Evaluation activity 1 - In what ways does your media product develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?

In what ways does your media product develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?

Countdown Clock:

The countdown clock has confused some of the audiences, however we have used this to our advantage. The countdown clock is meant to symbolise the counting down to the deaths of each victim. Them when the timer suddenly goes to 12 hours, we were using this as a time frame as in 12 hours earlier. This is quite a typical convention of horror genre movies as there is a deadline which creates tension, and the sudden change of timings create suspense as the audience want the victims to get away. This idea has been used before in movies such as the purge.

Close up of wounds:

The close up of the wounds were to show the audience the trauma that the victims had been through, and to show how it hasn’t just effected them physically but also mentally, for example the close up of the girl on the train when she mouths help. The audience can see that the victim has been in distress.

Train doors opening:

The train doors open twice within the film opening, first of all when the victim is on the train trying to get off, but then also as the whole group of victims get on the train near the end of the opening two minutes. This is a typical convention of horror genres as the film would mess with the audience’s heads as they try and work out the storyline and make links, showing this is sometimes a psychological horror.

Train moving past:

As the train moves past, it is partially an establishing shot as the audience would know that the train is a key feature and aspect of the film, as the opening 2 minutes show trains and the station. The train isn’t always a convention of the horror genre, however when the train firsts appears on the screen with the text it helps the audience to gage that it is a horror movie because of the text font and the non-diegetic sound.

Murderer’s feet:

The floor view shot of the murderer’s feet isn’t a typical horror convention, however it does create mystery, therefore within our horror film with brought in aspects of other genres such as mystery. The colours involved of the black legs and feet of the murderer create a sense of mystery and being under cover and not wanting to be known, it also represents a dark side of the characters, the dark side we find out later on. There from the train is a typical convention of the horror genre as it represents blood and violence.

Close up shots of emotion:

Throughout the whole opening, the close ups of the victims show the emotion and distress they’ve been through  this is typically part of the horror genre as there are always close up on victims faces to show their expression to the audiences.

Props:

The props used are typical of horror genres because the rope is black but also because it is used to harm the victims. The petrol can being black again is a convention as the colour scheme works with the genre.

Introduction of the characters;

When each character is introduced, they’re either dead of half dead, the audience may be confused in having four victims at the beginning, yet when the teenagers get on the train there are only 3, therefore we decided that if we were to make more of the movie, the victims would meet the last victim on the train.

Over shoulder shot:

The over the shoulder shot of the murder is also an establishing sot showing the location but also the time of the day, this shows that it’s late as it is very dark and that the victims have been stalked and victimised throughout the day. The station looks abandoned therefore showing the audience that there isn’t anyone around to help.