Evaluation Activity 1

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

My media product includes conventions of real media. Conventions of opening sequence, especially in horror media products, includes: low key lighting, long takes, use of makeup and costume, close-ups, establishing shots, jump cuts, and transitions.

Low key lighting helps create the mood of the product; it can create a sense of mystery and also a sense of fear and danger, as the audience can not see what is going on clearly and therefore they feel vulnerable.
Long takes can be used to intensify tension in certain situations as the seconds pass or can also be used to set a peaceful mood.
The use of makeup and costume is conventional in the sense that it is always important for the characters to be part of the media product and match the setting.
Close ups are very common in most media products and allow the audience to focus on certain areas of the media product they would otherwise not notice. They can also be used as hints for the audience to understand the media product's plot, story, or other.
Establishing shots are often used at the beginning of media products to let the audience know where the product is taking place. This creates a clearer image for the audience and allows them to immerse themselves in the story.
Transitions are used to go from scene to scene, and can be used to create different types of atmosphere based on which type of transitions.

My media product uses low key lighting in certain shots. They are mostly used to create tension and set the mood for the dream sequence to ensure the audience views it as a nightmare, and not a normal dream. Low key lighting is also used when the main character wakes up, this shows that they were asleep and it is the nightmare which woke them up, not other factors (alarm clock, sunlight, etc).

 

A long take is used as the first shot in my group's opening sequence. This shot was created for a number of reasons; firstly, it creates a sound bridge from the titles to this shot as the sound is suited to both. Secondly, it allows the audience to focus on the voice over which plays during the shot; they are not distracted by other images and can watch the rest of the opening sequence while remembering the ideas of the voice over.

Thirdly, it creates tension as the conventional use and this is suited to our opening sequence as it is a horror genre. In the opening sequence, the use of makeup and costume is important to realise the atmosphere of the nightmare. White clothes are used as it is often associated with the horror genre, and this makes it clearer for the audience to pick up on the genre of the media product.   

Jump cuts are sometimes used in horror films especially during high tension scenes such as chasing scenes, or in the case of our opening sequence, nightmares. Jump cuts build the tension by suddenly changing, this gives an impression of the film suddenly advancing unnaturally and unexpectedly. In the nightmare scenes of our opening sequences, jump cuts are used while one of the characters stays still. The character gets closer and closer to the camera with each shot, building the tension until they reach the camera. The three images below break down the jump cuts we used during the nightmare part of the opening sequence. We also used a different lighting for each one, as if lights turn off when the character gets closer, representing how the emotional state of the character is affected by her nightmares.

We used transitions in our opening sequences from Adobe Premiere Pro. The transitions were used to create a more smooth effect from one scene to another unlike jump cuts which were used for the opposite effect, highlighting the contrast between the two types of editing. We used mostly dissolve transitions in our opening sequence because they seemed more natural to the eye and gave a more fluid movement when going from scene to scene.

Close-ups were not often used in our opening sequence as we mainly focused on costume, and relied on the setting of locations to create the atmosphere. However we did use two close up shots which are shown below. The close up of the light bulb was used to create a sound bridge and setthe tension for the rest of the film. The second close up was used because it was an important part of the opening sequence and highlighted the fact that this was important. When the shot is shown, music starts to play to set the atmosphere once again.