Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The following images show the conventions of our sub-genre, i used them as inspiration and ideas for our own title sequence and opening scenes.
Shot by Shot Analysis:
Logo -
Production Company Logo -
Our own company logo -
These are stills from the production title sequence and logo for Polsky Films. I really liked the use of the ink splashes - the slow motion and misty look of the ink ,works really well in creating quite a disturbing look. The font for the logo itself also uses this slightly hazy look, so whilst being clear to read it continues to create a feeling that something is quite unnerving. They've chosen to use black ink and logo against a plain white background which stands out well and is clear to read.
For our own logo we wanted a similar look and feel and we also wanted it to link to our storyline and so we chose to use a typewriter font, keeping it very simple (the tea stained background giving a nostalgic but slightly eerie feel) and using red as a contrasting colour for the full stop - subtly symbolising danger / a warning.
I chose stills from 2 very different titles that I think work really well in different ways. The first still is a very conventional design - black background with clear writing. The lettering stands out well and it centralized which draws your attention. The font appears quite sophisticated, it gives a very serious feel which can then make the film feel more realistic and frightening. Originally i thought a simpler title would be more effective but i think the second title example above works really well in creating a clear genre immediately through the use of blood in the background. Obviously we wouldn't use this as blood is not a stereotypical feature of psychological horrors, but the idea of instantly establishing genre i think would be really successful. It uses quite a plain background but the use of both black and red text works well as it both stands out and holds connotations of death and murder. I really liked the font and positioning of the lettering in this example - the typewriter look makes it feel like the deaths are being recorded and its quite secretive, it creates ideas about the plot of the film and is successful in drawing in the viewer as its quite unusual and interesting.
For our own title sequence, we wanted a clear link between them and plot and threat, giving clues to the audience without giving away any spoilers. We decided against the typically computer generated/typed titles and opening credits and wanted a more memorable and artistic approach. I found that if seen on their own in their unedited form, they were not particularly clear or representative of a certain genre of film, but we added jumps and scratches to the shots and edited them together in a way that created a more creepy feel and did create a good introduction to our film and genre.
(Rosemary's Baby)
Image from our own film -
This still image from Rosemary's Baby instantly tells you a lot about the sub-genre and also about her character. Although she is holding a knife which is normally associated with the 'slasher' subgenre, her body language and facial expression show her holding the knife in more self defense than with any intention, i.e. her posture is quite enclosed and she has a scared expression. She looks like she is looking for something and looks quite confused and the the use of the stereotypical plain nightdress used in many psychological horrors makes that the more likely genre.
Establishing sub-genre in one shot is quite hard, but i think because psychological horrors are all in the mind and are about what you think your seeing and not a clear threat, its obviously a lot harder to show in a shot. Instead you see the reactions to in and the consequences - for example the characters reaction or flickering lights etc. Its very character based and so we followed conventions in that respect. The image above uses a canted angle to establish a sense of confusion and that something isn't right. The CU allows us to share her fear and engage with her - we feel more involved as its very intimate and feels almost trapped - she cant escape the threat. Showing her alone in the shot, as well as her scared and confused expression gives clear clues as to the source of the fear being more psychological than physical.
Establishing Character
The Sixth Sense -
Character in our own film -
The image from the Sixth Sense uses a CU to show the proxemics of the two characters and therefore their relationship with each other - they appear very close and the fact that the adult has knelt down to be at the height of the child shows his concern and desire to help him. The conventions of our sub genre mean that the main character is usually a young adult and so the fact that the two main characters here are a young child and a middle aged man is very different and created an original feel to the film. We chose to use and conform to our sub genre conventions and expectations by having a teenage girl as our main character, as we wanted to use the stereotypes that come with that (e.g. easily scares, vulnerable, naive etc.) The images above establish her as an intelligent women - she's writing a novel/book and so we can assume she is late teens/ early twenties. She's seen on the phone showing that she is sociable and up to date and she seems hardworking and focused. These are traits often seen in the main character in films of this genre, and work well once the threat is introduced as their judgement and lives are tested and challenged.
Mise-en-scene -
Mise-en-scene in The Sixth Sense -
Mise-en-scene in our own film -
The MLS in The Sixth Sense allows us to see the character within their natural environment and so tells us a lot of information about them, both through their costume, body language and the surrounding set - the decor, lighting and size etc. For example, he is dressed in a suit, his hair neat and cleanly shaven so we assume he is middle/upper class, he is well educated and is likely in a good job. The large eleaborate interior set i.e. chandelier and large staircase and open hallway indicate that he is successful and wealthy. The lighting makes it clear that the scene is taking place at night, and this with the fact that he is stood alone gives the scene a less comfortable look and makes us slightly apprehensive for him as stereotypically horror films are set at night-time.
The images from our own film use MLS to establish setting and show the character in her own environment. Form the location and decor of the setting we can assume she's not living on her own - perhaps in a rented house of with parents still due to the large family dining table etc. From her clothes we can see she is modern but also sensible and casual. Many films from our sub genre do take place in a house / interior confined setting. usually somewhere the character feels comfortable so that the introduction of the threat is even more prominent - they have no where safe to hide. We therefore found this location to be appropriate to our genre. Lighting is used really effectively in horror films to create fear and suspense and we began with very natural lighting throughout the house, but chose to later use shadows and flickering lighting to our advantage in showing the threat.
Key images-
Images from our film -
Often in psychological horrors a child is the character that is there to scare the audience and often is the threat within films of this sub-genre, but as communicated through the above stills form The Sixth Sense, a child character can be used within the story in a less threatening/scary way, but still as a similar role - the one who acts as a catalyst for the mental instability of another character, in this case Bruce Willis' character. Often it's a teenager that stumbles upon the threat or is mentally disturbed but here we are focussed around the interaction between a successful adult and a young but very intelligent child, and this creates a really interesting dynamic throughout the film, challenging the expectation of the sub genre.
In our film we chose to follow those conventions in terms of character. As the threat often isn't seen in psychological horrors and isn't in the case of our film, we used canted angles and other techniques to make the audience feel uncomfortable and confused. We used a mix of camera angles and shot types to allow the audience to see the setting (MS's and LS's) but also engage with the character (CU's and MCU's) as well as creating a unique opening sequence and titles for our film that set the tone and plot for the film well.
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