Evaluation question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The title of the film We chose the title of our film to be The haunted as Jessica our protagonist gets haunted by a ghost who was her best friend in an isolated and abandoned building. The title Haunted gives an idea to our audience what our sequence will be about, also emphasizing our sub genre; supernatural thriller. The Haunted is a short, direct and succinct name to make it easy for our audience to remember and its also inviting as it leaves the audience wondering what will happen in the film as it doesnt give too much away. Setting/location The location of our sequence is in a secluded, empty and mysterious school. Its set in the corridors, on the stair case and in the school library. Our sequence was set in a school because we thought it would add to the mystifying atmosphere as a school is usually a place filled with people however the school we filmed in was silent and lonely to make it more ironic for the audience making them want to watch our sequence, showing how changing a settings atmosphere can change and emphasize a pacific genre. As the setting is in a school which is big it gives the impression to the audience that its hard to escape as she runs around the school looking for a way out but doesnt get out, as none of our shots include doors to go outside it emphasizes the fact shes alone and theres no way out. Another element to add to the loneliness of our sequence is our last scene which is set in a library which makes it ironic for our audience because a library is usually a safe place to go however in our production danger occurs, also as a library is very quiet and usually empty it highlights the fact our protagonist may be alone with no one to save her. Costume and Props Our antagonist is dressed all in black to add to the gothic, mysterious daunting appearance. We got her style idea from the film women in black as the women in that film is made to look secretive, covert and enigmatic, we wanted our audience to keep questioning our antagonists; the ghostly figures motives. Black representing a negative dull colour implies to the audience that the antagonist has a destructive soul and possible troubled past. We used black and white make up with a phantom mask to enhance her eerie look, giving a more dramatic intimidating impression.

Our protagonist is dressed in school uniform to accentuate her vulnerability and to make the audience think its a normal day for her, unaware of what could occur, also as we filmed in a school environment we felt school uniform would best support her young susceptible role. This allows our target audience to relate to our protagonist more as its set in a location they are most familiar with. This supports the typical conventions of a thriller as we have made her look deliberately normal and innocent to make the audience sympathize with our protagonist.

Props we used consisted of an iPod touch and blackberry phone. We used the iPod to highlight how Jessica is alone and unaware of her surroundings as she is avoiding paying any attention to the real world, this creates an enigma for the audience as they wait in anticipation wondering what could happen to her. The blackberry phone in our production had no battery when our protagonist went to use it which adds more tension to the situation as she cant get help from anyone; preventing her from communicating with anyone again emphasizing the fact she is alone. Our target audience are very accustomed to both of these items again allowing them to relate to our production.

Camera work and editing We used many different shots and angles throughout our production to create certain atmospheres and enigmas. We used this close up shot to show how our protagonist is unaware of what is happening around her as the antagonist appears behind her. This also makes it tenser for our audience as they can see the antagonist; wanting to tell the protagonist and warn her of whats behind her encouraging the audience to carry on watching our production as they will want to see if the protagonist finds out about this ghostly figure and how she reacts if she does.

This over the shoulder high angled shot, showed the audience what our protagonist could see from her view point also revealing the door to the outside free world. This is the first shot where you can see a door where she could escape out of, but the antagonist is standing in her way staring at her in a mystifying way making the audience feel tense as to whether the protagonist will be able to escape creating another enigma, questioning will this ghostly figure be blocking all her possible exits to escape.

We used a long shot here to show the location and to confirm the protagonist is alone accentuating the point she has no one to help her. This shot creates an additional enigma as the audience question where the antagonist and protagonist has dissapeared to.

We edited the video near the end by adding a rewind effect to show all the events that have occurred in the production creating another enigma for the audience as they wonder what could happen next. We also used different non-diegetic music to highlight certain elements of the production and engage the audience; making them shaken and shocked when for example Tia appears unexpectedly with a loud piercing sound in the background to make the audience jump ultimately keeping them interested and absorbed in our production.

Title Fonts and Style The first element on our opening sequence is our production title The Haunted, the font used is called 'Al Bayan' and it is red with a black background to make our title stand out as its bright, with the black background emphasizing this factor. The black background back linked back to our protagonists outfit and the idea of a gothic mysterious tone relating to our production genre Thriller. The colour red is usually associated with blood highlighting danger, inferring our protagonist is in endangerment. Its also clear and easy to read for our audience, making it easier for our audience to remember our title. The credits we used are also in red font again highlighting the fear of danger and risk in our production and making the credits noticeable; standing out to our viewers. We wanted our logo to stand out and be remember able so that our audience can remember our production name hoping they will recognise it if we made another film. Again red is incorporated in our logo to remind the audience of our thriller genre, with the font type as bleeding cowboys as its unusual, strange and rigid striking the audience.

Story and how the opening sets it up Our production starts with our protagonist walking to her lockers, this sets the atmosphere as calm and normal, making the audience unaware of any dangers that may occur as she is seen going about her daily routine, which most of our target audience can relate to as they are still at school. We then see a close up shot of Jessica, our protagonist putting her headphones in which makes the audience question why she is putting her headphones in there, what is she trying to avoid?

Our second shot is when Jessica finds a body at the bottom of the stairs, she rushes down to see who it is and if they are ok. An enigma is created as the audience then enquiries whether the body is alive, and who is the body? The audience can then sympathise with the protagonist as she is left alone with by what is seen as a dead body.

After seeing the dead body on the stairs our protagonist has another shock as she sees a ghostly figure appear on the stairs staring up at her blocking her way out. An enigma is made when the figure appears as the audience wonders who this ghostly figure is and why she is staring at our protagonist, is the protagonist in danger and why?

Genre and how the opening suggests it Our first task for our coursework was to research and analyse two of our chosen thriller films, one that I chose was The strangers, this helped me understand what a thriller was and how we could incorporate certain elements they used to make the genre clear to our audience in our production. I noticed that to create a tense atmosphere and to shock the audience, it would be a good idea to make the antagonist appear unexpectedly to jolt and shock the audience and include scenes where the audience can see the antagonist but the protagonist can not to make the audience feel more anxious and edgy. For example when the couple in The strangers are looking for the intruders us as the audience see the intruders appear behind the cardboard but as the couple are facing the opposite direction they cant see them. We applied this element to our production when our antagonist appears behind our protagonist when she is looking in her locker, allowing the audience to see her but our protagonist cannot as shown in the picture below.

How characters are introduced We have three characters in our production, our protagonist Jessica a school girl, our antagonist the ghostly figure and the body lying on the bottom of the stairs. The first character introduced is our protagonist as she walks up to her locker, enigmas are then created as the audience questions why Jessica is in school when no other students are? This scene is shown in a medium/long eye level shot to show the location she is in and indicating the fact she is alone in what appears to be a deserted school. As she is calm and nothing appears to be happening the audience wonders how our production will be portrayed as a thriller until they see our antagonist; a ghostly figure appear behind our protagonist which shows the first time the audience will feel tense and afraid.

The next character introduced is the dead body which is found on the bottom of the staircase. The height of the stairs worries the audience as they contemplate what could of happen to this girl and why she is laying on the floor not moving. This also makes the audience nervous and concerned as to what else could be in the building.

The last character introduced is our antagonist as she appears unexpectedly on the stairs, as our protagonist goes to run to get help the antagonist is shown staring up at her in a mysterious and cagey way. The shot used is a medium /long shot to show there is no one else behind this ghostly figure again underlining loneliness and isolation. An enigma is created as questions arise suggesting why the antagonist seems out to get the protagonist and where this figure has appeared from.

Special effects We have used many different types of special effects to engage our audience and make our genre more apparent and clear in our production. From doing my genre research and analysing thriller films I noticed a common effect was using dramatic loud sound effects to make the audience jumpy and edgy, keeping them interested and absorbed in our production. The first example of this effect is shown when the protagonist walks up to her locker and the antagonist appears behind her, a dramatic sound of the antagonist appearing unexpectedly occurs. This also shows dramatic irony as the audience can see the antagonist but the protagonist cant making the audience restless, creating

an unnerving atmosphere for the audience. When the protagonist first notices the antagonist a special effect is used as the antagonist moves suddenly from side to side across the staircase with the same non-diegetic sound effect used when we first see the antagonist appear behind the protagonist by the lockers to build suspense. Our final effect was the rewind effect which shows all the scenes that have occurred, producing enigmas for the audience as they anticipate what could happen next.