Evaluation Question 1

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

I think our media production goes against conventions of a normal horror film as the protagonist finds it easier to get away from the antagonist and also it is more like an action film than a horror film. The protagonist is stronger than a normal protagonist in a horror film and the antagonist is less creepy and/or scary than an antagonist in a horror film, as he seems more like a mentally unstable man.

In some ways, the production does fall into the conventions of a horror film, as the non-diegetic sounds used are sounds and music associated with horror films, as we used unnerving ambient sounds, and deep cinematic booms. The setting we used was also conventional, as it was a bland looking room with various tools in the background. The chair we used was also very bland and cheap to make it look like several people had been there before. But also in other ways, our production does not fall into the conventions of a typical horror films, as the protagonist is stronger than the antagonist right from the beginning, and also attempts to kill him. It also has conventions of an action film, which is what we wanted as we decided to go for an action/horror hybrid for our genre.

I feel that the ways in which we have conformed to the horror convention and the way we have swayed some parts of our conventions to the action side has been successful, as we have managed to make a good production out of it. We also managed to get a good balance between the two genres, as the start was very much on the horror side, as there was tense music, loud noises and it was very dark. The ending part of our production was aimed to be more action movie, which we tried to make with the soundtrack having faster drum beats and a faster tempo. We also kept some aspects of horror, as we kept the lighting quite dark, and we also used the same static effect as in the opening parts to make the title disappear at the end.