1. In what ways does your
media product use,
develop or challenge
forms and conventions of
real media products?
THIRD TIME AROUND
2. Research and Ideas
Before making the sequence, I watched many horror films along with their title sequences
for inspiration. The films that I watched were: Sinister, Insidious and The Conjuring, all of
which were very helpful with regards to ideas for the horror film sequence that I was going
to create myself. Watching these films gave me a wealth of ideas of what I could include
and contribute towards our piece in terms of locations, costumes, props, lighting, camera
work, sound and all other areas of mise en scene. These films each had a theme within the
horror genre too with the common area being the idea of the ‘possession of children’ and
so I thought it would be a good idea to develop this convention for our films as it looked a
very popular theme which appealed to many audiences. Whilst watching these films I also
picked up on the details in the opening sequences looking at transitions, titles, colours and
more as this would make a big difference to our sequence.
3. Title sequence content + Narrative
Looking at the examples of sequences, it is clear that I should not give too much away during
the piece otherwise the audience will feel that it is not worth watching the film. Most of the
sequences used contrasting colours of text and background and so I took this idea on board
along with the low key lighting that was used in the majority of example pieces. Sound plays a
key part to build up tension and drama whilst altering the mood of the audience where
transitions add professionalism as the sequences cut to different scenes. The title sequence will
highlight the antagonist(s) and the protagonist(s) and often use flash-forwards/flashbacks and I
particularly looked at these in detail to use in my film sequence. ‘Third Time Around’ is the name
of the film and this was chosen because for every third person born in the family, they are born
with this possession of a demonic presence.
The narrative of the films that I watched tended to differ. The majority used the Binary Opposition
theory with the common theme tending to be Good vs Evil and I have incorporated this into my
film. Many of the films ended on a cliff-hanger and my film will conform to this however
throughout the film, the mood and feelings of the audience will change.
4. Sound
After looking at the 3 film examples, it was clear to me that sound played a key part during
the title sequences as it can effectively control the feelings of the audience as they watch
on. The majority of non diegetic music in these example films was orchestral using
instruments such as: pianos, cellos and violins to create this creepy and dramatic effect. I
conformed to this idea myself and downloaded sounds of a slow playing piano for the POV
section of my film when the antagonist is walking up the stairs as it quickly increases the
tension felt by the audience. As I watched those 3 films, another thing that raised the levels
of drama was the diegetic sounds of doors creaking, wind and talking over silence as this is
all that you can hear. I conformed to this and used Final Cut to add in these sounds
however, I developed this by adding in a drone noise to increase the tension for every time
that the antagonist appeared in the title sequence. To develop the sound further, I
downloaded the nursery rhyme ‘Hush little baby’ of YouTube converter as I had seen in the
movie ‘Annabelle’ however at the end of my sequence, I had this overlapped with the
climatic, dramatic piece played with the orchestral instruments and I had again
downloaded this off YouTube.
5. Mise en scene
This area of media concerns: costume, location, props, and lighting. From the examples that I
watched, I noticed that the costume of characters is often very similar. The antagonist is
normally easily recognised and this is often because they are wearing all black and I have
conformed to this in my film however I have also developed it as the character wears a dark,
black cape however there is also a hood on it so that the face is not given away which makes
the audience wait to watch the film before they see him.
In terms of location, I identified that many horror films take place in large, spacious, old houses
where there is lots of room for evil to wander. I managed to replicate this convention by using
the large house at Dunham Massey but then jump cutting into a different house which is also
very large. I was also able to develop this convention by filming a lot the sequence outside too
in order to show the audience that the presence is still following the young girl in her dream and
these events in the dream take place outdoors. I ensured however that these locations still had
a sinister element to them by using an abandoned railway as a setting for the antagonist to
appear. I then used swings on a park as this is typical of what a young girl would be dreaming
about however it then becomes intriguing when the figure appears.
6. Mise en scene (Continued)
For lighting, I did not have much professional equipment to alter the scene very much
so for the piece, it consisted of a lot of improvisation. This challenged the conventions of
a typical horror film particularly when filmed outside in the morning but the reason I did
this was because if the lighting is bright and natural then it would be easier to see the
antagonist in his contrasting black colours. In the house, lighting was particularly low key
which conforms to the typical conventions of a horror film however, when I filmed the
photos I used the ‘flashlight’ tool on my phone to aid the audiences view of what was
on the photos. These old historic photos created a sinister effect as they conveyed the
idea that the film is all about previous experiences and therefore the historic demonic
presence that Olivia feels.
7. Editing
The editing process took around 9 sessions to have a completed sequence but this was due
to the very fine detail that it demanded. Every time I watched the sequence back, something
else occurred to me that I could add in to improve. From the sequences that I researched, I
noticed that they have a lot of transitions and textual action on screen which made them
look very professional. An example of this is ‘The Conjuring’. Most of the sequences that I
watched told a story however, my film has challenged this convention and made the
sequence much more realistic. My film shows 2 different points of view. One event in the
sequence is the POV journey up the stairs of the antagonist and in contrast I showed the
actions of Olivia and the dreams that she was having. I effectively used to jump cuts to show
that the closer that the villain got to her room, the more agitated she was getting inside. At
this point, the events in the dream were also getting much more sinister and the presences
was getting much closer. On Final Cut Pro I used the transitions to show how the scenes were
changing from dream to reality as the antagonist was walking up the stairs in the house and I
have not seen this is any sequence that I researched so this must challenge the conventions
of typical title sequences.
8. Camera shots/ Movement
I watched 3 different horror films and in all 3 title sequences, I noticed a range of shots, camera
angles and movements, some of which I have incorporated into my own piece. During the title
sequence of Insidious, there is a large section of handheld camera work and I have developed
this technique in my sequence however, my piece has more of a POV effect and this ensures
that the audience know that the camera is moving from the point of view of the antagonist as
he walks around the house and up the stairs. Many of the sequences use close ups on lots of
writing and signs that encourage thoughts and intelligence from the audience however I have
challenged this in my sequence and included a little more action as a story as I believe that this
would attract an audience more effectively so they can watch the film and complete the
story. At times, in regard to the camera work, I have conformed to conventional horror films by
using long shots and establishing shots. These shots allow the audience to observe the whole
location but this wide spacing of image allows for the more discrete details such as the
antagonist in shot to be put in place as I have done in my film.
