Evaluation Question 1

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

When making our opening sequence we had to conform to several codes and conventions (CCs) of the sub genre that we had picked, which was a horror thriller with elements of a psychological and action thrillers. An example of the codes and conventions in a horror thriller are blood, darkness e.t.c.

Shot 1

In this first shot we used a picture of a creepy looking sun to show that this is Sunny house nursery. The fact that the sun is looking directly at the audience creates a scary, unsettling atmosphere full of mystery that hints that this will be a psychological battle not a physical one.

Shot 2

In this shot the camera is panned across the room with the nursery teacher (Mr Parkinson) sitting there in the messy nursery room. I personally thought that this was one of our best shots because it shows the corrupt state of mind that Mr Parkinson is in. This shot represents his psychological state. 

Shot 3/4

From the feedback received we found that people thought the shots with Mr Parkinson were the most unsettling.  For these shots we tried to fit as many codes and conventions of a horror thriller, this was achieved by using codes and conventions of a horror thriller such as darkness, the use of extreme close ups and dark music. 

Combining these elements and CCs I think helped to intrigue the audience as it placed all attention on the strange character of Mr Parkinson who seems almost distant with reality making him seem evil or a person with malevolent intent. 

Shot 5/6

The feedback we got showed that most people liked the action shots that we used, they made the opening sequence seem more exciting and action packed.

We decided to challenge the usual CCs of Horror and Psychological thrillers that highlights a mental battle by adding additional elements from action thrillers. We used the CCs of a action thriller such as fast cuts achieved through editing and quick movements that the actor displayed along with the CCs of horror and psychological thrillers to try and make our opening sequence have elements from each sub genre that we have tried to include.

Shot 7/8

These two shots gives the impression that the undercover cop has a clear objective giving him a more action orientated character, the shot of the feet moving is a worms eye shot that that shows the protagonist in a hurry and the shot of the undercover cop running shows a lot of fast paced movement.
Shot 9

This shot of the 'Time to Play' sign that was hanging on the door helps to emphasize that Mr Parkinson is in control. This makes the antagonist seem more powerful than the antagonist which is a CC of both horror and psychological thrillers that we have used to highlight the psychological elements of our opening sequence.