Evaluation - PART FOUR

PART 4 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

It took us a long time to find/make a piece of music which actually suited our title sequence, and sounded the way we wanted it to. We looked at the music from the Omen title sequence, and we really liked the sound. We wanted our music to have the same sort of sinister but childlike feel. We wanted the music to be quiet rather than loud, to make the audience more on edge. We wanted it to create the kind of feeling that people sometimes have when they are alone in their house; like they think someone is there, watching. We wanted it to seem like it was their mind playing tricks on them, but making them hear non-existent sounds. The music coincides with the story line, as the boy isn’t ‘normal’ and the music draws you in. The sound is quite child-like and creepy, which could create a sense of fear, but also set up an enigma that something isn’t quite right with the main character.

When filming, we purposely made it so that it was framed so that we couldn’t see the main characters face. This created a sense of mystery as it masks his identity.  We used a range of shots, including an establishing shot at the beginning, to show the house, which is the main setting. This allows the audience to see what kind of place it is going to be set in, and can also give a sense of storyline. It shows that the film is going to be about a family, as the house is quite big. Some of the filming was done without a tripod, such as the part where he is walking up the stairs. This was done so that his movement could be completely followed, and you feel like you’re there with him. The main type of shot we used was a mid shot, showing just his body, and a bit of his surroundings. They were used to give the title sequence a more realistic feel, to make you feel as though you are actually there.

The lighting was purposely dark so that it created non-happy mood. It also made it so that things weren’t ‘jumping out’ at you, and you had to actually look to see what was happening. It creates a sense of fear because when you think of dark/nighttime, you think of things that could possibly be lurking; it can be associated with danger.

The typography of our main title was quite an easy decision. We wanted the writing to be child-like/handwritten, because the film is purely focused on one child. We also needed to portray to the audience the story line – that there’s something ‘wrong’ with the boy. To do this, we made the writing looked more edgy and scratched. This also links to the genre, as a typical horror font isn’t neat and perfect, they are usually quite messy, or bloody.