Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Chase Scene
 

The biggest horror convention we incorporated into our movie was the chase scene. Chase scenes are used in horror films because they create a sense of fear for the audience and the character. They also display the characters helplessness in the situation. An example of  a movie that uses chase scenes is Scream 2.

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This scene is taken from the opening of Scream 2. It is similar to our opening in the way that the character being chased is confused and unaware of why they are being chased, which also causes confusion for the audience. The scene, accompanied by fast paced music further excites the audience and keeps them intrigued. This is what we hoped to achieve within our opening. Also, the female being chased is a popular convention we have conformed to as females are stereotyped as weak and unable to defend themselves.

Todorov's Theory
A convention we subverted from in our movie opening was using Todorov's Theory as a structure. The theory can be found below.

Many films use this structure to create a balance between positives and negatives within a film. It gives the audience a sense of safety to know there is a restored equilibrium at the end. However I find this structure quite unrealistic and overused which is why we didn't use it in our opening. In our opening, it begins with a disruption instead of an equilibrium. This allows the action to take place straight away and keep the audience intrigued from the beginning. An example of a horror film which conforms to Torodov's Theory is Paranormal Activity 4, which can be seen below.
I find an opening like this quite boring and cliché as it is a structure used in many genres and I believe horrors should be more exciting. In this opening, the characters are at the equilibrium stage; they are happy and unaware of any problems that are going to occur. However, with our opening, Sarah is at the disruption stage as she is aware she is being followed right at the start.

Music/Sound Effects
The use of music/sound effects help set the mood for the movie and acts as a catalyst for the tension build up. Our movie opening includes a fast paced track that is used while Sarah is running away from Danny. This track is appropriate as it excites the audience and anticipates them for what is going to happen next. It isn't a scary track but it still builds up the tension. Saw slightly varies.

In Saw's opening, an slow and eerie track is used in the background, which intensifies at the end when the character is pulling the chain. This opening also includes loud and screechy sound effects when the dead body holding the gun is shown. The music and sound effects used in this opening varies to our opening as the music is  a lot slower and creepier but it still builds tension due to the storyline and location of the opening, as does ours.