Date post: | 09-Aug-2015 |
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Entertainment & Humor |
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In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media
products.
Tears
Tears is a video that I used in my research whilst preparing for the making of my opening
sequence. Whilst watching tears, I focused mainly on the aspects of mise-en-scene, as the mise-en-scene is very effective and helpful towards the opening we made. I did focus on all elements
such as sound, camera work, editing etc. but the main focus was the mise-en-scene, as the other
videos I researched focused on the different elements so the research was not biased.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K136askLqTc
How I have challenged tears and developed through mise-en-scene
How I have challenged Tears Through my Research
From the mise-en-scene, it wasn’t clear where and when the film was set, as it was based in a deserted
area. It is an area that as the audience we are not able to identify the location. However, in our opening
scene, we challenged this as we used a graveyard, a location that can be identified which is generalised as
an uneasy place, which we hoped to be very effective. As an audience, the only information we could
gather although it was very little was that there were two girls, one being the little girl on the swing and
the other being the scary character. We challenged this idea, as we used three characters, involving a
young girl, a scary girl but also a hero. The hero is based in a more modern house, which contrast to the
olden idea of a graveyard. We originally wanted to use the idea of a villain and a innocent young girl, like in
tears, but we decided that in order to make our opening scene a unique style, we changed the formation of
the opening. The idea of making a horror meant that from our research, we had to identify aspects of mise-
en-scene that we could use an if challenged, would still fit into the genre.
How I have challenged real products in general
There was not much aspects of the mis-en-scene that we challenged as we figured
that to keep the opening in its particular genre, a same atmosphere must be given
to the audience to make it a horror. This includes locations, characters, props,
costumes etc. Most characters tended to be girls as it is stereotyped that they’d be
victims in a horror movie. Also, location tend to be simple and unidentifiable whilst
costumes tend to be simple and unusual. Therefore, instead of challenging this, we
developed on this, as we used simple but horror type locations, but also used titles
with effects that do not give a friendly approach.
How I have developed tears through my research
There was one thing that intrigued me whilst watching tears which was the simplicity of the use of
costume. To be sure that the audience can gather that there is a ‘scary character’ and a innocent young
girl, the girl had to be dressed casually but simple, not over extravagant whilst the ‘scary character’
dressed in a more unusual, simple and old style look. This create the sense that there is an old, scary
and frightening person, a common theme of horror movies, haunting a young child, which creates the
source of tension. Also, another theme that reoccurred throughout was that there was not any sign of
any other people in the scenes, which we also tried to adapt to make it seem that the area is deserted
and contains a haunted atmosphere. One thing that I noticed about the location was that most people
would stereotypically expect the scene to be in the time of the night, but what I realised from tears was
that the time of the day can be as effectfull in a horror opening scene if the location, costumes, blocking
and props are used right. We developed on this created our sequence during the day, using minimal but
effective costumes, props and location to make the scene genuine.
How I have real produdeveloped cts in general
Most opening that fit into this genre will consist of not only characters
that are mysterious but identifiable to the audience, but also an item
or object which is usually a central theme of the movie. For example,
items such as old jewlerry, chest boxes or items that are valuable in
a persons eyes are usually what creates the negativity in a horror
movie. This type of prop creates more mystery than the characters
as the characters are built up around the mystery of something,
which in some cases are valuables. We developed on this as we used
a necklace with a large gem, which to the audience is concerning and
mysterious.
Locations were deserted and simple, similar to our product
The title sequence in the real product had effect on a black background which we developed
The woman in black
As I researched the mise-en-scene using the opening
sequence of Tears, I researched the use of sound in the
opening of the woman in black. I chose this video
because it gave me a lot of ideas on how sound should
be produced, and how it attracts the audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z_XetLZlqc
How I have challenged the woman in black through sound
There was one main thing that I challenged in the opening sequence that we
created which was the use of dialogue. In The woman in black, there was no speech
at all, only music that switched up tempo as it went along to match the
performance of the little kids. Although we did use music to match the
performance, we also had a part in the opening where a character is seen and
heard to be reading of a paper. This is a convention that we challenged as most
openings, as not only the woman in black do not really consist of the use of
dialogue. However, we challenged this in a way that we could make it effective. We
used sentences such as “it will never let her go” and “been captured” which are
words that can be gathered as unpleasant and frightening. We specifically chose
these words in order to keep the sense of horror running, challenging the aspects of
horror openings rather than challenging the genre itself.
How I developed the woman in black through sound in my research
A video that I researched to find this information out and develop was the opening
sequence of the woman in black. In the woman in black, the music starts of slow
and calm, whilst the mise-en-scene shows kids playing with their toys. We similarly
did this, except instead of toys, the sound matched the performance of the
character in the graveyard. As the opening continues, the sound of the music gets
louder and faster, as more instruments are involved whilst the performance on the
screen gets more and more unusual. At the very end, the music stops and there is
a sort of screaming foley sound, which is a random noise that is frightening. All of
this was something that we developed on rather than challenged, as sound is
something that the audience picks up on easily and if it were to friendly or jolly, the
opening would be addressed to the audience in the wrong way. We developed on
this as we used a rapid changing use of tempo in the music we chose, with no use
of dialogue or speech. The only thing that we challenged was the order in which the
sounds are used, as the random foley sound was used more than once throughout,
whilst there was a pause of sound consisting of natural sound at the beginning
when there was an establishing shot of the graveyard.
How I developed real products in general
As I researched other products, a common thing that occurred was the lack of
dialogue and the use of unusual frightening sounds and music. There was a
consistency of natural sound used also, as the sound of wind without any
interruptions of cars etc seemed to be very effective every time it was used. From
this, we carried out the same theme to make the sound effective in our opening.
We used natural sound mixed with music. The atmosphere that was created by all
the videos I researched was a sense of surprise, shock, purely through the sound
itself. This is the same sense that we wished to carry out which is why we followed
most the techniques used in horror movies with the use of sound so that the video
fits in its genre.
AntisocialThe camera work is what I focused on in antisocial,
although it was very limited. It stayed in one place
and I analysed how effective it was. I looked at the
woman in black and tears also, to contrast to
antisocial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6S9ZyK0n-o
How I challenged the camera work in anti social through my research
In Anti social, the camera stayed in one place and was shown to the audience through the eyes
of a webcam. However, whilst watching the woman in black and tears, I realised that in a typical
conventional horror opening sequence, there would be a lot of close up shots as well as an
establishing shot. A close up shot on a movement, such as the swing in tears and the dolls in the
woman in black is something that is usually done by camera work. We challenged not only anti
social but also the other two videos analysed, as we used a the typical close up (holding the
necklace) but used a mixture of long shots and mediums shots with it, to make it look effective
and unique. We used long shots and close ups on all of the characters individually, apart from
the hero. The reason we did the was because it would be conventional for the audience to realise
the negative and vulnerable actors by using close up shots, but would not be conventional to
instantly give away the appearance and presence of the hero as it would give a sense that the
hero is either a victim or a villain. There were not any developments in camera work from
antisocial as it was very limited.
How I challenged real products
Not only in the woman black and tears, but in horror openings in general, there
would tend to be a large use of close ups with the only wide shot being the
establishing shot. This is conventional because the main idea of a horror is to not
give away any clues, and wide shots or long shots can give away a lot of ideas to
the idea just through little aspects of the mise-en-scene. I challenge this convention
as we used a variety of shots, which gave away a variety of locations, but like a
conventional horror, did not give away the narrative. The camera work was simple
however, as we did not use much tracking shots or panning's, we kept the camera
static.
Editing
Whilst focusing on editing, I analysed all the products to see the conventions of a typical
horror opening. As it is a title sequence, there is a lot of focus on edits and it is a large
element of the opening sequence. I saw that all the opening sequences add in an edit
transition each time there is a new location or date used, I kept this the same and did the
same as well as adding a few edits aside.