Codes and conventions featured in our opening two minutes

Having researched around different genres at the beginning of the school year and understood the different features of them, we feel it would now be a good time to explain that we have learnt from our research and that this research has impacted our openings in a positive way.

Firstly, a very common feature of the horror genre is blood and gore. This appears a noticeable amount within our opening and the injuries of our characters is what creates fear for our audience as they are scary to look at. The blood appears on their clothing as well as the colour red being used a lot.

Secondly, low key lighting is a main feature of horror films as it links to fear of the unknown, darkness and night time, all things which our teenage audience may find unsettling. We filmed in our location whilst it was dark as it made the location look much more frightening.

Thirdly, the isolated location of a quiet train station in Surrey had the potential to be scary for a large number of our viewers as it's always frightening being at a train station on your own at night. Furthermore, train stations could have connotations to death and suicide in the context of a movie due to the depiction that the media creates.

Fourthly, our use of creepy soundtrack and effects links to a typical horror film. After all, what’s a horror film without a blood curdling scream? The soundtrack that we chose also links to our title and storyline which follows a stalker style series of events. We also included lots of enigma codes, including hiding the identity of the murderer.

To conclude, our horror opening is a classic mix of gore and creepy story and is inspired by a combination of the horror film market.