Luke Thomas created a short horror film called "When Will It End?" along with a film poster and magazine review for his media project. He analyzed how his work used conventions of the horror genre, such as building suspense through tension and unsettling imagery. Key influences included psychological thrillers and slasher films of the 1980s. Luke also discussed his characterization of the protagonist as an everyday man and the ordinary settings to make the horror feel real. The film poster utilized horror color schemes and mystery while the magazine review included conventions like critical ratings and trivia. Overall, Luke showed how his media product developed genre forms and challenged conventions to create an authentic horror experience.

1. MEDIA
EVALUATION
By Luke Thomas

2. INTRODUCTION
 For my Advanced Media Portfolio project this year I chose
to do the Short Film Task, in which I would have to create
a short film of any genre of my choosing, alongside two of
three possible ancillary tasks; a film poster, a review of the
film that would appear in a film specialist magazine or a
radio trailer for the film. I decided to create a product I
myself enjoy, a short horror film and a homage to old
slasher films of the 1980s, but blended with popular
psychological thrillers. Alongside it I have created a Film
Poster and Magazine Review. This product would be
aimed at an older-teenage audience, around 15-19. Over
the next few slides I hope to create a close textual analysis
of my product and the changes I made over production.

3. QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF
REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

4. THE FILM: EFFECTS
 For my product, a short Horror Film, to have the effect I needed, I
had to make the audience scared and for them to have genuine
feelings of terror. To do this I had to understand the conventions of
the Horror style and genre and apply them to my work effectively
and creatively.
 Most Horror films will create emotions of fear and terror with harsh
lighting and sound, gore and the building of suspense. To create a
genuine sense of horror was difficult with my limited budget and
small cast, meaning I instead wanted to create suspense through
tension and moments built up through repetition and the usage of
unusual and unsettling imagery. One of the montages early in the
film, in which various objects and noises in 1 second beats play on
the disturbed mind of the protagonist uses this, with the
juxtaposition of the normally innocent „hang in there‟ and „no
eating‟ posters highlighting the protagonists mental struggle, a
struggle against social conventions and codes and the normal routine
of things.
 I wanted the key message and motif that the audience should
understand and that should link everything that happens in this film
to be the title, “When Will It End?”. These words are repeated
several times during the initial stalking stage where they flash on
screen. The question is ultimately answered by the villain; “You
wanted it to end, and now it will” and so his frustration becomes his
downfall. The irony of this is what makes up the brunt of the films
short plot.

5. THE FILM: CHARACTERIZATION
“LISTEN FELLOWS, I'VE HAD A REALLY RARE MORNING...”
 For the characterization of my protagonist I took inspiration from
films with over worked and medicated office worker characters,
particularly Edward Norton in Fight Club, James McAvoy in
Wanted and Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Things common
with all these characters are that they are simple, working men in
which a part of them snaps and they then break moral and social
conventions; Edward Norton's character breaks himself into two
personalities and founds the underground Fight Club, James
McAvoy joins The Fraternity and becomes an assassin and
Michael Douglas goes on a psychotic rampage through Los
Angeles. All of these wear a simple white shirt and plain tie,
showing little to none of their own personality. They are also
physicalized to look visibly crushed by society, looking gaunt and
tired around the eyes. A thing to mention with all of these
characters is that they seem to be an Everyman sort of character;
they could be any man in any office. In making my character
simplistic like this it helped the audience apply the
characterization to aspects of themselves, and make them imagine
a situation in which the events of the film could happen to them.
Because of this the horror becomes more real. If it had been a
more colourful and vibrant character it wouldn‟t have the same
Horror effect.

6. THE FILM: LENGTH AND SLASHERS
 My biggest problem in production came that whilst most
horrors will have a standard film length of around two hours to
create a heightened level of tension, fear and atmosphere, in
mine I had 5 minutes. To still create that effect I have tried to
include a large amount of random and intense imagery. The
occasional flashing up of the words “When Will It End?”
highlight the protagonists struggle and frustration, with the
villain never making large appearances, his only scenes being
quick and sudden to highlight the fear and chaos his presence
represents. The knowledge that Jokerface could pop out at any
moment creates a heightened level of tension and fear needed
for my film to appear scary.
 I have developed a few of the basic Slasher Horror conventions
to suit my modern audience. When these were popular in the
late 1970s and early 1980s the new effects made the horror
scary, but in retrospect the horror portrayed seems excessive
and cheesy. I am in the strong belief that the more blood and
gore within the film the less the effect is, as it becomes
unrealistic and silly. Whilst I wanted to reference the clichés
and conventions of Slashers I decided to use a more
psychological/thriller build up and not show the gore. This
makes the film more jumpy and frightening but also matches
my smaller budget.

7. THE FILM: SETTING
 I had to think carefully about the settings I would be using in my film, as
picking the wrong setting would not have the dramatic impact I needed.
Commonly in other Horror films, settings have included woods and
forests, common settings in literature and film to represent mystery and
fear, and Haunted houses and castles, the architecture itself being part of
the building blocks that created Gothic Horror. Alternatively more
modern horrors the settings have been standard and normal, like houses
or streets, that have become haunted. Like having an Everyman
character, these simplistic and ordinary settings help the audience
associate more with the film and imagine the events happening where
they live. They will thus take the fear home with them. This usage of
every day yet quite sinister settings have been used to varying effects in
Horror classics such as Scream, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street.
 I decided I wanted to utilize this in my film and have the settings be
ordinary places; an office, public bathroom and a living room. Before
shooting I cleared these sets of anything that would give the protagonist
a personality, such as pictures and ornaments. The only things seemingly
in his life are work, drugs, alcohol and the tormenting from Jokerface.
Through these bland and ordinary settings we too get little to no idea of
who he really is and focus more on the horror unfolding. The big house
setting is also a common setting in Horrors, as we see what would
usually be a place of comfort is turned terrifying.

8. THE FILM: DUALITY
“WE STOPPED CHECKING FOR MONSTERS UNDER OUR
BED BECAUSE WE REALIZED THEY WERE INSIDE OF US?”
 Along with applying horror conventions to my work I
also used the ideas of psychosis and insanity, common
themes with Thrillers, to progress the films narrative. I
took inspiration from films like Fight Club and novels
like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which the main
antagonist or monster within the story is really part of
the protagonist, that the part of themselves is the
monster within. This is known as duality, or split
personalities. I have tried to highlight this theme in my
film, particularly in the brief scene in which my
protagonist looks into the mirror after running out of
pills and sees himself wearing the Jokerface mask in the
mirror. This brings into question whether or not the
villain really exists and is it not his own illusions and
paranoia. In making my audience question this I add
more layers to my story and the dynamic that in all
normal respectable people can lie a monster.

9. THE FILM: MUSIC
“THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIEND”
 For the score to my film I wanted to create an interesting
juxtaposition between the sinister, tense and fearful action on
screen and some otherwise cheerful music. This has been used
for years by the famed director Quentin Tarantino, notably in
the famous ear cutting scene in cult classic Reservoir Dogs to
Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel. This usage of
a gentle folk pop music over the pessimistic and cruel imagery
makes the scene memorable, and also gives new connotations
to this piece of music. Now if people who have seen the film
listen to the song they are reminded of the film, which helps its
popularity endure in an unconventional manner.
 Whilst I have included clichéd incidental horror sounds in
amongst moments of tension in my film I decided early on in
production that the most prominent use of music should be a
juxtaposition, to create an odd contrast between the horror
unfolding onscreen and the song. I chose the song Those Were
The Days by Mary Hopkin to create this effect; its simplistic
yet atmospheric Russian Folk rift and the reflective lyrics
match up to the action happening in the film in an unusual
way, and the screams over the song create a whole new
dynamic to the song not previously seen. I hope one of the
most memorable things about my film is its unusual usage of
music.

10. THE FILM: INTERTEXTUALITY
 One of the things I thought vital to add into
my film is intertextuality to other classic
Horror films from which I derived inspiration.
In essence this is an aspect of the film that I
highlight at all moments with its clichéd
storyline, masked villain and tragic
protagonist. These are staples set out by these
classic Horror films and I wanted to make sure
I expressed this as much as possible. This
postmodernism used in my film I reference as
much as possible to engage it with the genre.
One scene has my protagonist watching a
murder scene from Horror classic Friday the
13th. This shows the links between the real and
the fiction; this happens to someone watching
a horror film so my audience could potentially
think this could happen to them, making the
horror more realistic. This scene is also there
to give a little Easter egg to fans of this film
and to link it closely to the Slasher genre.

11. THE FILM: INSTITUTIONS
 Like all films, my short has a production company
logo or indent at the start, to show who has funded
and helped make it. Eventually these images
become well known in popular culture for their
work. Some of the most famous production
companies include 20th Century Fox, Universal,
Disney and Warner Bros. I decided instead of using
an existing production company indent that I would
create my own. I drew the image freehand, scanned
it onto Photoshop and edited it there, using the
burn tool to add shading. I then animated the
segment as the letters come onto the plaque to add
a little motion that other professional indents have.
Whilst this wasn‟t vital for the films plot, it did
give the film a professional and unique aesthetic.
 At the end I also include a short credit roll,
highlighting my cast and who did what during
production. This appears in all films and acts a
conclusion to the story.

12. FILM POSTER
 For my film poster I have utilized the conventional monochrome and
red colour scheme common in mediums with Horror Elements, and
used it to make my product appear mysterious and scary. When I was
first editing my poster I had a really clear background, and one of the
comments from my audience feedback was that the image appeared
“too clean”. To change this I decided to add a mist effect to my poster.
Fog is a conventional setting in Horror texts, a symbol of mystery and
things being hidden. I decided against having the murderer big and bold
on the poster as I wanted to highlight the theme of mystery that adds to
the fear in the image. Instead I opted for a more wide focus on the
normal setting around him.
 Conventions I have applied to my poster include the image being set at
night, again adding to the mysterious aspect of my film. I have made
everything black and white except the mask, which sticks out on the
poster. One of the things noticeable in most slasher Horror films is that
the murderer becomes the films brand image. If you have a highly
recognizable villain, like Freddy or Jason, then the audience will
connect with the film more and understand what the basic plot will be. I
have a high contrast between the dark and light areas on the image,
with the old fashioned lamplight illuminating the otherwise mist-
cloaked image.
 I also included generic elements from Film Posters, notably the tagline,
the release date, the social networking links to attract a teen audience,
and the film festival awards. This makes the poster look professional
and realistic.

13. FILM TITLE
 I came up with the name of my film early on in production, when I had
an image in my head of an over worked and gaunt office worker typing
four simple words onto his computer; When Will It End?, which
eventually causes his downfall and targeting by the murderer. I was a bit
concerned whether this would be too long for a Horror title, which are
often short and snappy to remain memorable. But when researching into
other films I noticed that a lot did have a longer title; Nightmare on Elm
Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Blair Witch Project, Night of
the Living Dead etc. so I decided to keep the name.
 For the typography of the films title I had to choose carefully, as picking
the wrong font could make my poster look amateur and messy, and also
ruin the horror effect that I‟ve tried to create through the image. I used a
stock Horror Font and changed the colour to red to match the blood and
gore that is connoted in Horror films, and made it the largest piece of
information on the poster.

14. MAGAZINE REVIEW
 I have, from using several magazine reviews as a basis and style
model, created a review for my film that would appear in a film
specialist magazine. As my film is a short 5 minute long feature, it
wouldn't appear in the mainstream features of the magazine, so I
have placed my review later on in the magazine in a part of my
fictional magazine called "Niche corner", fitting in with
the personalized conventions of the particular magazine. Most
magazines have certain features that are continued with each
issue, as part of their house style.
 Conventionally magazine reviews have a main image that breaks
the page up from looking bland and generic and gives an idea of
what the film will look and feel like. I decided against using the
monochrome colour scheme from my poster as it won't look
interesting in a magazine, but decided on using this more abstract
and unusual image. It is an image of my main
villain, Jokerface, that has been altered on Photoshop using the
smudge tool. This both shows the main villain of my piece and also
with the abstract and contorted aesthetics shows the psychological
aspect of the film.
 I have included the relevant information for the film, including the
name, critical rating, trivia and overall verdict/summary. Sticking to
the conventions of Magazine reviews I have also included magazine
specific information, like the page number, Magazine title (Screen-
bottom left corner) and feature name (top right corner). All the
major titles in the font are red, which links it closely to the horror
genre.