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CCR 1 How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups?
W hat genre have you m ade and w hat are genre conventions of the genre? W e thought ouropening sequence w as under the genre horror but also asub genre of supernatural horror. This is because w e used different techniques
• Mis en scene • - dark deserted areas • - abandoned or isolated places • - props include knives, axes and chainsaws • - supernatural features – haunted house, graveyard • - black and red which connotes to possible danger and blood • Camera shots • - close ups to show emotions • - wide shots top create isolation • - lighting is underexposed • - Lots of shadows • Sound • - high pitch • - different sounds such as footsteps, creaking of doors • Editing • - fast pace • - plenty cuts • - tension built for jump scares
Insidious 3 • Insidious 3 was released on the 5th of June 2015. And the film was directed Leigh Whannel. I chose this film because it has the same concept as our opening sequence. This is because in the film is about a young girl who try's to connect with her dead mother's spirit but instead of connecting to her mother, she connects to a evil spirit that latches onto her and haunts her throughout the film. Similar to our sequence which is all about a young girl who goes to get a reading from a fortune teller but instead of reading her future she is cursed. Therefore, if there was a movie made it would be about the girl being haunted by an evil spirit.
Sinister • Sinister was released in 2012 and it was directed by Scott Derrickson. Not only that but this film Is a supernatural horror. This movie is pretty terrifying but I chose it because the movie is all about a dark spirit specifically targeting younger kids and teenagers because they are the most vulnerable. This corresponds to our opening sequence because we purposely selected a younger character.
Editing • We used slow pace editing in our opening sequence. This created rhythm throughoutour sequence. By using slow pace editing it enabled the audience to start guessing what they think is going to happen. This also creates a lot of tension for the audience seeing as it is taking such a long time for the truth to be revealed. Not only that but at the end of our sequence we put in a title sequence. This helped set the tone of the clip and engage the audience by hinting at what is about to start.
Editing • Pacing is crucial when it comes to making a horror movie. This is because you need to pace the story in such a way that it keeps the audience engagedthroughout. Normally in horror movies they use fast pace editing this creates more tension and creates a feeling that something terrible is going to happen. This anticipation builds suspense and keep the audience at the edge of their seats. Transitions are also hugely important in a horror film. Using different types of transitions can help set the mood for the rest of the movie. Transitions can also help to portray the characters fear to the audience. Both Annabelle and Sinister used fade to black and straight cuts. Fading to black gives the film a tense feel and also makes the audience feel at unease. Straight cuts are very basic but they allow for fast pace shots. Although we used slow pace editing in our sequence both slow pace and fast pace editing are very effective.
Sound • Throughout are whole sequence there is non diegetic sound in the background. The music starts of mysterious and slowly builds tension until the beat drops and then it continues into the title sequence. This is very similar to Annabelle. Annabelle uses non diegetic sound throughout and the beat drops usually when there is a jump scare. Sound is important because it gives the audience an insight into what the film is about and also helps to keep the viewer's attention. The music in our sequence isn't consistently the same it changes which helps focus the audience attention on what is happening on the screen.
Camera Our opening sequence Sinister, Annabelle, Insidious 3 Close ups Close ups Underexposed lighting Tracking shot Tracking shot Birds eye shot Extreme close up Tilted angle Establishing shot Extreme close up Long shot
• Close up shots are used in horror movies because they create an atmosphere and increase the audience fear by zooming in on facial expressions of the characters. We incorporated quite a few close up shots in our opening sequence to express the fear on the teenagers face.
Mis En Scene • and they presented the demon in blue tint lighting with smoke surrounding the demon. The audience can't see the end of the hallway which is very important because it creates an unknown feeling and uncertainty of what is going to happen next. The photo on the right has a lot of depth in it which gives the impression that they are quite far away even though they are fairly close. By having the character have to travel down a claustrophobic area to get to the demon creates a lot of fear for the audience seeing as they are unaware of what might happen next. Throughout the movie Insidious they used low key lighting
Typical conventions of opening sequence • Title sequence – a title sequence sets the tone of the movie. It captures the audience by hinting at what is about to start. • Enigma codes - elements that audience doesn’tunderstandor doesn’t know the answer to yet. • Music - also helps set the tone of the film • Introduction to character - establish who the main characters are and who you need to look out for. • Establishing shot - provides an overview of the setting • Insight to plot - dropping hints throughoutthe sequence to reveal where the story might go.
Typical conventions of my sequence As soon as the fortune teller reveals her face the music drops and it continues into a title sequence. The music has a dark but mysterious tone throughout. Until this one camera shot the audience are more aware that the fortune teller isn't who she presents herself to be. Throughout the audience will be left guessing as to why the young girl is getting a reading and why the fortune teller face is shadowed until the last clip where her face is revealed. This will engage the audience to want to watch more. Straight away you are presented with the two characters. Therefore, the audience will find it easy to establish who the main characters are and who to look out for throughout the rest of the sequence.
Steve Neales genre theory • In the three movies I picked for a comparison they all apply to Steves genre theory. All three films used low key lighting which is a typical convention of a horror film. Not only that but they use multiple jump scares throughout the three films with loud non diegetic sound to create a lot of tension for the viewer. These are repeated throughout the film. These common features makes it easy for the audience to recognise what type of genre the film is.
Social groups represented in our opening sequence • Gender • In our opening sequence we used an all female cast. Are protagonist and antagonist are both female. This is unusual because normally stereotypically a film doesn’t have two main female characters. Not only that but it is even more unusual that one of the characters who is played by a women is evil. • Laura Mulvey's theory states that women are sexualised in visual media for male viewers. We wanted to steer away from the male gaze and we wanted to ensure that women aren't portrayed sexually. Especially as we hada young character in our sequence.
Age • We had two characters who played the role of a teenager and a middle - aged fortune teller. Often younger people are presented negatively in media texts. This is because they can come across as quite reckless and bad behaved. We wanted to steer away from this stereotype and so therefore we used a sweet innocent teenage girl. We wanted to make her seem as innocent and vulnerable as we could. Commonly known fortune tellers are usually female so therefore we didn’t challenge any conventions seeing as we used a female to play the role fo the fortune teller.
Mis en scene • Women are normally sexualised in the media and we did not want to conform to this stereotype therefore through various makeup and special effects we made are fortune teller look as creepy as we possibly could. Through the use of costume we were able to make the teenager look very pure. This then made her also look very vulnerable. We wanted to portray the teenager as very vulnerable because it is commonly known that spirits and demon go for younger kids because they are the weakest.
Editing • We chose to use slow pace editing in our opening sequence. This is because when the fortune teller was doing the girls reading and slowly flipping over the cards we wanted the audience to almost feel nervous as to what card they might flip over. By using slow pace editing it creates so much tension and the audience will be eager to find out what is going to happen next. It will keep the audience on the edge of their seat waiting to see what happens.
Sound • We didn’t use any dialogue in our opening sequence but we did include non diegetic sound. The music we used is very dark and spooky. This is then until the beat drops and the music changes. By using a different sound for the title sequence it will help keep the audience engaged and prevent their attention from diverting. We purposely had the beat drop straight after the fortune teller face is revealed this is because we were hoping to scare the audience but also want to keep them interested and want to watch more.
Camera • We used a lot of close up shots of the teenager to present the fear on her face. By using close up shots it made her look very vulnerable and scared. This then creates uncertainty for the audience because they know something bad is going to happen. Through the use of camera shots and angles we were able to make the fortune teller look very peculiar and scary. The audience will then be able to establish that something isn't right.
