Evaluation: Activity 1

Malevolent Phantom

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product? (i.e. of filming openings)

The camera shot used in this scene is an establishing shot which shows the audience the location of the opening scene which is set in a light area with trees but it’s contrasted by the cold grey road and the scene highlights that the main character with her friend which could suggests that she’s happy and safe with them. However when her friends leave her she goes through the wood which connotes cold, darkness and suggest that the outcome won’t be good. The setting is remote and isolated which shows that the main character is alone and isn’t able to escape very easily or get help once in danger.

The shot is a low angle shot which shows that when the three of them are together they are safe then the shot changes to a long shot as well. The characters in the background suggest to the audience how tiny and insignificant the characters are compared to the surrounding which portrays them to be vulnerable as they are with the trees looming over them.

In the beginning the original clip was very lengthy and shows the characters walking down from the background to the foreground but when we began to edit the opening scene we thought that its dragged for too long so we cut this scene so the audience wouldn't be bored.This shot introduces the character as it’s the first time the audience sees them so they may make assumptions about them. Costumes are a key part of this because the main character Lucy is wearing a bright, bold coloured coat which shows that she plays an important part so the audience are likely to focus on her character because something may happen to her. The two supporting character are wearing neural and plain clothing so they don’t diverted the attention to them and it signifies that their presence isn’t important compared to Lucy .

During the opening, the titles appear at the bottom corner because we didn’t want it to be a distraction so the audience can focus on the characters that appear. For the titles we chose the colour white we though it matched with the colour scheme and it looks professional as it’s similar to some horror opening we researched. The font is plain because we didn’t want it to look overdone and fancy.
The opening conforms the horror genre because the character represents a stereotypical girl; they’re young, naïve and innocent. Usually in the beginning of a horror film the character seems to be happy however once the film is at a pivot someone murders them. Its set in a remote area on a misty and gloomy day where there is no one is able to help. 

This shot is a close up which shows the main character’s facial expression, this allows the audience to know the character so they can learn more about her. The surrounding is blocked by the character so the audience may suspect that there is something that is lurking in the trees. The shot conforms the horror genre as they feature close up and extreme close up to create a tense atmosphere, this also allows the audience to be in her shoes so it draws them in.This is something we wanted to make a key part of our film so we used alot of point of view shots when she is looking around or running. Throughout the scene Lucy is given prevalence because the camera never cuts from her.

The shot shows that Lucy is alone in the woods as her friends are leaving, this conforms the genre because the character is alone in a rural area such as the woods. There are many shots that establish the setting which creates suspense so the audience will expect something to happen however this is cut by the sound of the phone ringing which breaks the tension that was being built up.

The medium shot shows the characters coat which is a visual reminder that something bad will happen; this may connote danger which conforms the key aspect of a horror film. The phone shows that she has connection outside as her mum calls her – this is an important part of the film as it’s the phone call is the reason to why she has to walk through the woods and it’s her last dialogue before she’s killed. The phone calls could also connote danger because her mum tells her to come home immediately because she might have done something wrong. If she had not received the call she might have gone the long way round so therefore she wouldn’t have been killed by the ‘malevolent phantom’ and there wouldn’t have an exciting plot. This storyline conforms the horror genre as people tend to be attacked when they are alone and somehow they end up in a remote area. On our storyboard we decided that her phone battery would run out so she wouldn’t be able to have any connection or help from the outside world however due to the how long our opening was, we decided to cut the scene. I believe that cutting this scene didn’t affect the outcome but I think that we could have had the phone dropped but it would have been hard to make this scene natural. 

For this shot we used a long shot to let the audience know that she’s entering the rural area where the phantom is lurking, we were inspired from the film ‘Schindler’s List’ as Lucy coat is bright in contrast to the woods just like the girl that had a bright red coat in the film. The coats foreshadows their fate as they both end up dead. This scene conforms the horror genre convention as the girl is young and innocent in a remote setting of the woods where that she is likely is going to be attacked by the phantom lurking in the wood. We used a long shot which is rare for this genre because it tends to decrease the tension as the audience is exposed to the surrounding which allows them to search for antagonist and it breaks the convention of the horror genre but on the other hand the shot also emphasis that Lucy is alone and cut from the outside world.

This medium shot includes both the main character so the audience know that they’re alone in the woods however the attention is diverted to the Malevolent Phantom who is lurking, hidden behind the trees, the camera tracks him as he makes his way towards Lucy. Malevolent Phantom is sinister and mysterious due to his appearance and body language; we wanted him to be hidden.  We used Lucy’s point of view which suggests she’s a character of importance as they audience must know what’s going through her mind so they’re able to emphasis with her. To introduce the Malevolent Phantom we used an over the shoulder shot so the audience doesn’t lose focus on Lucy and the audience will be more engaged as they’re being rewarded for waiting for the antagonist to appear. This shot is a crucial scene as the Malevolent Phantom is revealed so the audience would want to know more about him. The scene also lets the audience emphasis with Lucy as she’s seems vulnerable compared to the Malevolent Phantom.

The medium shot of Lucy’s facial expression is very effective as it highlights her emotion – scared, suspicious and confused. This shot blocks the surrounding which is a convention to this genre because it creates tension as there could be something lurking in the background. The camera gives a lot of prevalence to Lucy so the audience is able to go through a journey with her - expression and emotions changes from the beginning. Diegetic sound of the leaves rustling could be heard which may suggest that danger is present so Lucy is alarmed and stops. This shot is lengthy as Lucy steps onto camera and we’re able to see her nervous glances, the non-diegetic fades in – building up volume and tempo which suggests that the scene is the climax however when Lucy turns around they’re nothing her behind her. This is a horror genre convention as there are false climax scene to build up more suspicion and tension which allows the audience to pose more question than it being answered because in the previous scene we see the Malevolent Phantom behind her. The audience would wonder whether he's going to attack her. 

A medium shot is used to show when Lucy finally sees the Malevolent Phantom that has been tracking her and her facial expression and body language shows that she is scared for her life. The long shot shows the surrounding so it doesn't focus on Lucy and  the malevolent Phantom subverts they horror genre convention because there isn't much use in long shots because it reveals too much area. The close up of Lucy's face is would of been effective as it expresses her emotions however due to the appearance of the Malevolent Phantom we had to use a medium shot instead which was perfect for this scene. There is non-diegetic music introduced - high volume and tempo because we want the audience to now worry about Lucy because she can either get killed or escape him. Malevolent Phantom's costume is much more darker than Lucy, this conforms the description of a stereotypical villain but on the other hand Lucy stands out which suggests that her character is still dominant even though she's going to get killed - the juxtaposition of the two contrasting colours work very well together and it also works with the surrounding. This is an important scene as Lucy finally see the Malevolent Phantom so then she starts running for her life, the build up of tension throughout the opening is very effective for this moment because there is a chasing scene which keeps the audience at the edge of their seat. The scene then cuts to to a fast paced sequence of shots which shows her running away from the Malevolent Phantom, this provides the audience with excitement as it plot is getting to the dramatic story rather than focusing her life story - we're able to see that this hooks the audience.  

After the intense chase scene we decided that Lucy would fall to her knees suggesting that she's in relief because she believes that she's got a away from the Malevolent Phantom - this conforms the horror cliches and convention by having the antagonist appearing for the behind as the protagonist fate looks doomed. Before this scene a low angle shot was used to show that Lucy had a higher position and was safer but when the Malevolent Phantom appears in the background we cut to a medium shot to show that Lucy is going to be attacked. Previously when we used the long shot it would of revealed too much of the surrounding and there wouldn't of been much focus on the characters. For this scene a close up of Lucy wouldn't been useful due to the fact the Malevolent Phantom wouldn't of been included in the scene so therefore we used a medium shot. If we had more time to film this scene we would of created a better setting and filmed with high angle shots to show s the character's vulnerability. We had a lot of problem with the lighting in this shot because the natural light shines on the left side of her hand but we went to re- shoot the scene the condition of the surrounding was different because of the rain so we weren't able to shoot the footage because it looked out of place and didn't match with the rest of the shot. In my opinion i don't think it affected the shot much as it contrasts with the Malevolent Phantom.

The original shot was very lengthy however we had to cut it short due to the timing issue and to make the scene more effective by creating more drama because it cuts to black after this shot. We decided we wanted the black screen instead of the character being dragged out of shot by the Malevolent Phantom. The background of the pond was there to represent her salvation as the audience would feel that she escaped the Malevolent Phantom so therefore she was safe but it also shows that she is isolated. This conforms the horror genre convention as she’s all alone which  is a key factor of horror films such as SAW, The Hole and makes the audience feel more scared for a characters as there is no one to save them. The Lucy's coat is bright which could hint of danger and blood where as the Malevolent Phantom is dark and sinister. Lucy's coat is dark red which may hint what could happen to her when she enters the woods and the darker color on her coat may suggests that she's not as naive as the audience believe she is.