Evaluation - Question 1

Evaluation - Question 1

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

For our final piece, we created a film called "The Woman In White" and throughout the creation of this film we conformed to conventions of a Gothic Horror film as much as we possibly could from with the use of everything from the shots used to the sound used within our film.

To help us conform to the conventions of the "Gothic Horror" film genre, we analysed  a total of 3 different other "Gothic Horror" films which inspired us when developing our ideas and filming for our final piece. I also looked into the actual codes and conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film to find out what really makes a "Gothic Horror" film so different and unique. Typically within Gothic Horror films, camera shots are typically handheld, also zooms and birds eye establishing shots are also commonly used. There is also a lot of shots used within this genre. Close ups, over the shoulders and longs shots are used throughout "Gothic Horror" films and you can also see these shots used a lot within the clips I analysed. Within my film we matched a lot of conventions seen throughout these clips and focused on sticking to the conventions of "Gothic Horror" films.

Here are two "over the shoulder" shots, one of me getting ready, and another of Emily getting ready for the wedding in our film. These were very useful because it enabled us to show the audience that these two characters are getting ready for something without having a 10 second close up of each character getting ready. This shot also foreshadows later events because its gives off an impression as if something or someone is lurking behind one of these characters or, something or someone is watching them. This helps us conform to our genre because it creates a uncomfortable atmosphere, and over the shoulder shots were also used in all three clips I analysed so this also matches other examples of the "Gothic Horror" genre. In these clips we also added a "Grainy" and "Old" camera effect to make these clips look from the past and to show the audience that this is a backstory into the film and also to show that something significant will happen in this clip to develop the story later on within the film. This also helps conform to the "Gothic Horror" genre because of the colour within these scenes being dull and not very bright, much like the clips I analysed as within these clips, there isn't a lot of bright colours used. The "Gothic Horror genre tends to use dull brown, black and other dark colours like grey to make the film give of a "dark" feel about it.

Close ups are also used within the "Gothic Horror" genre and are used typically to highlight a significant event or a significant object. They are also used to show a characters emotion but only during edgy scenes where something unexpected is going to happen. So during within our clip we included two close up at major points, one as Tommy uses the knife to cut Emily's throat just before the wedding and another of Tommy's hand with the knife in it as he walks away.  These conform to our conventions because its during a fast paced scene and also unexpected, it catches the audience off guard and highlights the fact that she has been killed. It also conforms to the conventions because its violent and horrific which some viewers could make some viewers feel uncomfortable and on edge. This is also much like a clip from a chosen extract I analysed from "The Conjuring" where the camera goes to a close up of the creatures face on top of the wardrobe which scares the audience as its unexpected but we are seeing her up close and personal very quickly. Its also similar to "The Woman In Black" when we see close ups of the toys because once again it foreshadows the event of the monkey toy going off unexpectedly and causing the audience to be startled. Close ups are even used effectively in the "Van Helsing" clip I analysed when we see a close up of the wolfs face right before he jumps out and attacks at speed. So close ups are effective as they highlight a significant event in the clip and can also be used to scare the audience, which conforms to the conventions of "Gothic Horror" films.

Long shots are also used within the "Gothic Horror" genre as they can show charters in a full frame but also things like locations, people or props behind them in the background. here on the left there are two long shots used within my clip. One of Tommy as he walks away from Emily after killing her and another one of Tommy and Brooke going for a walk and Emily's ghost making its first appearance to haunt them. These are effective because they both show main characters within the story and also help carry the story along. For example in the top photo Tommy is walking away from Emily's body, which to the audience signifies that Tommy has now killed Emily. in the next shot, Tommy and Brooke who were both part of the kill are going for a walk when Emily appears behind them to haunt them, but they are unaware of this. This is also similar to a clip from "The Woman In Black" where the main character is ripping wallpaper off the wall to discover a message and then takes a few steps back and stares at the message on the wall written in blood, this is effective because it shows both the character and also a significant event to help move the story along. Much like "The Conjuring" when the camera goes into a long shot, of the man running into the house as he hears the girls screaming because this also shows a character and the house behind him, which helps move the story along and shows a significant place. Therefore the long shots I used conform to the "Gothic Horror" conventions and examples I used.

A lot of Mise-en-scene elements are also focused on specifically to help conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film. So within our clip we conformed to these conventions as much as we could. To start conforming to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" genre, we focused firstly on the costume we would use in our clip to both match our storyline and also conform to this genre. We decided to put Emily in a white dress which she would wear before and after her death. Usually the evil "spirit" or "character" would  be in dark coloured clothing  like the woman from "The Woman In Black" but we decided to add our own touch and to make our idea different by putting her in a white dress, also because our film was called "The Woman In White" it seemed smart to keep her in a white dress throughout. In ways this doesn't really conform to our conventions, however we did consider this during the choice of costume but decided to develop it and make it different and suit our story more and it was still very effective. We decided to put Tommy, the killer, in full black clothing, this helped us conform to the "Gothic Horror" genre more because of the dark colours used within Tommy's Costume however it still didn't exactly conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film as they typically wear old and rich material clothing like full suits, shirts and waistcoats. But considering that we planned to make a more modern version of a "Gothic Horror" film we conformed to the conventions as much as possible. 

There wasn't many props that we used within our clip however the props we did use, which were a knife and fake blood, did conform to the "Gothic Horror" conventions, this is because we had a weapon which could cause pain and then blood to cover Emily in after she had been killed with the knife. we also see similar props used within "The Woman In Black" because of the blood on the wall, and we do not see a knife in the clip but we do see a axe which is also another weapon. We chose to use a knife because it was small and easier to use with the killing scene that anything else like an axe or something. This further shows that we conformed to "Gothic Horror" conventions as we matched examples of the genre.

There also wasn't a major focus on hair and makeup within the creation of our clip, however in "The Conjuring" clip the ghost girls hair looks very messy and dirty, so to create this effect with Emily she curled her hair to make it look more messy than usual. We also didn't have a major focus on makeup but the fake blood we used looked and worked really well and conformed to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" as it highlighted that this character was dead but still from the afterlife. 

The lighting within our clip also helped conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film. Typically in this genre of film the lighting is quite dark and gloomy, especially  when the "evil spirit" is present. Within our clip during scenes which don't involve the spirit are normally lit to give the presence of a normal day, however scenes with Emily in, have edits on them to make them more dark and gloomy, this further gives of a "dark" atmosphere when the spirit it present. much like "Van Helsing" as the lighting gets darker and more foggy and misty when the werewolf comes out and attacks. Therefore the lighting we used within our clip does help us to conform to our conventions.

Performance also played a big part within our clip in helping us conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film, Emily's performance and Tommy's performance both conformed to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film, this is because Tommy acted mysterious and unexpectedly which made both the kill scene and the scene where he has a conversation between himself and Brooke effective because his identity was a secret until he revealed himself. But what really helped us conform to the "Gothic Horror" conventions was Emily performance as she acted emotionless and "dead" which made it more believable and this is also a convention of a "Gothic Horror" Performance.

Editing play a big part in the "Gothic Horror" genre as films have to be edited to make things and creatures look better than someone in a costume. For example without editing, in "The Woman In Black" it wouldn't have been as scary and startling if there wasn't any special effects on the scenes and they didn't have quick and fast paced transitions. Typically in a "Gothic Horror" film the edits are fast paced and a lot of jump shots and wipes are used because they create tension by making the scenes flow quicker than other scenes. Almost through all of our scenes there was a white flash transition between two shots there was a few jump shots and overall our editing within the clip transitions did conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film as they were quick and sharp. They also were effective at creating tension because it kept the clip flowing at a steady speed so the tension would build up and not be lost. We also edited a lot of scenes and put different effects on them like "Grainy", "Black and white", "Sepia" and "X-Ray" which were really effective because they gave the clip a darkened feel to it and highlighted that the start of the clip was set in the past. The edit at the end of the clip where the scene it split up to make Emily jolt forward and the way it flickers between "Sepia" and "X-Ray" is really effective at creating tension as it happens fast and is unexpected which could also make some viewers feel uncomfortable, but with the special effects it makes it look more professional and more "paranormal" which also helps us conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film.

Sound was also used within our final piece to help us conform with the "Gothic Horror" conventions. Typically within a "Gothic Horror" film the sound is fast paced and loud to create tension for the audience and keep them on edge because of how creepy the music itself is. Pianos or a choir are typically used within the sound side of this genre because of the high pitched and uncomfortable notes sounds they can make. Within our clip we used two stings, one at the beginning of the clip until the Brooke begins to walk over to Tommy, and another When Emily appears as they go for a walk, they are both similar but also different, for example the Sting at the beginning of the clip is loud, slow and very low pitched, it makes the scenes more terrifying and foreshadows the gruesome killing because it slowly builds tension the more you listen to it. The second Sting when Emily appears is more high pitched and slower, this is also effective because it builds tension and works well with the haunting scenes as its creepy and mysterious. These two stings do conform to the conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film as they build tension and create a "dark" and "ere" atmosphere for the audience to experience. We also used two short sound effects within the clip, one when Emily is walking down the corridor and she hears a bang right before Tommy comes out and kills her, and another at the very end when Emily jolts into a extreme close up of her face. These are both loud, unexpected and happen fast and they are also used to both scare the audience and also create more tension within the audience. These sound effects also help us conform to our conventions of a "Gothic Horror" film as they are fast paced and scare a unsuspecting audience.