well as the characters, meaning that everything
created needed to be obvious to the audience. My main focus of the
production design element was the location and the characters rather
than the props as they were not the main feature that would be
remembered within the film. To create my characters and props I used
the conventions and stereotypical features within the aesthetic of my
characters to help display to the audience what character represented
who straight away, as the audience would only have 5 minutes to
determine who was the protagonist, antagonist ect. Therefore I used
dark and light colour scheme contrasts as well as making props within
my film simplistic and easily identifiable aesthetically to the target
market.

9. A N A L Y S I S O F L I G H T I N G
As my final scene was the scene that needed to have enigma
and a serious tone to signify that the character was in danger as
a consequence, I used coloured and flickering lighting which both
replicates the illusion of fire as well as creates signifying red lighting,
maintaining a quickened pace and signifys danger and stop to the
audience.
My exterior shots were lit by a regular LED white
light as the backing of the scene was very dark, therefore
for the audience to be able to see everything within the scene, I had to use
strong white light to light the full scene. Although this doesn’t
have much of an effect, that backing of the scene does provide
a red tone within the film, again signifying danger and stop, which
develops within the film until the final scene.
The interior school shots of my film, act as a contrasts
of the element of safety within my film. I used this element to
encourage the safety element of being in school where my target audience
should feel safe, encouraging the positivity in a learning environment. To
produce this look, I used a stronger Incandescent lamps, compared to LED,
which helped to produce a less direct light. I found this overall effective
as the lighting is not too direct, and gave a natural feel about the setting,
which later contrasted with the darker effect of the film. I decided not to
linger on this type of lighting as it isn't traditional in the horror genre for
everything to be well lit, therefore to build enigma I used direct spotlight lighting
to create shadows and a darker scene, adding to the forbidding feel of the film, which
displays directly to the audience.
The use of lighting within my film, was a main
point that my target audience commented on within the
representations of my film. The lighting in my film
helped the audience to determine an overall mood for
that chapter in order to create an atmosphere for
what was going to happen. The visual codes within
my film I felt was a strong point to identify with the
audience, as it was the main focus of the film that my
audience easily identified with to set the mood of the film.